A Simple, Modern Example of Reformed Egyptian

The idea of "Reformed Egyptian" in the Book of Mormon is something that critics have lampooned and rejected out of hand from the earliest years of the Church. However, the evolution of Japanese as a written language is a fascinating example of something similar. It easily can be classified as "Reformed Chinese".

Without going into long and academic details, what is most interesting to me is that spoken Chinese and spoken Japanese are as different from each other as they are from English. They literally did not originate from the same root language. Also, while many of the modern Japanese characters that originated from the Chinese are still identical to the original, many of them have been simplified so much over the centuries that many Chinese wouldn't recognize them anymore in isolation, out of written context. When you add the two alphabetic systems in Japanese that do not exist in Chinese (one of which designates conjugation forms, articles, punctuation, etc. and the other of which spells foreign words), you end up with something very similar to what I envision with Reformed Egyptian.

To me, Reformed Egyptian simply isn't a legitimate reason to dismiss the Book of Mormon. If anything, the example of Japanese (of which details Joseph Smith was unaware) actually makes references to "Reformed Egyptian" a strength of the book.

Individual Beliefs vs. Communal Standards

I was raised in rural farm country. Words that are highly offensive to some people no matter the context or usage are words I grew up hearing all the time. (It took my father years to call it “manure” - and it caused my mother great embarrassment and consternation until he did. It wasn’t conscious; it simply was habitual.) My parents also taught me that I should think about what I wanted to say and use whatever words best fit the meaning I wanted to convey - that it is perfectly appropriate to use what others consider to be “swear words” if they aren’t used as expletives, but rather in their proper context and dictionary meaning.

Due to my upbringing, I have no problem whatsoever using words in context that others find offensive just because of the way that society has turned them into prohibited words - especially since our modern concept of "swear words" and "curse words" is not scripturally based. When I am with others who feel the same way, I fall back on that upbringing; when I am in Church or any other situation where I am associating with people whose sensibilities are different than mine, I try to understand and respect that difference and subvert my natural speech to the level of least offense. If the topic comes up and someone is interested in why I am so comfortable saying words they wouldn’t dream of using, I try to explain my perspective. If they don’t express interest or can’t accept it, I back off and acquiesce to the communal language standard. It’s a simple matter of courtesy.

Thus far in my life, I have found relatively few practical issues where I truly have had to dig in my heels, raise my fists and aggressively fight to reject such communal standards. If I have to abase myself slightly in order to maintain peace and understanding and unity, so be it. I believe this basic outlook touches MUCH more than language, and I believe it is fundamental to true unity.