August 28, 2001

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I've written about this before, but something happened tonight that made me angry and I want to blow off a little steam. The subject is political correctness. The thing that made me angry was a post to a board saying that too many people worried too much about hurting someone's feelings, and suggesting that an earlier post to the board had been written by a man who needed to get over it.

The "it" he needed to get over was being disturbed that people, in posts to the board, were poking fun at his religious beliefs. I won't go into the complete exchange, but I will tell you he isn't Christian, and his post was written in the spirit of enlightening people. I think it took a tremendous amount of courage for him to post his thoughts.

What he was really asking people to do was think before they spoke. To think before telling a joke that poked fun at a religious belief. To think before hurting someone's feelings.

It really isn't that hard to do.

What are the rewards of thinking before you speak? You most assuredly won't have cause to apologize for an ill-made remark. You may skip the eating of crow or humble pie. You won't have egg on your face. You won't look like a jackass.

And people will still respect you.