Political Correctness Gone Awry

By Chuck Missler

Sometimes silly, sometimes irritating, sometimes very serious, political correctness is all around us. It can scratch at a single community or it can gouge through an entire nation. Here are some forms of political correctness considered a bit out of whack:

The Starter Gun: Of course we don't want adolescent kids bringing guns to school. Teens have enough temptations to deal with without having a 9mm readily available in their lockers. In Toronto, though, somebody decided it would be a good idea to ban even starter guns at track meets. Apparently, these noisy pistols armed with blanks are considered a bad example to the angst-ridden teens we want to keep gun-free at school. The problem with a starter gun ban isn't just that starter pistols have been used for "Go!" since Babel, and kids have consistently rejected the urge to go postal at track meets. The problem is also that starter pistols are relatively inexpensive. It would cost a lot to replace the pistols with loud horns tied to electronic timers. Is it really that necessary to nix these big cap guns?

Spring Egg Hunts: Earlier this month, an editorial in The Acorn of LA County, California complained about the fact that local children were going to be hunting "spring eggs" instead of "Easter eggs" because of out-of-bounds political correctness. Correctly, the writer defended protecting religious symbols from being generalized to death because it just offends the faithful.

"Consider the revered Hannukah menorah. Because Christians light multiple candles at Christmas, too, how about a new, one-size-fits-all name: 'the holiday candelabra'? No. It's called a menorah and it's a very important part of the Jewish religion. And yes, the little white rabbit is called an Easter bunny and it's indelibly linked to the Christian holiday this Sunday."

The irony is that the term "Easter" is rooted in ancient pagan religions and not in Christianity at all. The Easter bunny has nothing to do with the Christian faith. Yet, those who changed the children's hunt to one of "Spring eggs" certainly did so because the term "Easter" is culturally connected to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After all, there's always that risk that children might think about God while wolfing down chocolate bunny eggs.

Terrorists No More: While some tendrils of political correctness are just silly or annoying, others can seriously endanger the lives of American citizens. When people who chop the heads off of civilians are called "militants" instead of "terrorists" and are set free to go back to the work of bringing America to its knees before Allah, we all should be deeply concerned. Conservative writer Thomas Sowell writes:

"We have already turned loose dozens of captured terrorists, who have resumed their terrorism. Why? Because they have been given ‘rights' that exist neither in our laws nor under international law."

This is completely misguided. The President's primary concern is the safety of the American people, and letting terrorists go free cannot possibly make America safer. Sowell continues:

"Bending over backward is a very bad position from which to try to defend yourself. Nobody in those days confused bending over backward with ‘the rule of law,' as Barack Obama did recently. Bending over backward is the antithesis of the rule of law. It is depriving the people of the protection of their laws, in order to pander to mushy notions among the elite."

The official "War on Terror" may have ended, but that does not mean that the terrorists have ceased their war against us. Political correctness on our part will not change that, and in fact may entice the enemy to attack us as they perceive us as weak, exposed, and unprotected.

People are polite and gracious in civilized societies. They treat their neighbors with decency and respect. Yet, political correctness is more than simple politeness; it is an irrational attempt to please even the basest or most picky elements of society. In the end, political correctness always offends somebody, and, in some cases, endangers everybody.

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