Channel 4 TV ‘Has Political Correctness Gone Mad?’, Thursday 23rd February 2017

The programme was very depressing for all who, like me, attended college in days when we almost had freedom to speak our minds and to think individually (though Politcal Correctness (PC) was waiting in the wings)! In the programme, the student activists who spouted their poison showed a distinct lack of ability to be critical. Critical thinking is not just ignoring or accusing others, it is to do with an overall genuine desire to discover truth and speak out against lies. The students in the programme did not have this ability (except for one who was shouted down), but were plain stupid.

There have been psychology experiments where large groups have attended a discussion or have been part of observational studies. A few ‘plants’ were included, whose task it was to give the opposite view of truth. The idea was to persuade everyone in the group to agree with everyone else even when they strongly felt the group was wrong. No-one resisted such peer pressure. The students in the programme had all the signs of this peer pressure mentality, to their detriment and shame. Much of what they said was absurd.

Their attitudes were also shameful, and much of what they said was beyond acceptability... their higher IQ meant nothing!! Students who act like this have nothing to offer society or themselves, but they are exceptional in banning free speech and causing mayhem for respected academic staff who dare to say something they don’t like! Some of their statements were astoundingly ridiculous.

As the presenter, Trevor Phillips, said, we ought to live with the possibility of being offended, and he was right. We are in a police state when everything we say and do is checked by a fascist mentality. Those students will probably continue their frantic witch-hunts after they get their degrees, and it is their kind that bring legislation against Christians, making their power to censor greater than the freedom to speak.

Some things should be recognised as being so offensive as to be worthy of public disgust... but how does someone in a Pocahontas costume offend anyone?? (They didn’t explain why). We now live in a western world where ideas and speech are banned, and people are thrown out of their jobs because others simply don’t like their beliefs. I keep on saying it – this is fascism. Hitler might be dead, but he has many children alive today, who make it their business to wear black arm bands and brown shirts. If we continue to allow them to act then we will soon be living on a prison island.

Similarly, people were asked to rank printed statements as either highly offensive (and so worthy of banning) or marginally offensive. One of the top statements they wanted banned because it offended believers was one that said Mohammed was a rapist, killer and paedophile. But HE WAS!! Whether or not followers are offended is not the issue – it was a factual statement. Yet, it is acceptable to mock Jesus Christ in so many ways, and for Muslims to openly hate Christians!!

And statements against homosexuality were also at the top of the list. But why? Homosexuals created AIDS and their diseases have killed millions in the last 30 years alone. And the deaths spiral every year. They are violent people and loathe free speech. So why harbour them and give them the power to shut down the truth? In reality they should have to hide away behind dark doors, or at least bear the brunt of tough talk and critical observations. Why? Because what they say and do is revolting and harmful to all of society.

The ability to be critical thinkers is almost dead, but without it there can be no progress and no advancement of thought. And without it, vile political movements like Islam will continue to murder and oppress. Every one of us is responsible to sustain freedom of thought, and Christians who don’t understand the fuss are part of the problem. As believers we should fight for freedom of thought with a passion. Some things are automatically wrong and should be cast out – murder, sexual perversion, violent religion, are just a few examples. There should be a market-place attitude – you give me your views and I will give mine, and both should be able to criticise the other. To simply ban something we do not agree with is foolish and naïve... one day the need to speak will burst forth and everything will be reversed again! THINK...THINK...THINK... don’t let fascists remove your brain!