If You Lie, Everything Will Be Alright - Hi everybody!- This week's post I would like to dedicate to the provocative title of a book someone recently published and even promoted on a local morning show. Strangely, the exact same phrase I've heard or rather overheard a few times eve since, so I decided to sit down and reflect on this statement for a while. What exactly do I read from this?
The very first association that I can think of is political correctness. As ambiguous as the term itself is, as confusing are its concepts. In Europe we don't know of political correctness (P.C. from now on) per SE, nor have I really heard much of it in other parts of the world yet either. What about the Brits, you may wonder? Frankly, I don't know although as blunt and upfront as they are, I just cannot picture P.C. being embedded in their straight- forward and to- the- point openness. Anyway, what is P.C. the way I've experienced it? The attempt to remain unbiased, friendly and considerate with one another? Why? To spare people's feelings and make them believe it's all right the way it is? Cool, if it only were just like that, but you see, it's anything but honest. Why tread on thin ice if we know that one wrong step will send us straight into the cold wet? On this continent the majority has learnt to master the art of P.C., and to some extent I truly commend them because this dance on eggshells is certainly not easy!
What are the benefits of demonstrating politically correct behavior? To keep the calm calm, to stay out of each other's hair, to avoid conflict, and to stay on so- called good terms with the whole world? Again, absolutely great if it worked, but unfortunately P.C. does not (only) conceal the ugly but the truth (as well). Don't get me wrong. There's absolutely no need to be as rude and standoffish as some European nations are! However, if P.C. prevents us from being able to freely express our opinions without necessarily hurting or harming others, then I strongly disapprove of it. Too many double standards create excessive negativity because all we do all day long is lie, loyally following the protocol of P.C. If we encounter life by pulling the wool over somebody's eyes every second or third time we open our mouths, we may truly start believing that eventually everything will indeed be alright.
The impact though is a very negative one as this behavior seriously obstructs our spiritual growth.
For our intentions to remain truly and purely positive, we are well advised to refrain from the way P.C. dictates our lives. Just because everybody around us worships P.C. does not justify its presence.
Let's return to calling a spade a spade as the use of a number of terms has been publicly shunned and therefore created a great awkwardness due to beating around the bush instead. Consequently the natural flow of energies has been compromised and manipulated for the sake of what? Endless provocation, that's right! Sadly, being judgmental is a very inherently human feature but nothing we could not start working on. Once we release negative connotations, we no longer need to apply different and partly ridiculous and long- winded descriptions to well- fitting terms. How can we break out of this circle of constantly regenerating negativity mainly enforced through P.C.? I would like to think that maybe by saying nothing at all at times, this artificial construct called political correctness may eventually lose strength and negative effect. Here's a simple example. Why tell someone how good they look if we know it's only a lie anyway? How about saying nothing? Don't say anything if you are not honest about what you want to say! It always starts with the smallest and seemingly most insignificant things in life. If we lie with respect to someone's looks, we will increasingly become deceitful about everything else. This in return will keep the illusion alive that lying truly improves our all life quality. Too many recent violent outbreaks in this country though are all to be considered a direct response to what political correctness does to us. Our natural being is undoubtedly suppressed and misshaped by political correctness, supposedly a promoter of overly good manners which was imposed on us to keep us all in line and thus in check.
The very first association that I can think of is political correctness. As ambiguous as the term itself is, as confusing are its concepts. In Europe we don't know of political correctness (P.C. from now on) per SE, nor have I really heard much of it in other parts of the world yet either. What about the Brits, you may wonder? Frankly, I don't know although as blunt and upfront as they are, I just cannot picture P.C. being embedded in their straight- forward and to- the- point openness. Anyway, what is P.C. the way I've experienced it? The attempt to remain unbiased, friendly and considerate with one another? Why? To spare people's feelings and make them believe it's all right the way it is? Cool, if it only were just like that, but you see, it's anything but honest. Why tread on thin ice if we know that one wrong step will send us straight into the cold wet? On this continent the majority has learnt to master the art of P.C., and to some extent I truly commend them because this dance on eggshells is certainly not easy!
What are the benefits of demonstrating politically correct behavior? To keep the calm calm, to stay out of each other's hair, to avoid conflict, and to stay on so- called good terms with the whole world? Again, absolutely great if it worked, but unfortunately P.C. does not (only) conceal the ugly but the truth (as well). Don't get me wrong. There's absolutely no need to be as rude and standoffish as some European nations are! However, if P.C. prevents us from being able to freely express our opinions without necessarily hurting or harming others, then I strongly disapprove of it. Too many double standards create excessive negativity because all we do all day long is lie, loyally following the protocol of P.C. If we encounter life by pulling the wool over somebody's eyes every second or third time we open our mouths, we may truly start believing that eventually everything will indeed be alright.
The impact though is a very negative one as this behavior seriously obstructs our spiritual growth.
For our intentions to remain truly and purely positive, we are well advised to refrain from the way P.C. dictates our lives. Just because everybody around us worships P.C. does not justify its presence.
Let's return to calling a spade a spade as the use of a number of terms has been publicly shunned and therefore created a great awkwardness due to beating around the bush instead. Consequently the natural flow of energies has been compromised and manipulated for the sake of what? Endless provocation, that's right! Sadly, being judgmental is a very inherently human feature but nothing we could not start working on. Once we release negative connotations, we no longer need to apply different and partly ridiculous and long- winded descriptions to well- fitting terms. How can we break out of this circle of constantly regenerating negativity mainly enforced through P.C.? I would like to think that maybe by saying nothing at all at times, this artificial construct called political correctness may eventually lose strength and negative effect. Here's a simple example. Why tell someone how good they look if we know it's only a lie anyway? How about saying nothing? Don't say anything if you are not honest about what you want to say! It always starts with the smallest and seemingly most insignificant things in life. If we lie with respect to someone's looks, we will increasingly become deceitful about everything else. This in return will keep the illusion alive that lying truly improves our all life quality. Too many recent violent outbreaks in this country though are all to be considered a direct response to what political correctness does to us. Our natural being is undoubtedly suppressed and misshaped by political correctness, supposedly a promoter of overly good manners which was imposed on us to keep us all in line and thus in check.
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