Political Correctness and the censorship of the truth

I have a few vague memories of political correctness as a child. All of these memories center around what terms were to be used when referring to a race. At least, in the eyes of a child, it seemed like it was all about avoiding needlessly offending people, which is a reasonable goal. However, as time has gone by and the PC movement has grown, it has taken on a completely new agenda. In recent years, it has become a demand that you don’t say anything that might hurt, offend or otherwise make anyone within a 500 mile radius even the least bit uncomfortable, even if what you are saying is the truth. In fact, in this new PC culture the truth holds little to no weight, because the focus is all about people’s feelings. More on that later.

Anything you do and say has the potential of offending somebody, and if we insist on continuing this campaign to protect everybody’s feelings, we are going to paint ourselves into a corner of silence.

The problem that I have with this initiative to never say anything that could even possibly offend somebody isn’t that I want to offend people, it is that I recognize, everything I say has the potential to offend somebody regardless of my intention. However, intentions aren’t considered under this new PC regime, even an attempt at a compliment taken the wrong way can lead to the label of “bigot” being handed out. The comedian Mitch Hedberg actually touched on this in one of his jokes. He joked that it was dangerous to wave your hand at strangers because they may not have a hand and think that you are just being cocky. Anything you do and say has the potential of offending somebody, and if we insist on continuing this campaign to protect everybody’s feelings, we are going to paint ourselves into a corner of silence. Eventually, we won’t be able to speak to each other at all for fear we might accidentally say the wrong thing and be villainized by the world at large.

I’m sure as a child we were all taught that you can’t please everybody all the time. Why has this become the order of the day?

If you are truly trying to function according to this new PC culture, you need to constantly be walking on egg shells. Since, not only is it impossible to predict how people will react to innocent comments, but what the culture deems as acceptable is constantly changing. I’m sure as a child we were all taught that you can’t please everybody all the time. Why has this become the order of the day? We know everybody is different; we know we all have different thoughts, feelings, desires, strengths and weaknesses. Since we recognize that, how can we possibly expect each individual to know and understand every single thing about every single person in order to ensure they won’t say anything to offend. And that doesn’t even take into account that emotions are a funny thing and depending on your mood and what has been going on in your life, something that has never been hurtful before, may be profoundly offensive on one particular day. Would it be fair to hold the people around you accountable for the sudden and temporary change? I don’t think so either, but the PC police wouldn’t care; if something was said the offender would be labeled as insensitive in an instant and you would now be a victim.

The PC generation is so eager to stand for something that they will jump up at a moment’s notice to help fight against whatever threat regardless of if it is real or imagined.

This PC culture has made it so victimhood is the most empowering position for someone. While the rest of us have to walk on eggshells trying to make sure we don’t accidentally say the wrong thing, the victims are allowed to say and do whatever they want in the name of fighting oppression. Not only will their words and actions be condoned and accepted but they will likely be joined by the masses in their fight. The worst part about it is you don’t even actually need to be a victim, you just have to claim it. The PC generation is so eager to stand for something that they will jump up at a moment’s notice to help fight against whatever threat regardless of if it is real or imagined. So, in this twilight zone world we now live in, the people that claim to be a victim have the power and are held as heroes while the rest of the world are held to unattainable standards, forced to censor themselves and in the end become the real victims.

Now we are telling kids that words are the most damaging weapon in the world and that feelings are the most precious thing in the world so what do you think happens when a bully comes along?

Ironically, the very movement that is meant to control the offensive things people say has actually inadvertently given even more power to the bullies of the world. Do you remember when you were a kid and everyone said, “sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me?” Do you think that somehow words have become more powerful between now and then? No, of course not, but then we understood we get to choose the effect those words have on our lives. We were capable of hearing mean spirited comments directed towards us and not let them get to us. By doing this, we not only took away the power of the bullies, but we also taught our kids to rely on something other than the words and affirmation of others. Now we are telling kids that words are the most damaging weapon in the world and that feelings are the most precious thing in the world so what do you think happens when a bully comes along? The kid is devastated and has absolutely no idea how to handle it. We used to teach kids how to be tougher and develop a thick skin. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m against bullying, but I think we need to recognize that bullies will always exist, because the factors that create bullies will always exist. If bullies are always going to exist then we need to teach kids something they can rely on instead of the affirmation of their peers. We need to show them the truth and teach them the truth about who they are so they can learn that those insults are nothing more than lies and they have no lasting effect unless the child allows them to.

Truth is always the same; you can like it, hate it, accept it or deny it but it is still true.

You see in an effort to protect the feelings of every individual, we have replaced absolute truth with subjective and relative truths. The problem with the idea of subjective and relative truth is that once you attempt to bend and twist the truth to your way of seeing things, it stops being the truth. Any type of “truth” that is based on feelings has to be constantly changing since our feelings are constantly changing. The truth cannot change from person to person or day to day. Truth is always the same; you can like it, hate it, accept it or deny it but it is still true. As each individual attempts to change the truth to fit their lives and personality, it stops being the truth becoming nothing more than an opinion. So now that we have renamed opinions as truth, it becomes clear why the opinions of a bully hold so much weight.

I think the truth should always be delivered with love, but people need to understand that the truth is a completely unbiased thing. It has no feelings and it doesn’t take sides; it simply is what it is.

I understand that hearing the truth can be painful sometimes, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t true. I don’t believe that the truth should be used as a weapon to hurt people, but rather as a tool to help and educate people. I think the truth should always be delivered with love, but people need to understand that the truth is a completely unbiased thing. It has no feelings and it doesn’t take sides; it simply is what it is. We can’t continue to deny the truth in an effort to continue our own delusion.

