Many of the things that seem to be going wrong for America today can be traced to an excess of political correctness -- if, indeed, that's not a redundant phrase. When tempered by confidence in one's self and culture, the desire not to offend others comes out as simple politeness. But when it gets out of control, as it does among Liberals, it becomes a need to prevent oneself from giving any possible hint of offense, combined with a desire to "make up" for any self-perceived racial or cultural advantage one may have, at any cost. Such desires can cause great harm to a person or a culture -- or even kill them.
It's political correctness that's causing us the most harm in the War on Terror, especially in Iraq. How can we win a war in which we're determined not to offend anyone, even the enemy? Political correctness caused us to treat Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as an equal, back when his group of Iran-backed thugs was small enough to take out of the picture, if we'd had the political will. Now, he's a major player -- and a major problem.
In so many cases, our troops are not allowed to return fire when attacked from mosques, nor even from homes without a careful -- and often deadly -- investigation. Every action they take is dissected in detail, second-guessed by the "mainstream" media and those who seem to actually crave failure... and even used to prosecute them for doing their jobs.
In Guantanamo Bay and other places, political correctness prevents us from interrogating captured enemy fighters. Instead, our troops feed them "culturally sensitive" meals and put on gloves before handling their Qur'ans -- giving in to their psychotic conviction that we are "unclean" and need to be converted or wiped out. The gloves are an ironic symbol of the delicate manner in which our soldiers are forced to treat the enemy both on and off the battlefield.
Political correctness prevents us from demanding that Iran and Syria stop shoveling funds, weapons and "foreign fighters" across their borders into Iraq as fast as they can move it all. In our zeal to treat international criminals like statesmen and elected leaders, we cripple ourselves. The leaders of Iran, in addition to supporting terrorists and insurgents in Iraq, are openly working on nuclear weapons and have declared their intention to wipe Israel off the map. Iranian clerics regularly call for the destruction of America, to the cheering of crowds. According to MEMRI (the Middle East Media Research Institute):
Responding to the sermons, frenzied crowds of Iranians chant, "Death to America," "Death to England," and "Death to Israel," with the occasional "Death to Saddam." Other popular chants include "America will be annihilated," "Islam will be victorious," "Woe to the enemy if Khamenei commands me to wage jihad," and countless other curses against the West.
The sermons focus on threats against the "Great Satan," America, and the "Little Satan," Israel, and their coming collapse. Other themes are attacks on President Bush, praise for jihad and martyrdom, Iraq, and support for Iran's nuclear program.What's our politically-correct response to hordes of Iranians screaming for our annihilation? We wonder how we've offended them, and how we can gain their love and trust. No wonder the jihadists are so certain of victory. We seem to have no confidence in our own culture, when people around the world want to join it so badly that in some cases, they risk death just to get here.
Perhaps the gold standard of cultural confidence was set by General Sir Charles Napier, the commander-in-chief of India under British rule. When locals complained about his banning suttee, the practice of burning widows alive on their husband's funeral pyre, Napier is said to have responded, "You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours." As a result, suttee is no longer practiced in India, and the country is much better for its absence.
Even in our own homeland, we have lost our cultural confidence. Political correctness is burying everything that made America the superpower we are today. Some of our greatest strengths have always been our sense of individualism, our spirit of capitalism, our belief in the rule of law, our patriotism and our freedom of (not from!) religious belief. The aggressive secular Socialism pushed by the Left is stifling all those things.
Nanny-state government entitlements sap our self-reliance. Punitive, progressive tax rates destroy our reasons for engaging in capitalistic enterprises. Those who want to secure our borders and stop criminal trespassers are demonised as "bigots" and "racists," as though criminals have a distinct ethnicity. Americans who believe that the purpose of American foreign policy is to promote American interests are derided as "flag-waving mindless patriots" and "nationalists." As John Wayne said in 1972, however, "Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know of a better flag to wave?"
Worst of all, militant secularism is taking a toll on our religious freedom. In what other country would a majority of 82% -- the percentage of Americans who subscribe to one form of Christianity or another, according to a recent Baylor University study -- deliberately act like the minority?
In one recent example of political correctness gone mad, the Olympic skater Sasha Cohen was "stunned" when a city official accompanied by police ordered a high school choir to stop singing "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" on her behalf. They feared that the old song (the lyrics of which reportedly date back to the 15th century) might offend her, because it mentions Christmas and she is half Jewish. No one even bothered to ask Cohen whether she was offended... which she wasn't, as she celebrates Christmas and was currently participating in a "Christmas tree lighting tour" around the country. The grim and scowling spirit of political correctness dictated that she might be offended, therefore the music was offensive and had to be stopped. Let me point out that if you're offended by the mere mention of a religious holiday in public, especially concerning a holiday celebrated by 96% of the people in this country, perhaps you ought to start looking for a country that suits you better.
We're afraid to make any judgments at all, lest someone's feelings be hurt. We spend so much time asking, "Who are we to judge?" that we actually forget who we are. At home, we need to remember that we are the country all others envy, and so many people want so desperately to reach that the sheer number of illegal immigrants actually poses a problem. What other country in the world can make that claim? We need to recover our cultural confidence before we no longer have a culture.
In Iraq and the larger War on Terror, we need to stop tiptoeing around and actually fight our enemies. You might say that we can't win the War on Terror until we start fighting the War on Political Correctness.
