Scrapping Traditions
How do you celebrate Veterans’ Day without those pesky displays of patriotism? Just ask the powers that be at Seattle Pacific University. In an effort to refrain from offending anyone…hmmm…it was announced that the Christian school would not have the presentation of the colors or the reciting of The Pledge of Allegiance during their chapel this week when they hold their Veterans’ Day remembrance.
After this news came out last Friday in the conservative student-run website The College Fix, the school—one day later—reversed their decision and now the Veterans’ Day service at the chapel will include The Pledge and presentation of the colors. The SPU Military & Veteran Support Group launched a Facebook campaign to get the word out about their school’s stance that “a few people” would be made “uncomfortable” if The Pledge were recited during a Christian service.
Of course, that makes no sense at all, given that our nation as founded began as a place where people (the Pilgrims) escaped to so that they could specifically practice Christianity and where they would be free to read the Bible without having to go through the Church of England (the King) and accept whatever interpretation came down from him. So, reciting The Pledge, especially during a Veterans’ Day service, would be entirely appropriate at a Christian university.
But that involves knowing history. Today’s college campuses are more interested in ridiculous speech codes and protecting students from “micro-aggressions”. Instead of being hotbeds of new and diverse thinking, most college campuses today are run by far-left professors and administrators who believe the only people that it’s okay to offend are Christians…and apparently the military. Many campuses today are filled with children in adult bodies who feel threatened and “uncomfortable” if they encounter beliefs that challenge their own.
The Constitution—when taught at all— is presented as a “living, breathing document” that should change with the times and be molded to the whims of whomever is in power. Students don’t learn any longer that our Constitution was meant to be a firm foundation of eternal truths upon which the strongest most influential nation in world history was built.
To even introduce the idea that displays of patriotism are inappropriate on Veterans’ Day—at a Christian university, no less—is a little ominous. People in a free society should expect that at some point, they may encounter something that will offend them. The chapel service at Seattle Pacific isn’t even mandatory for students, so anyone who thinks they would be offended by what happens there could just not show up.
But that would be too easy. It’s much better (in the minds of some) to strip away every patriotic vestige from true American holidays for everyone else…and give a slap in the face to those who served our country in the process.
Upside Down
Once there was a time when speech codes and political correctness were mostly confined to college campuses and highly liberal enclaves on the left coast of America. Not anymore. The PC disease is spreading to ever younger populations in states that most would consider “Red States” with traditional, tried-and-true values.
Take for instance, Lincoln, Nebraska. Middle school teachers there were given a new training document, provided by an organization called Gender Spectrum that encourages teachers to rid themselves and their classrooms of the use of any and all words that refer to two genders. They are not to call boys, “boys” or girls, “girls”, or even the collective term “you guys”. No, this document recommends they refer to the young people as “purple penguins” or some other gender-neutral expressions.
For example, your teacher may have made a statement like this: “Okay, boys and girls, I want all of you to stand up in a single-file line so we can walk to the gymnasium.”
In the public schools of Lincoln, Nebraska, it will become: “Okay purple penguins, please line up so we can walk to the gymnasium.”
This would be pretty hilarious if the adults in charge weren’t so serious. Lincoln School Superintendent Steve Joel feels pretty good about making this change. He told a local radio show, “We don’t get involved with gender preferences. We’re educating all kids . . . and we can’t be judgmental.”
How is calling a female child a girl or a male child a boy being judgmental? In the minds of progressives, it’s not fair to force people into these kinds of roles. Throwing science and reason to the wind, as they so often accuse conservatives—especially Christians—of doing, these people are attempting to create some sort of genderless society. They want to include what they believe are the many types of people who don’t identify with the two genders most of us have known about since childhood—that gender goes beyond biology. What you’re born with might not be who you are, and there a lot of other options now. If you don’t believe this, check out the “About Us” page on the Gender Spectrum website.
