English language that fixes the world?
Linguistic supremacy? There is no “special” status of the English language that makes it better than any other language. So why does ½ the world’s population race to learn English? In a word, empowerment. Dallas Willard remarks: “The presence of such a vision explains why…the English language is learned at a phenomenal rate all around the world. Multitudes see clearly the way in which their life might be improved by knowledge of English.”* In short, English fixes the world. As an old rabbinical adage puts it: “Give a hungry person a fish and there is food for a day, teach that person how to fish and there is food for life.”
Think of the way in which people’s lives around the world have been impacted by the internet. Computers enable a person to be a print shopkeeper, bookkeeper, secretary, worldwide communications coordinator, and travel agent - all at home, to name a few. English vastly influences the internet and computer world. But computers are not dependant on English to run. Machine code is the basic “nuts and bolts” of computer communication. It is simply binary - on/off, voltage/no voltage, etc. as in math 0/1. English is not in this picture of binary language. But a lot of programming is done in English. Hence, in the computer world, English is the de facto standard. But it is more than just in the world of computers where English-language power is felt. It is also the language of business. A Morrocan businessman who speaks Arabic, a Morrocan kind of Arabic, will conduct business in English when in Saudi Arabia. Both parties speak the same language, but in order prevent confusion through regional linguistic differences, business contracts and other documents must be produced in English.
But how does English empower people? It is a universal standard. The one language that has spread over the entire globe is English. As we have said, computers and business helped to accelerate this. There were historical factors where English gained political ascendency. The claim: “The sun never sets on the Union Jack (British flag)” was true at the end of the Nineteeth Century. Out of the British Empire came the Commonwealth nations today. Of course, there was/is the “other empire” better known by the term “superpower,” which also is a native English-speaking land, the USA. Shall we add the consumer power of English? Think of the affluence/influence of “Los Norteamericanos” particularly “de Estados Unidos” desired by everyone, which is emulated, sought out, and is cause for the phenomenon of millions of “illegals.”
So far we’ve discussed the “what” and the “how” of the ubiquitous nature of the English language, but the “why” needs explanation. Two “philos” are the “why” of it. That is, philosemitism, the love of the Jews, and philogospelism, the love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both England and America have long-standing histories that favored these two over their opposites: antisemitism and antigospelism. The driving force and authority, a divine decree, for this is found in Genesis 12:3; where God spoke to Abraham:
”I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you (TNIV).”
The blessing, which is multiple, is tied to the two philos: blessing to/thru the Jews (the physical descendants of Abraham), and blessing to/thru the Gospel (the means to make people spiritual descendants of Abraham). On the other hand, the two antis bring the curse, and that falls singularly, that is, on individuals who make that choice. As long as the two philos remain in precedence over the two antis, there’s a good chance that the English language will continue its role in fixing the world.
* Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2002), 83.
