When I was young, life seemed very simple. Some things were wrong, and some things were right. That's just the way life was, and you could count on it being that way tomorrow, the next day, and, unless something very unusual happened, forever.
I remember being impressed with the wonder of living in a country where you could believe whatever you wanted to believe, say whatever you wanted to say, and do, as long as you didn't infringe upon the rights of another person, just about anything you wanted to do, and no one could stop you.
Abortion Clinic
Times have changed, folks. Today, you must be politically correct, or you will be put down by, not only your enemies, but by your peers and by your government. Free speech seems to exist today, only for those who are politically correct.
For several years now, I have noticed the growing use of the term "Politically Correct." Heaven knows, I like to be correct just as often as the next person, but what in the world does it mean to be politically correct?
Long ago, I decided that abortion was wrong. I believed, and still believe that the taking of innocent life is murder. Today, I am called politically incorrect for that belief. Although I could stop someone from going into a grocery store, or a gas station and probably be charged only with disturbing the peace or a misdemeanor, trying to stop someone from going into an abortion clinic has now become a felony. It's okay to take an innocent life, but not okay to try to stop it. Something seems rotten in America.
Not too long ago, I, and the rest of my peers believed that homosexuality was a deviant life style. We knew it existed, but we abhorred the practice, and would never have dreamed that it would become a front page as well as a dinner table topic.
Today, I am stunned to see homosexuality promoted as a desirable alternate life style in our public schools. I known three young men who call themselves gays, but they are actually the unhappy people I know. One recently died of AIDS, and the misery and suffering the other two have gone through is enough to convince me that not one single tax dollars should ever be spent to promote this life style. If you dare protest its spread into the public schools, you are labeled ignorant, a trampler of civil rights, a hate-monger, and a gay-basher. Today, my archaic views on the subject are called politically incorrect.
Not long ago, I was talking to a young girl at a local swimming pool, and asked her if she knew the "Negro" boy that was waving our direction. Indignantly, she replied that I should know better than to call blacks Negroes.
Explaining that "Negro" was a polite term in my day did no good. She, a white, was huffy at me for the rest of the day.
I'm not quite sure what I learned from this particular encounter. When I meet a person of Japanese or Chinese descent on the street, do I refer to them as Yellows? Are all Indians, Reds? For that matter, I don't think most of us look at a young Caucasian and say, "Do you know that White over there?"
One thing I did learn is that political correctness changes at least as often as we change Presidents. It is now politically correct to call members of the Negroid race "blacks," but I seem to remember, just a short time ago, that President Bush got into all kinds of hot water by referring to one of his small grandsons as "the little brown one."
Only yesterday, it seems, divorce was a no-no, except in very unusual circumstances. This week, a man in our church who recently divorced his wife, also a member of our church, announced his engagement to a single lady who is very active in the church. Between them, these people have 7 children. Am I being politically incorrect to wonder why, if God is Who we say He is, these people couldn't have solved the problems in the unions they were in, rather than forming new ones with, undoubtedly, new problems lying in wait ahead?
It is no longer politically correct, I am told, to hold anyone responsible for his or her own crimes. We must, instead, ferret out the real culprits; the alcoholic parents, abusive teachers, or uncaring spouses. Heaven forbid that we expect any kind of atonement from the criminal. Instead, we pat their heads and work to build up their self-esteem.
Oh yes, I almost forgot the environment. In this case, you are usually politically incorrect, no matter where you stand. If you like forests, and would like to see them protected so there will be a few trees around for your grandchildren to see, you are an ogre out to snatch food from the starving children of out of work loggers and mill workers. There is no point in pointing out that better management might lead to a sustained yield that would let us have both forests and jobs. The group doing the yelling will not shut up long enough to hear your opinion, anyway.
Will Rogers once said, "I only know what I read in the papers." but, if we limit ourselves today to what we read in the newspapers, or even to what we see on TV, we are apt to be very confused people, indeed.
I am beginning to suspect that both of the terms, politically correct and politically incorrect, have been coined simply as convenient phrases to hurl at those who disagree with you. If we are really smart, we will take them, and use them to our own advantage.
Keep on reading the papers. You never know when they'll be covering a protest march led by you or me.
To Be Or Not to Be - Politically Correct
Jeanne Gibson writes on a variety of topics from her home in Springfield, OR. Her latest, probably misguided attempt to become somewhat politically correct is to start learning about solar power. Read about her efforts in her blogpost at: http://sowingseedsthatmatter.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-solar-energy-really-practical-for.html