Just briefly reading through the people of Gender Spectrum, I learned I don’t have to be just a female anymore. I can be a “cisgender”, meaning I’m identifying as the gender of my birth. According to the mission statement of this organization, their goal is to provide “training and support to help create a gender sensitive and inclusive environment for all children and teens.” Should you read around their website, and you’ve always known yourself to be either male or female and you’ve been OK with it, what you’ll find is enough to make your head explode.
This whole notion of multiple genders is taking a very simple concept and turning it into a mountain of confusion and twisted thinking. The training document includes 12 “easy” steps to gender inclusiveness. One step tells teachers to reinforce the gender inclusive message by plastering signs around their classrooms such as images that show people who don’t fit traditional gender roles or having door hangers that say, “All Genders Welcome”.
Step #6 is particularly troubling as it calls for teachers to correct their students if they hear them referencing gender in a “binary manner” (i.e. the way nature intended).
Don’t children have enough to think about in school these days with the Common Core dictating what they learn and how they learn it? Now they also have to monitor their speech to make sure they don’t call each other by what their own common sense tells them they are. In this kind of environment, every little girl who used to be called a “tomboy” or any little boy who expresses an interest in cooking is ripe for being set on a path of confusion. In the hands of adults who think this way, they grow up believing that there really is nothing that is absolute.
If something as basic as gender is always in question and you can change it as you feel led, won’t children wonder what else in life can be relied upon?
It would be nice if what happens in Lincoln stays in Lincoln. Unfortunately, political correctness is everywhere, rearing its ridiculous, ugly head. It’s the disease that’s sweeping America and common sense is the only cure…and that’s in short supply at the moment.
Thin-Skinned Clowns
If you just landed from another planet in the last day or two, you might think that the biggest issues rocking America are the “inappropriate” antics of an unknown rodeo entertainer who performed at the Missouri State Fair over the weekend.
Rodeo clown Tuffy Gessling appeared at the state fair Saturday night, doing what comedians have done for decades—wearing a mask that looked like the current president and mocking him. Under previous administrations, an entertainer poking fun at the president would be good for a few laughs and then everyone moves on.
But under this president, as always, things just don’t work that way. Offended members of his party and some Republicans have made sure that they’ve gone on record to let anyone who’ll listen know how offensive and disrespectful they think this is. Some are also pretty sure this was some sort of racist commentary on the part of the clown because as we all know, any jab of any kind made towards Obama is made only because he’s half Black.
Gessling over-estimated the ability of many people to take a joke when he appeared in the Obama mask Saturday night during the rodeo at the state fair (that receives state taxpayer funding). As rodeo clowns do, he was taunting the bull, as he was being taunted by the stadium announcer. Because the announcer and the clown were both wearing microphones, it’s a little hard to tell who was saying what when watching the video. However, neither said anything that presidents of the past didn’t have said about them without any fanfare.
The outrage has been swift and predictable. Missouri state fair officials have condemned Gessling’s actions, as have the Rodeo Cowboy Association who employed him but for some reason didn’t know who he was. He has been banned for life from ever performing at Missouri’s state fair. U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill, (D-MO) called it a “shameful” stunt. Another Missouri Democrat, Congressman Lacy Clay said the rodeo clown incident “showed an ugly face of intolerance and ignorance to the world.” Republican State Representative Caleb Rowden took to Twitter to voice his disapproval: “I don’t agree (with) this (president) on many things. But he is deserving of respect and shouldn’t be the object of political stunts. Out of line!”
Obama, the object of political stunts? Of course not! He should only be allowed to be the creator of political stunts. Like the one where information was withheld until after the election about what was going on and where he was the night our embassy in Benghazi was attacked and four people died. Then there was the one where the IRS was directed to give extra scrutiny to conservative groups prior to the 2012 election that kept them from being able to raise funds and voter awareness during the election season. Those were hilarious. * (NOTE: sarcasm intended- don’t want to offend anyone.)
Where was the outrage when George W. Bush was president and an off-Broadway play and an independent film were produced depicting his assassination? I don’t remember Claire McCaskill or anyone else being offended by that.
