Religiously Correct: A …

Religiously Correct: A few years ago it seemed that everyone was going to great pains to be politically correct. People were making a conscious effort to not use derogatory words, phrases, and euphemisms that could potentially be seen as discriminatory or hurtful to certain classes of people. Within a few years, the use of words like “dyke”, “retard”, and “black” were gone in favor of “lesbian”, “mentally-challenged”, and “African-American”. Today’s speech is full of descriptive words like “developmentally disabled”, “learning-challenged”, and “learning disabled”. It took a pretty large education campaign to get the English-speaking public to recognize this change and start changing the way they refer to certain things.

Now, I’m seeing a new trend start to emerge that taps into the politically correct mindset. I grew up in a Catholic household and learned to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” when greeting someone during the month of December. As a kid I thought nothing of it. But now that I am older I see the need for using the more general and less specific “Happy Holidays” since it can be applied to the holidays of Christianity, Judaism, Kwanzaa, and Ramadan; all of which take place around the same time every December.

I don’t like clumping this trend in with the term “politically correct” since religion and politics should have nothing to do with each other (unfortunately many people tend to disagree). So, I am referring to it as “religiously correct”. The irony in this is that the term “religiously correct” is discriminatory towards atheists and people who are religiously agnostic.

In reference to the Religious Liberty Protection Act, “If you think talking politically correct is hard, try living religiously correct.”

People For the American Way: Religious Liberty

I’m pleased that Giuliani received Time’s Person of the Year disctinction. Update: I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more. Some readers are questioning this. I think that if Time had awarded it to Osama bin Laden, it would have sent the wrong message to a world already reeling on the verge of war (and not just in America). If Time had awarded it to George W. Bush, many people would be be very upset since Bush hasn’t really done anything to warrant it, except manipulate an election with his family’s money and influence (in my opinion). Perhaps if Bush really steps up to the Presidential plate, stops taking month-long vacations, and starts behaving more like a President rather than a puppet for corporate America, he may deserve it next year. Doubly so if his administration pulls the country out of this on-again, off-again recession we might or might not be in.

Tagged Message Delivery Agent

Heh. Unplug n’ Pray. Heh.

Excellent NY Times article about quirky mathematical geniuses, The Genius Behind the Tree. I also recommend you read the book “The Man Who Loved Only Numbers.”

Apple has developed a 5 Ghz wireless networking technology. Wow. Think of the uses for this. I’ll bet within 2-3 years, every computing device in the world will be wireless using this technology. This includes wearable computers, portable personal digital devices like the iPod and whatever else Apple can dream up in their R&D labs. Computing is about to change dramatically once again.

Doh! A small liberal arts college in Michigan is now offering a course on The Simpsons. Siena Hights college was my number one choice for colleges when I graduated from high school in 1991, but I ended up going to a local college for a few years, instead.

ProjectorCentral: The Difference Between HDTV, EDTV, and SDTV. Excellent.

Posted by Cameron Barrett at December 27, 2001 03:47 PM

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