Christianity and Political Correctness

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tommy999
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tommy999

Guest
What are your thoughts on political correctness and whether Christians should adhere to it at all or not.

For the sake of discussion, I found this definition of it on the Internet, although this wasn’t the only one, but it gets the point across:

** Political Correctness:
“Agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people” **

Do you think it is good or bad for society?

Should Christians be politically correct?

Do you consider yourself to be fully politically correct, partially, or not at all?

Here are a couple of examples of what I consider to be politically correct statements:
  1. Referring to a homosexual as “gay”.
  2. Referring to a child who misbehaves on a regular basis as “behaviorally challenged”.
As for me, I try to follow the Golden Rule and treat others as I would like to be treated but sometimes I get the sense that political correctness has gone too far, as in the case in California last December where a neighbor of terrorists didn’t report their suspicious behavior because she didn’t want people to think she was prejudiced. It turned out that her neighbors were indeed terrorists who later killed a bunch of people at a Christmas party.
 
I think it would be good for society as a whole, but it comes at the price of restriction to free speech. Europe is a good example of this, they have much more restrictions on free speech but as a society I think most European countries are better than the US disregarding the freedom of speech.
 
The scourge of “political correctness” goes way beyond speech and speech codes. It has morphed to become things like the charge of “cultural appropriation” (wearing a hair or clothing style that allegedly “belongs” to one race or group, or lately, that only people of one ethnic group can cook food originating in that group); food in schools (that sandwiches and certain other foods commonly found in schools are “racist” because they originated in the majority white community; and of course what has become “bathroom rights” based on what gender identity one feels like on a certain day. In my view political correctness is nothing more than Nazism as applied to speech and thought. Tremendously destructive.
 
My opinion of 'political correctness"? I prefer the Golden Rule.
 
Tommy999 said:
** Political Correctness:
“Agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people” **
Click to expand...
How does this differ from politeness?
 
While we should strive not to be offensive to people, that doesn’t mean we go to stupid extremes. While certain terms almost always have a derogatory meaning, some do not.

But I also notice that often times the same people who are offended have no problems being offensive themselves. Example: Among the gay community, “straight” people are very commonly referred to as (due to politeness: word omitted) and it’s usually not intended as a compliment. But the politically correct crowd has no problems with that.

Being “politically correct”, also includes a subtle form of control and censorship. Unless you conform to this one way of speaking, you have no right to speak. Since you have no right to speak, anything you say has no value. You have no credibility as a person. You are a “bad person”, which is looked at by many as being sub-human.

We see this happen all the time. If you don’t use the politically correct term, you are a bigot, racist, prejudiced, etc, and just by that so-called “fact” alone, you have lost all credibility. It is defamation of character.
 
Ojo_Feliz said:
How does this differ from politeness?
Click to expand...
i agree. in my day it was called “having manners”. decency has nothing to do with being “political”, and I think the term tarnishes the very good motive behind it, by making it obligatory to adhere to certain ways of speaking and acting, instead of just putting yourself in someone elses shoes and thining “how is my attitude/action/speech going to affect others?” So Political Correctness makes people angry, and then they become proud of being “politically incorrect”, which in their minds justifies acting like jerks.
 
I think being PC has a big problem in that it leads to a lot of the fake. When a guy wants to be with genuine people it can be a real slow drag to wander around listening to verbal tiptoeing.

I don’t need to be wrapped in cotton.

And neither do you.

Peace.

-Trident
 
Tact and politeness were always good.

There are two things wrong with “politically correct”, one is “political” and the other is “correct”.

Power weilders use it to get at the vulnerable whom they’ve no business getting at.

And it’s getting more and more out of hand. Ten years ago it looked like a bit of eccentric finnicking.
 
Tommy999 said:
What are your thoughts on political correctness and whether Christians should adhere to it at all or not.

For the sake of discussion, I found this definition of it on the Internet, although this wasn’t the only one, but it gets the point across:

** Political Correctness:
“Agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people” **

Do you think it is good or bad for society?

Should Christians be politically correct?

Do you consider yourself to be fully politically correct, partially, or not at all?

Here are a couple of examples of what I consider to be politically correct statements:
  1. Referring to a homosexual as “gay”.
  2. Referring to a child who misbehaves on a regular basis as “behaviorally challenged”.
As for me, I try to follow the Golden Rule and treat others as I would like to be treated but sometimes I get the sense that political correctness has gone too far, as in the case in California last December where a neighbor of terrorists didn’t report their suspicious behavior because she didn’t want people to think she was prejudiced. It turned out that her neighbors were indeed terrorists who later killed a bunch of people at a Christmas party.
Click to expand...
Jesus was not politically correct. Neither were His apostles.

Of course, we have to survive in this godless society, but should never lose the focus of our faith.
 
