BRADEN FELLINGER
LIBERAL COLUMNIST
Political correctness is the idea that speech or actions should be regulated in order to not offend or marginalize certain groups of people.
Many conservatives point the finger at progressive and liberal-minded people and say that political correctness has gone too far, or it hurts free speech, or it makes it harder to “tell it how it is.” While some liberal-minded people do have a problem with the idea of political correctness, conservatives can be just as bad.
This idea of conservative political correctness is not the exact same as the liberal political correctness, but more of a patriotic correctness. It is the idea that anything that goes against the pride for America or Christianity to an extent is not acceptable. It does however hold the same idea that “this offends me, therefore it should be banned.”
This has been most prominent especially with the rise of President Donald Trump. Days after taking the election, Trump tweeted about how flag burners should be prosecuted, and many of his supporters agree.
Conservatives think that Colin Kaepernick and others should be forced to show respect to the flag. Some believe stomping on and dirtying the flag should be illegal. These ideas are summed up as the widely-used phrase “if you don’t like my flag than you can get out” or “America, love it or leave it.”
The absolute worst of this idea of patriotic correctness started around the War on Terror. During the time of the war, people were told the best thing to do about it was be as patriotic as possible. Patriotism was pushed by the government and people who opposed the war were shunned by Republicans and labeled as traitors.
When Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden exposed the criminality of the Bush Administration and the War on Terror it seemed like conservatives wanted these people dead for hurting the image of the United States, yet when Assange does the same thing to Hillary Clinton it is okay because Hillary Clinton has anti-American ideals.
When the Dixie Chicks stated that they didn’t like Bush or the war, conservatives abhorred them and they were pulled from the radio because country music is supposed to be “conservative.”
As far as speech goes conservatives don’t like the phrase “Black Lives Matter” because that implies that black lives are worth more than any other lives, yet “Blue Lives Matter” is okay because people believe that the police are there to serve the people.
Another example is how it is not okay to say “Happy Holidays”—it has to be “Merry Christmas.” Or how the Women’s March on Washington was stupid because you cannot convince the state of ideas through mass protesting, but the March for Life makes a huge impact.
This idea of patriotic correctness extends to the Christian religion which many conservatives identify themselves with. These conservatives want the state to regulate what two consenting adults do behind closed doors that does not agree with their religion or the idea that we shouldn’t remove the phrase “under God” from anything.
Or how we should not teach evolution in public schools because it goes against God. Or how using scientific reasoning to argue why someone wouldn’t believe in some of the miracles the Church claims should be regulated.
And Trump supporters, it is extremely important that you hold Trump accountable for everything that he says and does. If you do not do this then you are no better than Occupy Democrats or Huffington Post blindly following and worshiping every decision Obama made throughout his presidency.
If Obama’s drone strikes killing civilians angered you then I would hope Trump’s drone strikes killing civilians would ignite that same anger. Republican bombs never have been, nor will they ever be, nicer than Democrat bombs and vice versa.
Do not think that Trump is going to be perfect and will not implement horrible decisions because he already has and will continue to do so. Do not turn a blind eye on Trump just because he is a Republican. Do not get offended when people criticize Trump or the Republican Party.
The point is that political correctness is not just a liberal thing. It is prominent in the conservative ideology as well just on different topics. We all have ideas that offend us or challenge our beliefs because the truth is you will not win most arguments based on what you believe is right.
Nobody knows everything about their beliefs and how to back them up properly. Next time you tell someone that the truth hurts or to go back to their safe space make sure you are not standing in your own safe space.