When Jesus was being put on trial by Pilate, He said, “…the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37) Having heard what Jesus said, Pilate responded with “What is Truth?” I often wondered if Pilate was genuinely wondering what the truth was, but as it was just recently pointed out to me, if Pilate was earnestly seeking the Truth, Jesus would have revealed it to Him. The fact that Jesus didn’t minister to Pilate really stands as proof of Pilate’s intentions with that question. He didn’t want to know what truth Jesus was here to testify to; he didn’t believe that there was a truth. Pilate didn’t believe there was an absolute truth and therefore Jesus couldn’t really testify to it. Pilate’s response to Jesus is essentially the world’s response to any truth claim today.

The truth makes us uncomfortable and if the most important thing is our feelings then clearly, that makes the truth our biggest enemy.

The world won’t accept a truth claim, because they refuse to accept that there is an absolute truth. Truth has to be relative, it must be subjective in order to allow them to continue their lifestyle, guilt-free. We run away from the truth because we think it threatens us. The truth makes us uncomfortable and if the most important thing is our feelings then clearly, that makes the truth our biggest enemy. Instead of being enlightened, we continue to live out our delusion. Instead of improving ourselves and the world around us, we perpetuate the lie and watch as people slowly destroy themselves. We count on relative and subjective truth because it allows us to live free-spirited and act according to our own whimsy without regret. It eliminates the need for a guilty conscious since there are no absolutes truths on which to judge right and wrong.

You don’t lay the foundation because you want to limit the possibilities of the house. You do it to protect the house and keep it stable; without a foundation a strong wind or rain could come and sweep the house away.

However, here’s the thing, if you are going to build a house, any contractor will tell you that the first thing you need to do is lay the foundation. You don’t lay the foundation because you want to limit the possibilities of the house. You do it to protect the house and keep it stable; without a foundation a strong wind or rain could come and sweep the house away. The same is true for our lives. We need absolute truth to form our foundation. We need things that we can rely on to always stay the same so when life gets crazy and we are confused, we can look to those things and know they are constant. Without absolute truth we have nothing to hold onto when times get hard. This is why the kid at school being bullied is so hurt by the lies being spread around him, because he has no absolute truth to refute them with.

If somebody asked me what kind of fruit I like, I would specify that I like green apples. By making that distinction, I am admitting that other apples exist and they are all different.

Unfortunately, even Christians have fallen victim to this and I see evidence of accepting this idea of relative truth amongst Christ followers. The evidence actually stems from a seemingly innocuous statement, “Biblical Truth.” I know it doesn’t seem like much, but the reality is that one little statement has enormous implications. By making a statement and then claiming that it is Biblical Truth you have just labeled the truth. By labeling the truth, you have implied that there is more than one truth, which means you have justified anybody that chooses to believe the Bible to be just your truth. For instance, if somebody asked me what kind of fruit I like, I would specify that I like green apples. By making that distinction, I am admitting that other apples exist and they are all different. If I were talking about eggplant I wouldn’t specify a “purple eggplant” since there is only one type. One that holds to subjective truth could also hear Biblical truth and infer that it is in competition with other forms of truth such as “scientific” and “historical” truth. Jesus didn’t say that he came to testify to the biblical truth, the father’s truth, spiritual truth or the truth of the scriptures. Jesus said He was here to testify to, The Truth. He used a definite article for a reason, because there is only one truth. In fact, as big as this world is, it only has enough room for one truth.

We aren’t pointing people to “biblical truth,” but rather we are trying to show them the truth, absolute truth. Truth they can rely on when the storms are raging all around them and their little boat is facing the threat of sinking. Truth, not in competition with science or history, but actually confirmed by both. Truth you can use to form a foundation for success, morality, parenting, marriage and love. Truth not only provides comfort in the chaos, but actually has the power to fight the storms and silence the wind.

The PC regime has come to love all other religions while hating Christianity, which at least in my mind is further proof that Christians are the only religion speaking the truth.

Political correctness isn’t about not offending others, at least not any more. It is a monster that is designed to attack and hide the truth. It is no longer acceptable to point to the truth if that truth counters the feelings of another, but let’s not fool ourselves; Political Correctness’ main goal is not just the silencing of the truth, but yet another attempt to snuff out Jesus Christ and any and all mentions of His Name. Witnessing to others and speaking about Jesus Christ has been labeled as offensive, hateful, bigoted and wrong. The PC regime has come to love all other religions while hating Christianity, which at least in my mind is further proof that Christians are the only religion speaking the truth (something I have already shown you that this culture hates). Political Correctness has placed itself firmly between Christians and the rest of the world. I know people don’t like to be hurt. I don’t like to be hurt either, so I fully understand. Remember when you were a kid and you got a cut and you had to put antiseptic on it? What did your mother tell you? “It will only hurt for a second.” We endured that quick, sharp pain because we knew that it could help prevent serious problems that would last much longer than a few fleeting seconds; we wanted the wound to heal and heal correctly. Well, the sting of the truth will only last for a few seconds as long as you take it and apply it to your life. However, the damage caused by ignoring it and refusing to apply it will last an eternity. If we want our lives and our world to heal and heal correctly, without any long-term effects, we need to hear the truth, face reality and then accept it and apply it to our lives. Don’t let political correctness stop you from bringing healing to the world.