I recently cut the following paragraph out of a sermon. The sermon was on Galatians 2:1-10. The thesis statement of the sermon was, “We are defined more as Christians by the free choices we make than by the set rules we follow.” Looking at the text, I came to believe that I needed to emphasize choices concerning the poor Galatians 2:10. So, while the paragraph expressed the concept it wasn’t terribly germane to the biblical text. But, I’m fond enough of the paragraph to include it here.
Several years ago, people debated political correctness. Do you remember that? People wanted us to learn new terminology–less abrasive, less historically tainted and derogatory terminology. On the one side of the debate stood those who said, certain terms and images that we have used to describe certain groups are offensive. We ought to change those terms to be less offensive. On the other side of the debate stood those who insisted that we could not make rules and certainly could not make laws governing a person’s speech. I seemed to hear more from the opponents of political correctness than I did from the proponents of political correctness. There were spoofs like Political Correct Bedtime Stories that retold familiar fairy tales using exaggerated politically correct monikers. I’ll admit that for practical purposes I agree with the second group. We cannot legislate what people say or how they say it. But I always had a problem with the tone that this group took. Their tone implied that it shouldn’t matter. They said, in effect, we ought to call another group whatever we feel like calling them because we are free to do so. My opinion is that because we are free, we ought to use our freedom in the most constructive manner possible. Because we are free, our speech does not reflect the rules we follow but the values we hold. If you believe that people are irrelevant, if you believe that their backgrounds and histories do not matter, if you believe that people’s lifestyles, ethnicity or gender disqualifies them from respect, then by all means please continue use bigoted, racist and sexist language because the rest of us would like to know where you’re coming from. If, on the other hand, you truly value the basic dignity of each human person, you might want to consider the way your language reflects that value.
1 comment:
Political Correctness has run amok. It's everywhere...and it's out of hand. I would argue that instead of helping improve communication, being PC has become an impediment to open, fully honest dialogue. Part of the problem is that most of us think we can recognize what PC is and we can filter it out to hear what someone is really thinking if we want to. But truthfully, I don't think anyone really knows what Politically Correct is. We all think we do, but what happens when we want to introduce a friend who happens to be a member of a minority ethnic group who is also physically disabled and happens to follow an alternative lifestyle. There are a myriad of labels that could be considered appropriate, insensitive, rude, polite, ignorant, kind, or inflammatory depending on your audience. And trying to quickly sort them all out and come up with the most politically correct terminology leaves us tongue-tied. Why? Because we think too hard in order to try and be perceived as PC.
Moving down the spectrum, there's Politically Correct, then there's Socially Aware, then Interpersonally Sensitive, and finally Real Truth Stated with Love. Or, in other words, there's Faking It, Lying About It, Covering It Up, Glossing It Over, or Just Being Honest.
Being overly preoccupied with being viewed, as PC is the same as being preoccupied with well our hair is combed, how straight our ties are, and how shiny our shoes are. In other words: how we are perceived whether that perception is honest or not. We must be careful not to allow being PC to change the rules of dialogue to the point where honesty in thought is hidden under lies of PC speech. Honest dialogue must allow for the distinction between brutal truth and unintentional slander versus carefully worded lies and intentional hatred.
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