Political Correctness Exposed

Political correctness (PC) has reached epidemic proportions in the world we live in. Political correctness is a fact of life and in my opinion is nothing more than the theology of the highly educated in many cases the unsaved and sadly many who say they are saved. A fact that is particularly the case in the United States is to bow a knee before Humanist Manifesto envisioned PC. Author and Professor William Deresiewicz states rather distinctly, “Let us eschew the familiar examples: the disinvited speakers, the Title IX tribunals, the safe zones stocked with Play-Doh, the crusades against banh mi. The flesh-eating bacterium of political correctness, which feeds preferentially on brain tissue, and which has become endemic on elite college campuses, reveals its true virulence not in the sorts of high-profile outbreaks that reach the national consciousness, but in the myriad of ordinary cases—the everyday business-as-usual at institutions around the country—that are rarely even talked about.”

Commentary and public debate abounds over the issue of political correctness. Everyone, it seems, has an opinion about it or has been affected by its growing influence in our society. In the debate, I would like to give a Christian perspective concerning political correctness.

Several important questions arise in understanding PC.

1) What is the background of this ideology, 2) What is a good response for a Christian to their ideas, and 3) Offer a biblical solution to the problems that they are trying (unsuccessfully, I concur) to resolve.

Political Correctness (PC) defined is an ideological movement that began in the late 80s and early 90s on American college campuses. The proposed goals are to expose and eliminate the intolerance, oppression, and sexism that exist in this country.

The problem, however, is that in an effort to do away with these things, the PC movement has itself become the problem. Jon Miltimore, senior editor for the online journal Intellectual Take-out, refers to an article about the rise of political correctness in America by Angelo Codevilla, a professor of International Studies at Boston University (Claremont Review of Books, Nov.16th, 2016).

Dr. Codevilla wrote that the notion of PC came into use among communists in the 1930s as a semi-humorous reminder that the Communist party's interest was to be treated as a reality that ranked above reality itself. The inside joke among party members at that time went something like this:

Comrade, your statement is factually incorrect. However, it is politically correct.

This is where Codevilla believes the term "politically correct" originated. This little inside joke was a chilling reminder to Stalin's party members that to stray from the communist party line could mean death.

Therefore, whether or not something was true mattered less than whether or not an idea advanced the Communist Party's ideology and agenda. In other words, unless it was PC (according to party doctrine) it was not correct or true.

Never mind the truth or objective reality, reality and truth were what the party said that it was. This term and approach to framing social issues and developing a political narrative have now been appropriated by leftists and progressives here in the United States in order to move their agenda forward.

Let me state upfront, PC is not a goal or an end result as many think. It is a means to an end, as well as a political strategy. The PC movement claims that their basic goal is to fix what they believe is a broken society here in the United Sates.

Their thought is that if they can seize control of American society, they will be in a better position to repair what is broken. PC ideology says the main faults of this nation are the following:

First racism, and particularly racism perpetrated mainly by white people;

Secondly, sexism and sexism perpetrated mainly by men;

Thirdly, oppression and oppression perpetrated mainly by America itself because its accomplishments, laws, and traditions are simply a history and product of racism, sexism, and the oppression of the poor and most recently added to that category, immigrants.

These problems, of course, do exist in this vast country of over 300 million people. The PC movement accepts that these are not simply problems that any large society has but rather that racism, sexism, and oppression of the poor are the basis of deeply seeded American thinking and political policy.

Their solution to these problems involve a complete change in the way that Americans think and relate to one another. The PC strategy has three avenues that will lead them to their main objective which is political and ideological control of this nation. The three avenues to PC control:

1. Promote Universal Multiculturalism 2. Reinvent Language and Law and, 3. The Redistribution of Wealth.

We will take a look at these objectives of PC further below. Never forget we live in a PC world that has little to do with the real truth. Hitler once said quoting Goebbels, "If you tell a lie loud enough, long enough, and often enough it becomes true." (nndb.com) Undeniably true of political correctness.

Edward Younkins says, “Political correctness involves the translation of Marxism from economic terms into cultural terms. The premise underlying political correctness is that if the elite can change the language then they can change." (Younkins “PC”)

Ed Younkins is Professor of Accountancy at Wheeling Jesuit University. When it is boiled down to its purest form the idea of political correctness is to change society from the Christian worldview to one of political correctness.

PC is well integrated into the media, the government, our universities, and found in society overall. Let me make myself clear. I am not proposing bullying, talking down to either women or men, insulting family, ethnicity, and friends. This includes any other verbal or physical assault period.

