Use Inclusive Language with Principles

Writing with inclusive language allows you to reach more people. You write in a neutral way. But do not follow all-inclusive language guidelines.

The Inclusive Writing of the Canada Government gives lots of resources to learn to write in inclusive language.

But I do not follow all the guidelines. For instance, I do not support the idea of non-binary people. Every human is born either as a male or a female. The idea of having no gender or having another gender is stupid. So I do not use "they" or other ridiculous pronouns such as "ze" and "hir."

I am a Christian. I follow God instead of human guidelines. If those non-binary people get offended, I do not care.

Also, those guidelines are more about respecting someone's bizarre sexual preference than being inclusive.

Nonetheless, I agree to use "sibling" instead of "brother" or "sister" if what I say works for both male and female from the same parents. I agree to use "person" if gender does not matter in the context of what I write. I prefer writing "If a person is sick, the person needs to rest" instead of writing "If he or she is sick, he or she needs to rest."

Another idea of inclusive language is about addressing people's disability. For example, a non-inclusive way to write "blind people" is "[the] blinds." The term "blinds" to refer to people with vision lost focuses on the disability instead of the person. The better way to refer to people with that impairment is to use "blind people."

Again, I do not follow all guidelines. For example, the American Psychological Association (APA) suggests using "person who smokes" instead of "smoker." I will still use "smoker" since the term does not show disability. A person smokes because the person chooses to do that in most cases, 99.9 percent. A person who chooses to harm themselves does not deserve my respect.

Be inclusive. But more importantly, be righteous. Use your common sense, too. Do not blindly follow any guidelines.