Words of Blame, Words of Shame

I hate the words.  Enable.  Enabler.  Enabling.

“He wouldn’t be in so much trouble if his parents didn’t enable him.”

“She’s an enabler.”  

“I feel sorry for that family – they’re constantly enabling her.”

They are harsh words, often spoken with a slight hint of scorn. They are words of blame, words that carry a heavy load of shame.
 
Too often we use words without thinking much about their implications, so let’s take a closer look at “enable.”

“Enable” means to allow, facilitate, permit, make possible. (I love my trusty Thesaurus, which leads me down all sorts of untraveled word pathways.)

Allow means to let, to permit, agree to, consent to, tolerate.  

Facilitate means to make easy, make possible, smooth the progress of, help, aid, assist.

Permit means to authorize, sanction, give your blessing to.

Enough already.

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