Conference Minister's Corner 4.22.26
- Matt Alighieri
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
NH Article – April 22nd, 2026
The Impact of Words
Rev. Gordon Rankin | Conference Minister
When I was young, there was a saying that I always took as containing some wise truth. I suspect many of you know the one: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It was sort of our cultural way of saying "toughen up." Here is the problem with that teaching — words do cause harm. Words cause emotional, spiritual, and societal harm. If we don't recognize the harm our words can cause, then we are destined to perpetuate it.
There are some ways in which I have been reminded of this in the past couple of months. In our State House, a little over a month ago, Representative Travis Corcoran used the phrase "final solution" in a social media post directed at a Jewish colleague. That phrase carries profound historical and emotional weight. The Jewish Federation of New Hampshire and many interfaith colleagues — including myself — have written to House leadership asking that Representative Corcoran be held to account for his words. Harm has been done, and accountability is appropriate.
The language used regarding the U.S. war with Iran is another place I've experienced this. Whether it is our Secretary of War calling for "maximum lethality" or our President suggesting "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" — these are harmful words. Such words move the citizenry of Iran from seeing the United States as an ally in liberation to seeing us as unconcerned about their well-being. They continue to cause deterioration in our relationships with trusted international allies.
Our leaders need to do better. And so do we. We need to be fully aware of the harm our words can cause, whether intentionally or unintentionally. When our words harm another, we need to practice repentance and provide restitution.
In the end, I suspect those broken bones may actually heal quicker than many of the harms caused by words.
Rv. Linda Hirst | Transitional Associate Conference Minister