Mandating Political Correctness

One must consider context with bumper stickers. One sticker is a hint. A cluster offers a clearer indication of what the vehicle’s owner thinks. “Question Authority” is often found next to “Obama/Biden,” and “Love Your Mother” with an earth for the O, and “COEXIST” with the Islamic crescent for the C, a peace sign for the O,  and so forth. The vehicle is usually a Volvo or Prius owned by a greenie Democrat careful to be politically correct in everything said.

Political correctness is largely self-imposed and I don’t do it. Regular readers know this. Most Americans self-censor though, and that has implications for me in casual conversation with family, friends, and acquaintances. I don’t go out of my way to make others uncomfortable by stating my opinions, and lately I prefer to remain silent until asked for input. I get forum enough publishing a weekly column in this space.

I’m seeing a fearful trend lately, however, and I do mean fearful. Political correctness is being imposed. Just this month Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a woman I greatly admire, was offered and honorary degree at Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Then the offer was withdrawn after pressure from a terrorist-funding organization called CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations.

CAIR was named an un-indicted coconspirator in the Holy Land terrorist funding trial. While it poses as a civil rights organization, its clandestine purpose is to funnel money and support to radical Muslim groups like Hamas, which is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and killing of every Jew there, among other horrific things. Islam also tacitly accepts genital mutilation of girls, and this was done to Hirsi Ali in Somalia when she was very young. 

Islam tacitly accepts forced marriage too, as Hirsi Ali’s father tried with her. She was supposed to marry an older, male relative in Canada, but she got off in Amsterdam where she was to board a connecting flight and was granted asylum. She was eventually elected to Dutch Parliament and produced a movie called “Submission” with Theo Van Gogh, grandnephew of the famous painter. The film depicted Muslim male violence against women, something about which Hirsi Ali had first-hand knowledge. For making Submission, Van Gogh was murdered on the streets of Amsterdam by a Muslim terrorist. A note was pinned to his body with a dagger promising Hirsi Ali would be next. Ever since, she’s had armed guards around her 24-7.

Hirsi Ali doesn’t support coexistence with Islam because if its treatment of women, and out of fear of being labeled “Islamophobic” by CAIR, Brandeis disinvited her. “Islamophobic” means “irrational fear of Islam,” but Hirsi Ali’s fear is anything but irrational given Islam’s fatwa against her. A Jewish university like Brandeis would be irrational for not fearing an organization like CAIR that raises funds for Hamas, which pledges to kill Jews and Christians “to the last one.” So why did Brandeis cave? Was it fear of CAIR, or fear of being seen as politically incorrect by the rest of academia? Looks like both to this writer.

The same week, Brendan Eich was forced to resign as CEO of Mozilla, makers of web browser Firefox and a company he co-founded. He had given a $1000 donation to Proposition 8, passed by the voters of California defining marriage as between one man and one woman. That’s politically incorrect. He was told to make an unequivocal statement in support of homosexual “marriage” or be fired immediately.

Brendan Eich

Another fearful example last week was revealed in an article by former DOJ official J. Christian Adams: “Emails obtained by Judicial Watch through the Freedom of Information Act reveal Lois Lerner cooking up plans with Justice Department officials to talk about ways to criminally charge conservative groups that are insufficiently quiet.”

Being a Roman Catholic American is also politically incorrect. To follow the Magisterium, or teachings of the Church, is to believe abortion kills a human being and homosexuality is “intrinsically disordered.” That puts us on a collision course with the progressive Thought Police. As the former president of the American Conference of Catholic Bishops, Francis Cardinal George of Chicago, said in 2010: “I’ll die in my bed. My successor will die in prison. His successor will die a martyr. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.” Two years later, Cardinal George said he was being “overly dramatic.” Let’s hope he was, but I can't help wondering what he would say in 2014.