PC thinkers believe that American history and culture is much too concentrated in European white history and literature. In PC thinking, re-education requires equal time for every culture represented in America today. This means that in the classroom, students should spend equal amounts of time and resources studying George Washington, a white male from European descendants as they study the poetry of Maya Angelou who is a black female and former poet laureate of the U.S. The ultimate aim of universal multiculturalism is to do away with the "melting pot" idea. This idea proposes that when you come to America you embrace the values of the USA set forth in the Constitution along with the particular traditions of this country. In other words, you are no longer a European or Asian but have now become an American.

In PC thinking each culture would promote and develop its own ideas and maintain its own history and traditions above those of their adopted country. America would then no longer be a melting pot but a "quilt of many colors". In a PC society you always have a hyphen when it comes to culture: African-American, Euro-American, Asian-American and Hispanic-American. In this way there would no longer be a uniquely American identity because America would simply become part of a larger global community. Actually, this is the political philosophy of Canada.

If you can change the language and the laws you, over time, eliminate any form of racism, perceived sexism, or harassment. Some common examples:

• Freshmen are now called freshpersons. My son was part of this in his freshman year at a university.
• Ms. instead of Miss or Mrs. This has largely been accomplished in the United States and in Canada.
• Eliminate references to God as Father in the Bible because this is considered sexist.

Many companies and in government forbid employees from reading the Bible at work, even in ones spare time, because this is considered religious harassment of those who do not believe. The most public and vocal causes embraced by this movement are the promoters of LGBTQ and abortion rights.

These sub lobbies have gone from demanding the right to pursue their own sexual orientation or freedom to end a pregnancy, to demanding that the government enact laws that make it a crime to disagree with them or publicly reject their lifestyle or choices concerning abortion.

There are more examples of PC overreach than there is time or space to mention, but one other glaring PC attack involves the love of country that many Americans have. PC culture rejects the practice and display of patriotism. Suppressing patriotism is part of the strategy.

You may recall at the University of Maryland where officials did not want students to fly the American flag during the Gulf War because PC advocates claimed that the flag was a symbol of American oppression.

It is easy to see and research that recent efforts have been made to change laws which are consistent in how we should think or speak, as well as how we relate to each other as Americans are largely done through the influence of PC that began in the late 80s and early 90s.

A basic concept of the PC movement is that America systematically oppresses its poor, and for this reason a redistribution of wealth is necessary. PC terminology does not refer to low income people as "poor" since this is a degrading term.

A person is said to be economically exploited or disadvantaged. Using these terms reinforces the exploitation theme that runs through much of PC rhetoric. The PC's solution to poverty goes beyond the simple concept of the "haves" sharing with the "have-nots."

No indeed. PC wants government to guarantee that wealth is evenly distributed among everyone. The government accomplishes this by taxing the wealthy and the middle class to the point where the poor become the common denominator in the calculation of wealth distribution, thus achieving the downward mobility the PC movement desires in its effort to achieve economic justice.

Make no doubt about it. The battleground for these ideas are the college campuses because this is where the future writers, business leaders, politicians, and social engineers will come from.

The gains of the PC movement can be felt beyond the campuses of America in larger society and government as well. There was vigorous support of gay and abortion rights by the previous administration in this country. Mr. Obama, as President, fully embraced and promoted the ideals of the PC movement while in office.

With all of this happening around us, therefore, how do we as Christians deal with this newest societal and political wave? We will examine two very practical and effective responses that Christians can offer to the people and the influence of PC in our generation.

This ideology and the changes that PC is trying to accomplish in our society stems from frustration that many persons experience as they observe very real social problems that don't seem to be getting any better.

Any one would agree that discrimination does exist in this country where people are at times excluded from opportunity and respect based simply on their color, culture, or their physical and intellectual differences or limitations. No one in their right mind can say that this type of prejudice and its fruit of discrimination is absent in our society.

In addition to this, the oppression of the weak by the strong also persists where the "haves" use their wealth only in the service of gaining more wealth without regard for others and their needs. Do these and other injustices exist in the USA? Of course they do! How could they not?

Every Christian, if they are honest with themselves, would say they are guilty of sin to one degree or another (Romans 3:23). Therefore, to have 335 million sinners inhabit the same country, all vying for the resources of that nation in order to build and maintain their lives, will certainly create instances of one sinning against another through racism, violence, dishonesty, and other forms of evil.