Eric_Magus said:
i agree. in my day it was called “having manners”. decency has nothing to do with being “political”, and I think the term tarnishes the very good motive behind it, by making it obligatory to adhere to certain ways of speaking and acting, instead of just putting yourself in someone elses shoes and thining “how is my attitude/action/speech going to affect others?” So Political Correctness makes people angry, and then they become proud of being “politically incorrect”, which in their minds justifies acting like jerks.
Click to expand...
👍

There may be something to be said about basic manners and etiquette. Being politically incorrect is no virtue either. There is nothing virtuous about calling someone the “n” word even though it is politically incorrect.
 
Trident_H said:
I think being PC has a big problem in that it leads to a lot of the fake. When a guy wants to be with genuine people it can be a real slow drag to wander around listening to verbal tiptoeing.

I don’t need to be wrapped in cotton.

And neither do you.

Peace.

-Trident
Click to expand...
I would keep clear of people who use being politically incorrect as an excuse to act like a jerk.

There is no rule that says I should.
 
We should try to spread the truth, even if it is not politically correct.
 
Trident_H said:
I think being PC has a big problem in that it leads to a lot of the fake. When a guy wants to be with genuine people it can be a real slow drag to wander around listening to verbal tiptoeing.

I don’t need to be wrapped in cotton.

And neither do you.

Peace.

-Trident
Click to expand...
Are you saying that being kind and polte in your speech is “fake?” If you can’t be genuine and have to watch what you say, I would have to infer that your normal speech is far less than kind.

Taking care not to refer to people in terms that they find offensive is not, IMO, a scourge but normal good manners. And excusing the use of offensive turns because “they do it too” is not much of an excuse after the age of five.
 
Eric_Magus said:
i agree. in my day it was called “having manners”. decency has nothing to do with being “political”, and I think the term tarnishes the very good motive behind it, by making it obligatory to adhere to certain ways of speaking and acting, instead of just putting yourself in someone elses shoes and thining “how is my attitude/action/speech going to affect others?” So Political Correctness makes people angry, and then they become proud of being “politically incorrect”, which in their minds justifies acting like jerks.
Click to expand...
👍 Exactly

I also think “political correctness” is just a new term for good manners. I’ve noticed that a lot of the people who constantly complain about political correctness are folks who miss “the good old days” when it was common to hear vulgar slang to describe pretty much every ethnic or religious group. But, even back then, well-bred people didn’t use those terms. (Somewhat ironically, there was actually a pretty ugly term reserved for the type of people who used that kind of language.)

Whining about political correctness is part of the new perpetual victimhood mentality. You say something you know is ugly and offensive, get called on it and play the p.c. victim card. I was raised in the South at a time when it was pretty common to hear offensive terms but I was taught at an early age that I was not to repeat them, even if it was something I had heard my elders say. (My grandfather had a nasty word for every group you could think of-blacks, Mexicans, Jews, Catholics, Irish, Italians-you name it, he had an ugly word.) I guess my parents invented political correctness but they just called it good manners.

I really get tired of hearing people complain that they are expected to use good manners and to try to avoid offensive language. Talk about “first world problems.” The funny thing is, the people who complain about it the most are usually the first to take offense if someone uses a derogatory word to describe a group they belong to.

Sure, as with everything, some people take it too far. But, it’s a mistake to think this is a new phenomenon, it just has a new name. It’s simply more politically correct to complain about political correctness than it is to complain about being expected to avoid vulgar and/or offensive language. I find this trend towards perpetual victimhood more troubling than the trend towards “the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people.”
 
Book_Worm said:
Are you saying that being kind and polte in your speech is “fake?” If you can’t be genuine and have to watch what you say, I would have to infer that your normal speech is far less than kind.

Taking care not to refer to people in terms that they find offensive is not, IMO, a scourge but normal good manners. And excusing the use of offensive turns because “they do it too” is not much of an excuse after the age of five.
Click to expand...
Well I think there’s a difference between reaching for an abrasive adjective and just saying things normally. I mean I’m not offended if you call me gay. I know what it means and so do you. But if you want to call me sexually misunderstood or biologically diverse or newly-created-from-moonbeams-off-a-rainbow I think we’re stepping to a dance I don’t need. I’m not that fragile.

So you want to call a kid mute instead of verbally challenged I think that’s fair. But you don’t have to reach down and call him dumb.

Does that make sense?
 
Trident_H said:
Well I think there’s a difference between reaching for an abrasive adjective and just saying things normally. I mean I’m not offended if you call me gay. I know what it means and so do you. But if you want to call me sexually misunderstood or biologically diverse or newly-created-from-moonbeams-off-a-rainbow I think we’re stepping to a dance I don’t need. I’m not that fragile.

