The Cost of Political Correctness

It’s everywhere. Every package of every product in every store has labels and directions in at least two languages. Manufacturers are changing both the way they make their products and the products themselves, all in the name of “going green”. Private citizens who dare to publicly criticize the president are smeared, slandered, and accused of racism.

And it’s all for the sake of political correctness.

It started as an annoyance, a “thorn in the flesh”. But we’re beyond that now. Now we can’t even exercise common sense and caution without worrying that we might “offend someone”. Now political correctness is exacting its toll in blood and innocent lives.

The recent terrorist attack at Fort Hood is the most glaring and tragic example.

I respect religious freedom. I respect an individual’s right to choose what they believe. But I am not afraid to face the truth: Nidal Hasan (the Fort Hood killer) was outspoken about his anti-American beliefs. He was known to have had contact with subjects of federal terrorist investigations. And yet he was allowed to join the American military. He was promoted to the rank of Major in only six years!

All for the sake of political correctness.

I understand that not every Muslim out there is planning a shooting or bombing. I understand that there are Muslims who oppose acts of terrorism such as the Fort Hood attack. But Muslims need to understand that their religion’s very nature is one of violence against the “infidels,” and that as a result we must treat them all with caution. If they are offended by such treatment, I am sorry. But I for one am not willing to risk lives in order to avoid offending someone.

Yes, Nidal Hasan is the one responsible for the bloodshed at Fort Hood. The blood of the dead and wounded is on his hands.

But political correctness is what allowed him to join the armed forces and achieve the rank of Major in spite of his openly anti-American beliefs. Political correctness allowed him to reach the position where he could shatter the lives of so many American heroes. The blood of the Fort Hood victims is on the hands of those who chose ‘correctness’ over sense and caution, as much as it is on the hands of the man who pulled the trigger.

Documentary Review: Deliver Us from Evil

A documentary from Lionsgate Films

In the early 1970s, Catholic families from the same parish in California began complaining to their bishop that their children had been molested by their priest, “Father O’Grady”.

In 1976, the bishop promised the family of an abused girl that he would transfer Father O’Grady to a monastery; in exchange, the family agreed not to press charges.  In 1978 the very same bishop, rather than moving O’Grady to a monastery as promised, moved O’Grady to another parish, only fifty-four miles away.

Within a short time, families from O’Grady’s new parish were also reporting the abuse of their children by Father O’Grady.

Over and over the process was repeated.  Father O’Grady was moved several times, but was allowed to retain his position as a priest because, in the words of a cardinal, the reports of abuse and molestation were not “justifiable cause to remove him from ministry”.  O’Grady’s abuse of young girls was termed “normal curiosity” because they were girls rather than boys.  “Such treatment of a boy would have been obscene,” (emphasis added) but later Father O’Grady’s abuse extended to both boys and girls from infants to young teenagers, and the church still attempted to bury the case.  The number of O’Grady’s victims reaches into the hundreds.

After his release from U.S. prison in 2000, Father O’Grady was deported to Ireland, where he walks free today.  A small group of his victims (now adults) wrote a letter of complaint regarding this and tried to take it to the Pope, but were denied the chance to even see him.

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Viewing this film should not be taken lightly.  It is as painful and gut-wrenching as it is powerful and eye-opening (I was physically ill after seeing it) but I believe that it is a vitally important film for parents – especially those in the Catholic church – to see.  The film contains testimonies from families of abused children, saying that they thought their children would be perfectly safe with Father O’Grady.  After all, he was a priest!  This film will motivate parents to increase their awareness and watchfulness over their children, and perhaps alert them to threats that they may never have seen otherwise.

I do not recommend this film for anyone under the age of eighteen.  Though it contains no graphic footage, it includes accounts from several of O’Grady’s victims, as well as confessions from O’Grady himself.  These confessions are explicit in detail, and highly unsuitable for children.  As with all films, I recommend that parents preview this film first.

Welcome!

Yes, you have come across a blog with a very strange name.

Chaqar means "to search" or "investigate".  

Aletheuo means "to speak or tell the truth".

I have chosen those two words because they communicate perfectly the goal that I had in mind when I decided to start this blog.  

I have dedicated my life to the worship and service of my King, Jesus Christ; while I am not exactly certain what that service will look like in the future, I know that part of my calling is to be a writer.  In our world today, where the truth is watered down (you can read an essay on that very subject on my other blog, hawkinsstory.blogspot.com) or deliberately altered, I feel called to be a voice that dares to ask questions, a mind that searches for the truth however "ugly" or "offensive" it may be, and a person who is unafraid to tell the truth to the world at any cost.

God has a lot in store for me.  I don't know where my service to Him will take me, what it will teach me, or what it will require of me, but it is going to be an incredible journey, and I hope you will join me.