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Language and Communication Quotes in Snow Crash

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"The Church was willing to accept a little xenoglossia if it helped convert heathens, as in the case of St. Louis Bertrand who converted thousands of Indians in the sixteenth century, spreading glossolalia across the continent faster than smallpox. But as soon as they were converted, those Indians were supposed to shut up and speak Latin like everyone else." (56.43)

Language can be dangerous when it gets out of control. The Church tried to utilize glossolalia to gain converts, but they wanted to rein it back in when that goal was accomplished. But as we saw throughout the book, sometimes you can't control language or ideas once they've been unleashed. And that's a pretty scary thought.