Politicians from all levels of government disrespect the American people day in and day out. They sign bills they don’t read that will change our lives (not their own) dramatically (Obamacare), and they spend our money on ridiculous things (take your pick). They do whatever they want, regardless of what we tell them we want, and they do it without consequence. If you’re going to be offended, be offended by politicians who think they know how to run your life better than you do.
..and if you’re a politician who doesn’t like being mocked, lampooned or called a clown— please choose another career path.
As for rodeo clown Gessling, he’s made no public statements as of now. He’s probably looking for a place to exile himself with the likes of Paula Deen, George Zimmerman and others whose lives and livelihoods have been ruined by the cruel hand of political correctness.
***8/14/13 UPDATE: Missouri state fair officials now want to require all future rodeo clowns to undergo sensitivity training! READ MORE HERE. Also, a Texas Republican Representative has invited the banished clown Tuffy Gessling to perform in Texas. Representative Steve Stockman said, “Disagreeing with speech is one thing. Banning it and ordering citizens into reeducation classes for mocking a liberal leader is another…liberals have targeted this man for personal destruction to create a climate of fear.”
Hurray for Rep. Stockman and Texas!
Dumb Bunnies
By now, you might be hoping that Punxsutawney Phil considers a different career path other than meteorology before next February. People have been blaming him for the less-than-spring-like temperatures that most of the nation has been having this month after he predicted an early spring. Did they call him a fraud last year when he said there’d be six more weeks of winter, but then we had summer temperatures in March? Probably not—the poor critter can’t get a break. He’s even got an Ohio lawyer on his tail. Butler County prosecutor Mike Gmoser issued an “indictment” against him today, accusing him of “misrepresentation of spring”. Gmoser alleges that Phil misled people to believe that spring would make an early arrival and that he acted “with prior calculation and design”. He even wants Phil’s punishment for his “crime” to be the “death penalty”. It sounds like Butler County, OH is running low on criminals to prosecute…surely this is all just for fun. However, I wouldn’t want to jump to conclusions—people, after all, have gone to court for some pretty petty reasons.
One of Phil’s long-time handlers, John Griffiths, stands by his furry friend, confident that he’s innocent of these “charges”. He added, “Maybe there’s just a dark cloud over Ohio.” Mr. Griffiths may be onto something. I’ve driven from one end of Ohio to another many times, and no matter how sunny it may be when I get there, by the time I hit Columbus, the weather seems to take a turn for the worse. That said, when it comes to predicting the weather, people shouldn’t put too much faith in what a groundhog says about it…but he does have a better track record than Al Gore.
Another animal that may have to look for a new gig is the Easter Bunny. He’s been banned from at least one elementary school’s Easter—oops—HOLIDAY festivities…in Madison, Alabama of all places! The principal of Heritage Elementary School, Lydia Davenport, in the interest of “religious diversity” has banned not just the Easter bunny, but also the eggs! Davenport told WHNT that because kids love the bunny, “We just make sure we don’t say ‘the Easter bunny’ so that we don’t infringe on the rights of others because people relate the Easter bunny to religion.”
HUH??? So what we have here is a holiday egg hunt without the eggs and a generic creature walking around that looks like a rabbit, but he’s not an Easter Bunny? Since when have a bunny or an egg ever been religious symbols? If she were really trying to teach religious diversity to children, Davenport and her teachers would welcome the opportunity to expose them to various religious traditions, of which colorful eggs carried by a giant bunny wearing a bow are included. Ms. Davenport, like so many public educators before her, is just bowing to the god of political correctness. It’s the same political correctness that brought us “holiday trees” and “holiday sales” at Christmastime. They’ve already successfully taken the “Independence” out of Independence Day by using the generic Fourth of July name, but maybe we can soon expect to see “holiday fireworks”. Things no longer make sense.
If you are one to welcome religious diversity and want to celebrate the real story of Easter, be sure to watch the last episode of The Bible this Easter Sunday on the History Channel. The story of the death and resurrection of Jesus will be shown, as will select stories through Revelation. It’s well worth the time and has been a ratings winner for the cable network. As of March 21st, the series has reached 70 million viewers, which should prove to the politically correct crowd that people are starving for the Word of God.
Liberty Belle Blog 