Can This Child Be an Heir?

[Ohiogal]

“Natural” is a synonym for “bastard.”

I disagree with it being used due to its religious foundations... it is based in the law of the creator.. whoever or whatever that is. What is NATURAL LAW? definition of NATURAL LAW (Black's Law Dictionary) (thelawdictionary.org)

To me it is even worse than using "bastard". The only word that needs to be used is CHILD. If there wants to be other terminology it should be used in relation to the parents -- the presumed father, or established father.

 

[quincy]

I disagree with it being used due to its religious foundations... it is based in the law of the creator.. whoever or whatever that is. What is NATURAL LAW? definition of NATURAL LAW (Black's Law Dictionary) (thelawdictionary.org)

To me it is even worse than using "bastard". The only word that needs to be used is CHILD.

I prefer “non marital” but “natural” is also a synonym for bastard.

I just don’t care for the uses of “bastard” or “illegitimate.”

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

The term “bastard child” can easily be replaced with other terms that are not used most familiarly as slurs. The U.K. has largely replaced it. The U.S. should (and largely has), too.

I really don't have a problem with a term being changed. That would be up to the state legislators that have laws that use the word. What I have a problem with is words being stricken from the acceptable lexicon just because of contemporary (and possibly fleeting) thought of the word.

 

[Just Blue]

But so unused in that context and so used in other contexts that it would cause more problems than it creates.

Just because a word has been bastardized (pun only somewhat intended) doesn't kill off its long-used meaning.

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/natural-child

 

[Just Blue]

I prefer “non marital” but “natural” is also a synonym for bastard.

I just don’t care for the uses of “bastard” or “illegitimate.”

I agree. Both terms imply that the child did something wrong.

 

[quincy]

I agree. Both terms imply that the child did something wrong.

Right. Hence my dislike of both.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/natural-child

I know its use. But that doesn't reduce the possible confusion over the use of the word. Even more so 20 miles South of me.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

I agree. Both terms imply that the child did something wrong.

No. That is you inferring that from the words current use. By the very nature of what it means the child could not have done something wrong.

 

[quincy]

I know its use. But that doesn't reduce the possible confusion over the use of the word. Even more so 20 miles South of me.

Well, then. If “natural” confuses the people of Arkansas, then other options are available (and are being used). No child should be saddled with “bastard” or “illegitimate,” however.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Well, then. If “natural” confuses the people of Arkansas, then other options are available (and are being used). No child should be saddled with “bastard” or “illegitimate,” however.

Actually, it would be people in Louisiana where the term has a legal meaning that is a subset of bastards. At least according to dictionary.com.

 

[quincy]

Okay. Then non marital works for me.

 

[quincy]

Following is a link to a good article published in the Florida Law review that directly relates to our discussion. Credit to: Solangel Maldonado, Illegitimate Harm: Law, Stigma, and Discrimination Against Nonmarital Children, 63 Fla.L.Rev. 345 (2011).

https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1102&context=flr

Doodah, thanks for editing your post.

 

[quincy]

Oh, it was wicked chahmin'.

I would expect nothing less.

 

[stealth2]

What I have a problem with is words being stricken from the acceptable lexicon just because of contemporary (and possibly fleeting) thought of the word.

There is an interesting opinion piece that I linked on the other board (you know the one) that touches on this topic, albeit in terms of a different word that has fallen out of acceptable usage. Might consider reading that...