So you want to call a kid mute instead of verbally challenged I think that’s fair. But you don’t have to reach down and call him dumb.

Does that make sense?
Click to expand...
Actually, it makes a lot of sense. I think you are highlighting one of the real problems with the term “political correctness”- it means different things to different people. To folks like my Grandfather, it means they can’t say “spc," or "kke” or “n*gger” anymore. To a younger person, who would never dream of using those terms, it means having to stay up on the latest acceptable terminology for any given group. I totally get how that could be frustrating. As a lover of language, I, too, find some of the convoluted new names to be confusing from a communication standpoint.

I remember back in the eighties when people started using the term developmentally disabled instead of retarded. I was working at a facility for the developmentally disabled and whenever I would tell an older relative that, they would look at me like I was speaking Greek. I would usually end up saying “I work with retarded people” not because I liked the term, or even because they liked the term, but because it was really the only way to effectively communicate with them about the work I was doing. They simply had no clue what “developmentally disabled” even meant.

I think that’s one reason I’m sick of hearing people complain about “political correctness” though. As I said earlier, the term is itself a convoluted “politically correct” term that doesn’t really communicate what the person is trying to say because it means different things to different people. It’s a lazy type of language shorthand. When someone uses that term, I always ask them to be more specific about what it is they are complaining about. You would be surprised how often the answer, if the person is over fifty, is something like “I got sent to sensitivity training for calling the queer in the mail room a fa**ot.” I guess I just don’t have a lot of sympathy for those folks.
 
spiderweb said:
While we should strive not to be offensive to people, that doesn’t mean we go to stupid extremes. While certain terms almost always have a derogatory meaning, some do not.

But I also notice that often times the same people who are offended have no problems being offensive themselves. Example: Among the gay community, “straight” people are very commonly referred to as (due to politeness: word omitted) and it’s usually not intended as a compliment. But the politically correct crowd has no problems with that.

Being “politically correct”, also includes a subtle form of control and censorship. Unless you conform to this one way of speaking or thinking of things, you have no right to speak. Since you have no right to speak, anything you say has no value. You have no credibility as a person. You are a “bad person”, which is looked at by many as being sub-human.

We see this happen all the time. If you don’t use the politically correct term, you are a bigot, racist, prejudiced, etc, and just by that so-called “fact” alone, you have lost all credibility. It is defamation of character.
Click to expand...
Thanks to all for sharing your perspectives on this issue and the insightful and thought-provoking replies. For whatever it is worth, this quote above by Spiderweb comes closest to my own thinking on the subject.

While I am a firm believer in politeness and extending courtesy to others, the term “political correctness” – at least how I understand the term – goes beyond mere politeness, treating others like you’d like to be treated, and trying not to be a jerk.

As Spiderweb mentioned, being “politically correct”, also includes a subtle form of control and censorship. Unless you conform to a particular belief or a specific way of speaking, you have no right to speak. Since you have no right to speak, anything you say has no value. You have no credibility as a person and are labeled such things as a bigot, racist, anti-this or anti-that.

For example, if you disagree with abortion like I do and have religious, moral, and practical reasons for opposing it, you may be labeled as “anti-choice” or against women’s health by politically correct secularists who think of you as some sort of bigot or intolerant person.

I think political correctness can be used as a means of silencing those who disagree with something or to stain the reputation of people whose beliefs or opinions differ with those who are in political power or who control the media at the time.

I hope that Christians will never allow themselves to be silenced from being true to their heartfelt beliefs, provided they express them in a respectful way. However, I hope I will always be respectful of others whether they agree with me or not as I strive to see them through the merciful eyes of God’s love, as I hope they do likewise with me.
 
Tommy999 said:
What are your thoughts on political correctness and whether Christians should adhere to it at all or not.

For the sake of discussion, I found this definition of it on the Internet, although this wasn’t the only one, but it gets the point across:

** Political Correctness:
“Agreeing with the idea that people should be careful to not use language or behave in a way that could offend a particular group of people” **

Do you think it is good or bad for society?

Should Christians be politically correct?

Do you consider yourself to be fully politically correct, partially, or not at all?

Here are a couple of examples of what I consider to be politically correct statements:
  1. Referring to a homosexual as “gay”.
  2. Referring to a child who misbehaves on a regular basis as “behaviorally challenged”.
As for me, I try to follow the Golden Rule and treat others as I would like to be treated but sometimes I get the sense that political correctness has gone too far, as in the case in California last December where a neighbor of terrorists didn’t report their suspicious behavior because she didn’t want people to think she was prejudiced. It turned out that her neighbors were indeed terrorists who later killed a bunch of people at a Christmas party.
Click to expand...
What does it mean to offend?

Christi pax,

Lucretius
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top