Political correctness

In recent years, we have had more and more phrases taken away from us in the name of political correctness. While I understand that we probably shouldn't use offensive terms in our everyday dialog, we have gone too far in manipulating dialog.


The Democrats have been particularly problematic when it comes to politically correct dialog. They are not pushing to avoid misrepresentations and unfair stereotypes. They are altering dialog in an attempt to manipulate public opinions.

A good example of this is illegal aliens versus undocumented citizens. For years, the former was the term we used to refer to foreigners living illegally in our country. Democrats have been trying to manipulate Hispanic voters in order to improve their party's power. Technically speaking, the politically incorrect term is more accurate. Since this portion of the population is defined by breaking American law, we should not try to prohibit the population from acknowledging that they are here illegally.

Another example of the Democrats exploiting political correctness relates to their views on drug abuse. In recent years, we have been hearing more and more about recreational use of drugs. I could go on a tangent about how the Democrats want to control our lives and give us drugs to take our minds off of our problems, but let's try to stay on topic. I personally feel that drug abuse is discouraging. Recreational use is not. The Democrats politically correct terms is likely increasing drug use in America. Is it really that important that we don't offend druggies?

A bizarre example of politically correct dialog is "Merry Christmas" versus "happy holidays." A lot of people have taken offense to wishing people a merry Christmas and that we must instead wish people happy holidays. While this is wrong, there's actually a problem in the reverse direction. Christians view it as politically incorrect for anyone, including people who do not celebrate Christmas, to wish them happy holidays instead of merry Christmas.

Happy holidays is not only a phrase that can encompass Christmas, but Christians used to embrace the phrase. It's known as the holiday season. When  people are talking about the holidays, they usually like to think of the days ahead that include Christmas and New Years. If it's early enough, it also includes Thanksgiving. It is absurd to think that wishing someone happy holidays is attacking Christianity as the Christian community likes to claim.

If there is one politically correct term that I would most like to eliminate, it would be special needs. The schools like to use this as a way to describe people who have disabilities, especially learning disabilities. The idea is that children with disabilities have different needs, but we don't want to attach negative labels to children who didn't do anything wrong.

The problem with our talks about special needs is that we are attaching a negative connotation to something that is human nature. Children are highly variable, and they all have special needs.

Because of the negative connotation, nobody wants to be labeled as having special needs. Children end up suppressing the characteristics that make them special. Ultimately, people are not coming anywhere close to reaching their potential in the modern world.

I'm fine with some politically correct phrases, but we have gone too far. Politically correct terms should only be developed if the new phrases improve our views. They should not be used to promote a political agenda or to otherwise manipulate the public.