Hyperbole has always been harmful

About 2,500 years ago, there was a politician in Athens by the name of Hyperbolus who liked to go around making all sorts of outrageous promises and claims, riling up the residents in the process. That, however, is not the origin of the modern English word hyperbole, which means “an extravagant exaggeration,” according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. Instead, the origin of hyperbole comes from the Greek word hyperballein, meaning “to exceed,” and that word actually has deeper roots in Latin.

Hyperbolus is certainly alive and well in modern times, however, but we don’t need to travel south of the 49th parallel or tune in to a White House press conference to see his spiritual descendants in action. We’ve got them right here in Canada, working both sides of the political spectrum.

On Thursday, Maryam Monsef, the federal Status of Women Minister, declared that not providing all women with the full range of reproductive services, including abortion, is “a form of gender-based violence.” Hyperbolus would have been proud. To state that not being able to provide abortion on demand for any pregnant woman who wants it is an insult to the women who actually have been real victims of gender violence. A woman who has to wait a couple of weeks or travel a few hundred kilometres to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, both likely scenarios for women in central and northern B.C., isn’t a victim.

She isn’t facing barriers to her reproductive rights, either. Rather, she is being mildly inconvenienced, the common result of the Canadian health care system that asks people to take a number and get in line when it comes to service.

In stark contrast, a female assault victim has not only suffered an actual crime against her, she now lives with the traumatic effects of that attack, as well as the real fear that it will happen again.

Monsef’s declaration is the kind of lefty boo-hoo talk that infuriates right-of-centre folks, particularly socially conservative women who bristle at the notion of the government, feminists or anyone else dictating public policy on what they see as a private matter.

The same kind of outrage flows in both directions, of course, brought on by the same ridiculous channelling of old Hyperbolus on the other side of the political fence.

A simple motion before the House of Commons regarding Islamaphobia, in the wake of last month’s deadly mosque attack in Quebec City, has now turned into the first step into Canada becoming a radical Islamic state, according to several of the Conservative leadership candidates. Never mind that a similar motion that came before the House last fall was supported by all parties.

Never mind that the motion has no binding authority on Parliament or Canadian citizens. Suddenly, it’s an all-out attack on free speech and Christian values, championed by lefty traitors. What garbage. This is the kind of right-wing intolerance that makes socially liberal people think that anyone who votes Conservative must be a Bible-thumping bigot.

Card-carrying Conservatives, starting with the region’s two MPs, Todd Doherty and Bob Zimmer, should be speaking out against this kind of nonsense because it discredits their party, it discredits them and it’s flat-out wrong. With the same vigour, Liberal MPs, starting with the prime minister, should have publicly stated that Monsef was out of line with her comments.

Instead, the trenches become wider and deeper because calling out a political colleague on their hyperbole is not seen as common sense decency, it’s portrayed as betrayal.

According to Greek legend, the people eventually grew weary of Hyperbolus and forced him into exile, where he was eventually assassinated.

In the modern world, it’s not the people that need to die, it’s just the stupid hyperbole coming out of their mouths because it does nothing except hide truth and foster hatred.

According to Greek legend, the people eventually grew weary of Hyperbolus and forced him into exile, where he was eventually assassinated. In the modern world, it’s not the people that need to die, it’s just the stupid hyperbole coming out of their mouths because it does nothing except hide truth and foster hatred.

— Managing editor Neil Godbout