However, I do not believe, nor does the history of this country show, that the United States was founded with the purpose of perpetuating the sinful acts of racism and oppression. One simply has to examine the Constitution to clarify his thinking on this matter.

This country was based on the idea that economic success should be had by all kinds of people, not just white males. That we should have political and religious freedom in this country. That the amount of foreign aid given in comparison to others is quite generous.

The great and tragic proof of this nation's good intentions can be seen by counting the number of American lives sacrificed, not only to defend only this country but also given to defend other nations and their freedom as well.

These acts of valor tell me that the United States was founded on the principle of liberty and justice for all people, not just white Anglo-Saxon males. The ideals of the founding fathers may have not been reached, and the PC movement may be correct in pointing this out (and it is their right, guarded by our laws, to do so).

But to say that the original goal was to produce the evils of racism and oppression is to be guilty of intolerance and hatred, the very thing that they condemn. In my opinion, the PC movement is an overreaction to real problems and in its overreaction it makes these problems worse.

In every generation there are well meaning people who try to find ways to solve society's problems. One only has to look at the breakthroughs in science, social engineering and all manner of philosophical ideas that come and go, one generation after another. I believe and hope that the Political Correctness movement is just one more of these that are going by.

As Christians, however, we understand that the way to deal with evil is to confront it with the truth of the scriptures and remain steadfast that this truth, whether it seems politically correct or not, remains the truth for each generation. Generational ideas and movements change, but the truth of God's word remains the same.

The advocates of the PC movement are merely trying to establish their own standard in order to measure what is correct and right. The mistake with this is that they are trying to take the place of the Bible as the basic standard for what is right and for what is good (1 Timothy 3:15).

Christian principles, authentically applied, prevents a person walking in the light of practicing improper behavior without defining their actions as being PC. Christians by nature have a new heart complete with a “changed mind” which allows them to treat people with respect and kindness. What PC has done is leaving a majority of people in the world who feel PC has stilted important discourse between those that practice self-censorship. A recent poll by Cato research unit reflects how important discourse is stifled. Seventy one percent feel PC has gone too far.

Christianity, when properly applied, produces a man or woman of character with discipline to do the right thing. Every Jew and Christian together need to fight back against this seemingly benign evil or face the consequences. It is my goal to deliver the truth in love for those that are seeking it.

When I say PC has plagiarized the Word of God what I mean by this is that the principles found in the Bible are taken by PC without giving proper credit to the book that has weathered storm after storm and remains as strong today as it ever has in the past.

We are to love those who are in sin but try to bring them out of the darkness into the light. After all, someone did the same for you, and I at some time in the past.

Political correctness has gone too far. If one casually says the wrong thing in the PC environment, you could be fined, fired, or face prosecution. There is a similarity in George Orwell’s 1984 when compared to the PC environment of today.

Orwell envisioned a society where speech would become significantly restricted. In this society, they created what Orwell called “newspeak” that bears a striking resemblance to the PC practiced today.

Anthony Burgess states Orwell’s “newspeak” is, “a reduced language created by the totalitarian state as a tool to limit free thought, and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self-expression, individuality, peace, etc. Any form of thought alternative to the party’s construct is classified as ‘thought-crime.” (Burgess p. 8)

While what you say may not be a crime as of yet, I believe we are heading down a slippery slope. It is, of course, one-sided as well. While the rules that apply to one group does not apply to another. Bill Maher, Sarah Silverman, and Larry David are examples of biased atheistic theology that insults both Christians and Jews equally.

The mainstream media of America bombards one with messages of what we should think, say, believe and do. Appropriate speech predetermined on how you should speak and think by PC. I should know. I worked fourteen years in a governmental office where the right language required on a daily basis where one had to toe the line.

I believe we can state that PC in the form practiced in America and Europe is not from God. However, PC did borrow many of the wonderful principles found in the Word of God. While God is loving and kind, political correctness is not.

If one violates the evolving rules of PC, the results can be harsh and severe. A Christian is advised to follow the principles in the eternal Word of God which will not only please God but assist one in getting along in most situations in the workplace and public situations.

A sense of imminency is missing from the average Christian. Be ready to get ready is a good physiophy. Do not wait. Study the Word of God and walk it out each day. Teach others the Way and become born again and how to study the Word. Do not say I do not know how, or even I do not care. If you need real help email me at the link above and I will help you anyway I can.

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Political Correctness is not