A nation offended
LARRY ANDERSON
Larry Anderson
Tolerance is far more theoretical than evident. This has been borne out historically and is still obvious today. While most try to embrace the notion to an extent, some only speak highly of the principle before cutting loose.
Liberals pronounce tolerance with an unnatural zeal that makes one question their sincerity and depth of commitment. There is such a thing as protesting too much.
Sure, we should all be accepting of one another, but there must be room for dissent or we become negligent of the truth. Mindless tolerance can lead to putting up with anything, with discipline enforced by social condemnation and leading to corruption.
A willingness to endure too much because one feels compelled to do so by social pressure can lead to a culture fearful of offense at any level. That can have a crippling effect on freedom, lead to a passive acceptance of authoritarian commentary, and align all with one point of view.
Nothing good there.
Liberalism in recent years has given rise to the politics of apology through which contrite leaders substitute for a historical context their narrow view of a world short on perfection. It is a declaration of moral superiority as if judgments, events, and social circumstances had no bearing at the time they occurred.
Those who clamor for apologies for how a war is fought, for instance, show no empathy for the horrors of it or respect for those who experienced it. Typically, those with the widest mouths are the ones with the least knowledge. Their complaints are grounded in propaganda.
Lefties seem incensed by the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan in the closing days of World War II and would be comforted by apologies. But they weren’t there, nor do they understand the depleted state of the world at the time. They are indifferent to the projected millions of American casualties had not the bombs cut short the need for invasion.
Asking liberals to investigate history is asking too much. Calculation based on dippy idealism substitutes for the shock of reality.
Perhaps this accounts for the safe places, the cry-ins, and the name-calling from those unprepared for the world as it is.
In any case, the actions of those in the past reflect poorly only if they are presumed to continue. No one living today had any bearing whatsoever on events leading to the Civil War or World War II for that matter. To claim a modern proximity is political and accomplishes nothing beyond that intent. Now isn’t the same as then.
Political correctness has shaped a nation offended. Today if something doesn’t offend thee, then you are alone.
We must change traditional names to avoid offense even if those allegedly wronged is specious at best. For instance, a bureaucrat recently declared offense at the name Squaw Creek and declared it void in favor of something more benign. No offended person came forward to explain how the name of a creek altered his/her life.
No bureaucrat stuck his head out his hole to explain.
This is government overreach, a sticking it to the folks in an area that went to the right despite the lectures, the condescension, and the long looks down narrow beaks as presented by that other side.
At the University of Kansas, students may pick up pins to declare boldly the pronoun that best suits who they may be if they aren’t mistaken. Boys can choose a “He Him His” while girls can select “She Her Hers,” as if those haven’t been in use for a while. Those who don’t identify with either can chose “They Them Theirs.”
A sign in the library where the buttons can be acquired reads, “Because gender is, itself, fluid and up to the individual, each person has the right to identify their own pronouns, and we encourage you to ask before assuming someone’s gender…”
Now, you see the onus of understanding a person’s gender has been placed upon others. You should ask, apparently, “Are you a dude, Steve?” or “Are you really a girl, Priscilla?” before engaging in whatever.
Unless one has a button.
Even then choose your words carefully. The offended are everywhere, ready to pounce on deplorables using pronouns.
Understand, this isn’t scholarship or progress. It is just liberalism in its absurd finery, pandering away.
This is why I urge parents everywhere to look closely at colleges and universities before sending “He She Them” off for cleansing and indoctrination. Otherwise, politically speaking, you may not like what you get back.
