Consider:
The word 'phobia,' upon which the suffix '-phobe' is based, is itself based on the Greek word 'Phobos' (meaning fear or the personification thereof). The dictionary (and popular understanding) has the definition of 'homophobia' as the fear OR hatred of homosexuals. (We'll just assume the same rules apply in regard to 'Islamophobia.' I haven't looked it up. :-))
Fear and hatred are two wholly distinct emotions requiring equally distinct responses from society, so how is either term accurate (or fair) for both of the 'phobias' each is used to describe? (Maybe the wholesale manufacture of nonsensical neologisms is why people are getting so sick of the clear tyranny of political correctness?)
Let's use myself for an example. While I do not fear or hate homosexuals, I definitely DO fear Islam--as any rational person would--and I certainly do not hate Muslims. Why, in my case, should I be considered a 'hater' when I 'hate' no one? Why should anyone? Why do people have such a hard time differentiating between an ideology which is fully WORTHY of rational fear (to say nothing of hatred), and those who've fallen victim to it who may or may not be worthy of fear?
;-)
Yes AndyB. Words have meanings and the meaning of the word do not change after the word is spoken.
But Usage do change. The old Greek cities were full of idiots, because that is what the word "idiot" meant to the old Greeks "man of the city". Today when we use the word we usually mean something rather different than that ;-))
