Jay, is there an etymological connection between the word "babel," as you used it here from the Old Testament in the Tower of Babel, and the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia, or is it mere coincidence that the words Babel and Babylon sound somewhat similar? While, as you also pointed out, Shinar is supposedly in or near Babylon, and the tower was likely actually a ziggurat, which were common around Babylon and throughout Mesopotamia, that doesn't explain the etymology.
I've searched but not been able to find a clear or authoritative answer.
As far as I can tell, there’s no etymological connection between Babel and Babylon. Similar sounding words, especially pronounced in modern English, often lead us philologically astray.
This may be a perfect example of "framing". On one level, the governor is correct. In every election, some non-citizens do vote albeit not very many. To me, the issue shouldn't be framed as whether any non-citizens vote. In an imperfect system, there will always be some errors. The better way to frame the question is, "Does it make any difference?"
In my former state, there was such an error. It wasn't due to any maliciousness but rather to a procedural error in which the DoT neglected to ask those getting their drivers licenses whether they were citizens before asking if they wanted to register to vote. To the best of anyone's knowledge, this error resulted in some thousands of non-citizens being registered to vote, but there is no evidence that this changed the outcome of any election (although given the number of elected positions it's impossible to say that with complete certainty). Once discovered, the error was corrected, and all is well.
Thanks for helping me frame my argument on FB about Virginia’s Governor’s false claim that non-citizens are voting in elections. I didn’t know where to start until I processed your article. It helped a lot. Cheers, Jay!
Jay, is there an etymological connection between the word "babel," as you used it here from the Old Testament in the Tower of Babel, and the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia, or is it mere coincidence that the words Babel and Babylon sound somewhat similar? While, as you also pointed out, Shinar is supposedly in or near Babylon, and the tower was likely actually a ziggurat, which were common around Babylon and throughout Mesopotamia, that doesn't explain the etymology.
I've searched but not been able to find a clear or authoritative answer.
As far as I can tell, there’s no etymological connection between Babel and Babylon. Similar sounding words, especially pronounced in modern English, often lead us philologically astray.
Thanks! That would explain why I could find no connection in my searching. Perhaps I should have taken that as an answer.
This may be a perfect example of "framing". On one level, the governor is correct. In every election, some non-citizens do vote albeit not very many. To me, the issue shouldn't be framed as whether any non-citizens vote. In an imperfect system, there will always be some errors. The better way to frame the question is, "Does it make any difference?"
In my former state, there was such an error. It wasn't due to any maliciousness but rather to a procedural error in which the DoT neglected to ask those getting their drivers licenses whether they were citizens before asking if they wanted to register to vote. To the best of anyone's knowledge, this error resulted in some thousands of non-citizens being registered to vote, but there is no evidence that this changed the outcome of any election (although given the number of elected positions it's impossible to say that with complete certainty). Once discovered, the error was corrected, and all is well.
Thanks for helping me frame my argument on FB about Virginia’s Governor’s false claim that non-citizens are voting in elections. I didn’t know where to start until I processed your article. It helped a lot. Cheers, Jay!