| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"rob wade" |
| Date: |
27 Oct 2005 04:13:03 PM |
| Object: |
Values still worth a lot PC types out of line |
Values still worth a lot PC types out of line
JOE FITZGERALD
There's a great debate currently raging at the University of Colorado
over the appropriate use of a public position when it comes to
espousing a personal point of view. Bill McCartney, the football coach
who took over a moribund program in 1982 and produced a national
champion in 1990, is an evangelical Christian who finds himself under
fire for having taken an active role in opposing special legislation
sought by homosexuals whose lifestyle he believes is aberrant.
"The university must keep this man in line!" one student leader fumed.
"He has demonstrated time and time again he must be kept on a leash."
Her contention is that McCartney's right to free speech ends when he
uses the high visibility of his office to make a social statement.
"I may be just a football coach," McCartney replies, "but I'm not going
to stand aside on the tough issues facing society today."
Good for him, it says here. And good for anyone else who's willing -
publicly or privately - to stand apart from the crowd, risking ridicule
and wrath to say what he believes is right as opposed to what he knows
is fashionable. There's too little of that today. We implore kids to
resist peer pressure, urging them to think for themselves, to have the
courage of their convictions. Truth be told, most adults are just as
afraid to be different.
Yet one wonders how outraged McCartney's critics would have been if he
had come down on the other side of that issue, on the politically
correct side. There's certainly no evidence they're equally appalled by
public personalities, such as two of this state's congressmen, who use
high visibility to suggest that being gay is to be OK.
The hypocrisy is clear.
The feeling at this address has always been that public life carries
with it inherent responsibilities, one of which is sensitivity to those
whose lives are influenced by impacts made upon them.
More than a few local athletes have quarreled with suggestions here
that they, by definition, are role models for thousands of kids and, as
such, should conduct themselves accordingly. Many laugh at that notion.
Some resent it. Fine. But then how can they turn around and put their
names on sneakers, sportswear and equipment, hoping to cash in on kids'
desires to dress, act and be exactly like them?
The hypocrisy is clear.
Or take Old Joe Camel, the hip cartoon character R.J. Reynolds has
successfully employed to glamorize cigarette smoking. Columnists and
editorial writers are having a field day excoriating Old Joe who,
despite his ultra-cool persona, is a slow-moving target now that
anti-smoking is the rage. "Old Joe's gotta go!" cries that
public-spirited posse nipping at his heels.
Yet no one lays a similar guilt trip on entertainers who pump the sales
of alcohol, even though it, too, is a substance known to be both lethal
and addictive. Less filling? Tastes great? Really, how much does it
matter when bodies are strewn across a highway?
But that's different, we're told. Sure it is, if you drink but don't
smoke.
The hypocrisy is clear.
Jimmy the Greek and Al Campanis, products of another generation, both
walked the plank for making observations which were racially
unacceptable, even though it was clear neither spoke with malice. There
was no forgiveness.
But Mike Wallace, speaking to a college audience, could quip of rape:
"As they told the lady, `If it's gonna happen, relax and enjoy it!"' He
could quip, off camera, about the inability of poorly educated people
to understand complex contracts: "They're hard to read if you're
reading them over watermelon or tacos." Wallace, the essence of
political correctness, is still on "60 Minutes" and, yes, that
hypocrisy is just as clear.
Derek Jackson's mad at David Brudnoy for making a careless reference,
historical or not, to "niggertown," every bit as mad as Brudnoy was
when Derek's hero, Jesse Jackson, once referred to New York City as
"hymietown." As the late George Frazier would have suggested, they
should go to their rooms for a while.
Sometimes you have to wonder where people's hearts are, to say nothing
of their brains. But you also have to wonder who makes the rules. And
more than that, you have to wonder why we should mindlessly agree to
live by them.
Why should a football coach who speaks of "family values" be "kept on a
leash" while a congressman who seduces a kid flaunts values with
impunity?
If Old Joe, whose product has been known to kill, isn't funny in a
society where we are our brother's keeper, what made Spuds McKenzie
such a howl?
Don't misunderstand, there's a real desire here to be sensitive. It's
just that walking through the dos and don'ts is like walking through a
minefield.
Redskins? Can't use that name anymore. A violent stereotype. But
Fighting Irish? That's all right.
Oh, and don't plan on seeing "Basic Instinct" unless you want to
encounter protest groups from the gay and lesbian community who feel
that film is just as guilty of pandering to stereotypes.
Want a tip? Play it safe. Go see "White Men Can't Jump."
Good grief. When and where is it all going to end
.
|
|
| User: "The Secretary of HomInt3rn" |
|
| Title: Re: Values still worth a lot PC types out of line |
28 Oct 2005 06:43:29 AM |
|
|
I was busily flonking away in alt.politics.homosexuality, when The Goddess
Eris Herself suddenly made me reply to rob wade:
Values still worth a lot PC types out of line
There are values worthy of protection, but hatred isn't numbered among them.
All Rob Wade, Joe Fitzgerald, Bill McCartney and their ilk want to protect
is their hatred.
--
___________________________________________________________________________
Hail Eris! "The personal _is_ political."
Bent Depraved N. Deviant *****-Smoker, Esq., Superfaggot
"Stupidity excuses nothing. It's only a reason...." -- Phxbrd
Economic Left/Right: -7.63 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.38
"The whining has just begun." -- John Wentzky
Killfiled by: directory; Anim8rfsk
"It's not nice to misrepresent Mother Nature."
.
|
|
|
|
|
Related Articles |
|
|
