Political Correctness

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday concerns the need to use correct nouns in describing people and circumstances. When liberals/progressives change the meaning of words in an effort to be "politically correct," the result is confusion - and confusion is one of the foundations for chaos and weakness. In order to eliminate as much confusion and chaos as possible, Americans must reject political correctness and "call a spade a spade."

Liberals/progressives have changed the meaning of many words. In fact, no one quite knows what to call these particular people because sometimes they refer to themselves as liberals and other times they are progressives. Now that we call them liberals/progressives, I wonder what name they will choose next.

When I was a child and young woman, the word "gay" meant happy and carefree; now it means homosexual males. The State of Hawaii is called the Rainbow State, but the gay and lesbian community has taken the name Rainbow Coalition. This group has completely changed the idea of "gay" and "rainbow."

Our national leaders have taken great effort since 9/11 to make sure that Muslims understand that the United States is not fighting against all who follow the Islamic religion. Everyone seemed to be very careful to differentiate between "peaceful Islamists" and "radical Islamists" until we were told to stop calling the terrorists "radical Islamists." In reality all Islamists are members of the same religion and all belief in the same Koran. Some Islamists have taken more radical actions than others, but how will the "peaceful Islamists" act in the future? One of the basic principles of their religion is that Sharia law will take over and control the world. How can anyone who follows this principle be considered to be peaceful? Having said this, I support the American principle that everyone should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

Under the Obama Administration the word "terrorist" has become obsolete. We are not to use this word even though terrorists continue to plan more attacks. As we remember the 9/11 attack on the United States by radical Islamist terrorists, the Obama Administration wants to change the sacred American day of mourning and remembrance to a day of service with an acknowledgement that nations across the world have felt the evil and horrible brunt of terrorism. It was America that was attacked on 9/11 and thus this day should be reserved to remember and mourn this attack on our nation. The Obama Administration obviously has different feelings about how to commemorate the day because they put out a list of 9/11 "talking points" with the goal to "present a positive, forward-looking narrative." The guidelines state, "As we commemorate the citizens of over 90 countries who perished in the 9/11 attacks, we honor all victims of terrorism in every nation around the world. We honor and celebrate the resilience of individuals, families and communities on every continent, whether in New York or Nairobi, Bali or Belfast, Mumbai or Manila, or Lahore or London."

An interesting and irritating part of this deal is that the administration put out two sets of instructions: One set of instructions was written for domestic officials speaking to Americans, and the other set of talking points was written for U.S. Embassy officials worldwide when they speak to foreign audiences. The instructions encourage/urge officials to "minimize references to al Qaeda" because al Qaeda's involvement in the September 11 attacks is "increasingly irrelevant" since the killing of Obama bin Laden.

How can we separate the fact the al Qaeda plotted and planned the most horrible terrorist attack in the history of the United States? How can we forget that members of al Qaeda trained and carried out the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on American soil? Even though Osama bin Laden is dead, there are other members of al Qaeda who hate the United States and want to destroy our freedoms. Why should we stop discussing the possible future threats of this organization?

Another way that liberals/progressives are trying to change our language is in referring to those people who enter our country unlawfully. These people were called "illegal aliens" for many years before the "compassion" of liberals/progressives changed the term to "undocumented immigrants." If people come into our nation unlawfully, they are here illegally. Why not call them "illegals" or "illegal aliens?" Calling them "undocumented immigrants" changes the meaning!

Now our government is employing its creative use of language again. As the government issued official communications about Hurricane Irene, the Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) kept calling itself the "federal family." Government or federal government describes those in control of our nation; family denotes warm and loving feelings. Maybe the terms "Big Brother" or "Big Sister" are being taken literally. The government leaders obviously want us to have more favorable feelings towards them. Right now, our "federal family" is dysfunctional; maybe we need to get an annulment or divorce!

Don't get fooled by the new words and new meanings. Don't get drawn into the confusion and chaos that results from changing the meaning of words. Don't fall for political correctness!