November 27, 2009
Political Correctness Is Deadly
Herbert London
As many analysts have noted, political correctness has insinuated itself into the analysis of the murders at Fort Hood. It’s far better to rationalize the atrocity by referring to the assailant, Maj. Nidal Hasan, as a deranged individual rather than a radical Muslim intent on bloodshed.
It is self-evident that not all Muslims are intent on violence, but as the history of the last few decades indicates most of the premeditated violence can be attributed to Muslims who rely on Koranic verses and Sharia law to justify sanguinic action. Common sense tells us avoidance of this reality will lead inexorably to additional deaths since the power of politically correct assertions trumps all other considerations.
Why should this be the case? In the Korematsu v. United States decision that led to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, Justice Jackson wrote that “the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution do not constitute a suicide pact.” Applied to the present, this observance of common sense suggests that the Constitution, in this case the First Amendment, cannot be employed to excuse violence. Jihadism, in its oral form as well as its manifest reality, cannot be tolerated even if proponents claim it is protected by the freedom of religion. Islam may be a religion embraced by as many as 3 million Americans, but when there are calls for violence against apostates and non-believers, intolerance must be exercised.
George Santayana argued that the overarching responsibility for the tolerant man is to be intolerant of intolerance. Unfortunately, this is a position many Americans have forgotten.
Had someone in authority at Fort Hood raised concerns about the Muslim psychiatrist, he would have been brought up on charges and opportunity for promotion would have been thwarted. Islamophobia is a demerit that is not easily overcome.
During the Cold War, President Reagan was excoriated for calling the Soviet Union “an evil empire.” The myrmidons of political correctness said this claim was undiplomatic, likely to offend, oafish and worse. Reagan defied his detractors realizing that the truth is a powerful antidote to political correctness.
But these are different times. Students have been proselytized by left wing instructors with the belief that tolerance for designated groups must prevail despite the implicit danger in doing so. Courage is often defined as standing by these political shibboleths. But there are times when this adherence to correctness runs smack into common sense.
Although the CIA claims to have known of Maj. Hasan’s attempt to contact al Qaeda and his radical sensibility, there was the fear that acting on this knowledge would potentially heighten a backlash against Muslim soldiers. As a consequence, the safety of GIs was put at risk in order to avoid offending Muslims in the military. I’m reminded of the response to Winston Churchill’s blistering critique of Neville Chamberlain’s Munich Accord in the House of Commons. Churchill was derided by members of parliament as a “fool” who through his febrile ranting would offend Adolf Hitler. Of course, history pointed out who the real fools were in this scenario.
At the moment, avatars of political correctness are in the ascendancy. They are far more concerned about offending those in designated victim groups, including Muslims, rather than the general welfare and security of the nation. And they can be found in every crevice of national life from universities to corporations and military installations. Will Americans wake up to this madness or are the murders in Fort Hood a momentary nightmare soon overtaken by other events?
The jury is still out on this matter, but the deadly effects of political correctness are palpable and apparent every passing day.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Herbert London is president of Hudson Institute and professor emeritus of New York University. He is the author of Decade of Denial (Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2001) and America's Secular Challenge (Encounter Books).
Reader Comments: Submit Your Comment (2)
It could be said I suppose that not all Muslims espouse violence. However they do not cry out against the violence perpetrated by their peers. Is not silence thought to be equivalent to consent?
Our willingness to virtually wet our pants in public before we would utter the words Jihadist, terrorist, etc. is pathetic. What Hasan did was merely a "man caused disaster", not an act of Jihad. Well, call me racist if you will, but in my book all Muslims are guilty until proven otherwise. Or, until they rise up against the cancer in their midst. (Don't hold your breath waiting for that.)
"When they came for the shopkeepers, I did nothing because I was not a shopkeeper". I believe you know the rest of that story.
The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in our stars, but in ourselves...” – Shakespeare
posted by : OregonBuzz
Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 09:29 AM
Political correctness results from allowing people who come to the U.S. to continue to believe in and act out the foreign ideas that they formely lived. It denigrates America's history has a culture that is an extension of Europe and based on Capitalist theory and Western ideas. Americans liberals can argue against this until the cows come home, but they are denying what they see and experience with their own eyes.
posted by : Bobby
Monday, November 30, 2009 at 04:34 PM
