Saturday, March 17, 2018

DEAR CHRISTIANS, JESUS WAS/IS POLITICALLY CORRECT

If you ask my niece what being politically correct means, she will tell you if refers to people refusing to allow others to express their beliefs. If you ask me what it means, I'll grab a dictionary, because just as the word "Christian" doesn't equate with "warmonger", though many on the far left think so, being PC doesn't mean what the far right tries to say it means either. 
Both are wrong. 
Webster says: Definition of politically correct : conforming to a belief that language and practices which could offend political sensibilities (as in matters of sex or race) should be eliminated. 
Following that definition, being politically correct means being thoughtful, not casting the first (or second, etc) VERBAL stone. It's kind. It's Christianly. It's exactly WJWD. So why do so many Christians decry it? Because their leaders do. 
If you give it some thought, you can agree that Jesus was being politically correct when He drew in the sand and defended the woman brought to Him for stoning. He was being PC when He spoke to the woman at the well. He was being politically correct when He told us about the good Samaritan, when He associated with tax collectors, prostitutes, etc. He accepted and was kind to people that did not follow his rules because He knew and knows that you don't win souls by being cruel and judgmental, which is exactly what is left when you go backwards to the days where we all said nigger and had our own water fountains - cruelty and judgement. 
Still, I can't get ultra conservatives to understand that. I also can't seem to get it through to them that if the phrase "politically correct" specifically means something different than what you're talking about, and it does, then you desperately need a new phrase because you're only breeding confusion. I hate it when liberals call the warmongers and KKK nuts Christians, and I hate it when conservatives act like PC is evil. Both scenarios are equally wrong and play into the divide between good people. 
God is about unity. 
Christ was as liberal as He was conservative. Some might have a point if they claimed He was much more liberal than conservative, but I will be one of the first to point out that there are ideas worth conserving and Jesus upheld many of those, so He could easily be seen as both liberal and conservative. 
In light of that, let's strive, if we call ourselves Christians, to be Christ-like. Let's liberate people and conserve decency. 
And most of all, let's throw away all the preconceived ideas and the labels that divide us.

IN DEFENSE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS



Political correctness is a hot button lately, thanks to certain remarks from a high profile politician, but it doesn't matter if Obama said it, or Trump implied it, or the queen of England decreed it: political correctness does NOT mean "it's wrong to share your beliefs with others". It simply means it's wrong to be cruel or to discriminate against other people who are free (just like you and I are free) to believe as THEY wish. 
Yes, sometimes PC seems excessive. In my own humble opinion it sometimes gets excessive (I shouldn't say "American" or "mother'?!) but so does religion, parenting, politics, and many other potentially good things that humans tend to be passionate about. It takes vigilant, deliberate thoughtfulness to keep humanity on an ever improving path. It's tricky! Going downhill and backwards is easy! Improving and trudging uphill is not. 
It's important to remember, now more than ever, that PC was created to keep us be kind. "We can't hear one another when we're engaged in a yelling match," and not being PC (name calling and being unkind) is one of the quickest ways to start a yelling match! We've been there and done that. Let's not go backwards!

Use the link below to access a great article on this subject.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-dawn-turner-column-political-correctness-20150812-column,amp.html