![\"IMG_1219\"](\"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/IMG_1219-225x300.jpg\")
I learned something the other day.\u00a0 Follow me here.\u00a0 My 17 year old is witty and bright and solid and beautiful… oh, the places he\u2019ll go!\u00a0 I\u2019m so hopeful for him… so proud.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also learned so much.\u00a0 As a wise friend shared years ago, it isn\u2019t only about what we will teach the younger generation; it\u2019s also about what they will teach us.<\/p>\n
One of the things I\u2019ve learned — and truthfully, not always easily or anywhere near gracefully — is that I don\u2019t have to dictate the conversation.\u00a0 Even though I\u2019m older, wiser, and more experienced in most academic areas, I don\u2019t have to dictate the when, where, and what of our conversation.\u00a0 The timing and content isn\u2019t always up to me; it doesn\u2019t have to be.\u00a0 In fact, often the message is most effective when I cede any thought of having to dictate, dominate, or control.<\/p>\n
As my son entered his junior year of high school, for example, I was consistently adamant that he begin narrowing his future college major.\u00a0 It was not that he needed to specifically figure all of life out, but I was uncomfortable that baseball was his primary focus and passion.\u00a0 I did not want to permit such abundant articulation of that passion.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thinking society is also uncomfortable with certain articulated passions.<\/p>\n
The increasingly accepted societal approach, if someone isn\u2019t where we think they\u00a0<\/i>need to be, <\/i>is sadly to shame, silence, and attempt to shut down.\u00a0 Pick your topic; pick your passion; political correctness is too easily embraced and accepted.\u00a0 Instead of allowing someone to possess an opinion at a given point in time, in the name of political correctness, society is dictating both timing and content; it\u2019s as if we are not allowed to even feel <\/i>differently — much less express<\/i> varied opinion.<\/p>\n
From Pres. Obama\u2019s oft repeated words — on global warming, nationalized health care, and early childhood education:\u00a0 \u201cThe debate is over.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Or ironically last week, from liberal talk show host, Bill Maher, a man the Intramuralist rarely mentions because of his consistent disrespect…<\/p>\n
\u201cNow I bring all this up in 2014 because unfortunately, political correctness is making a comeback, and now with the Internet, it’s easier than ever… all the Internet exists to do is point at the latest person who said the wrong t<\/i>hing, so the rest of us can feel morally superior…<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>Now social media is all about gotcha. \u00a0A homophobic businessman, or a sexist cartoonist, or a college president who fat-shamed his dog by naming it \u2018Waddles\u2019…<\/i><\/p>\n
A few weeks ago, the CEO of Mozilla was forced to resign because it was revealed that in 2008, he supported Prop. 8, California’s ban on gay marriage…\u00a0 Obama was against gay marriage in 2008! \u00a0Does he have to resign? \u00a0Hillary came around just last year.\u00a0 Can she be President?<\/i><\/p>\n
You can’t purge every<\/i>body who doesn’t evolve exactly on the timetable you did.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Purging people and opinion is not respectful nor effective.\u00a0 Just as I learned with my older son, the challenge with dictating perceived correctness is its lack of effectiveness.\u00a0 While words may be silenced and actions disallowed, dictating timing, content, and opinion doesn\u2019t change the heart of the beholder.\u00a0 It only exacerbates opposition, as it justifies disrespect.<\/p>\n
My son is still passionate about baseball.\u00a0 He hopes to play at a higher level —\u00a0and I am his number one fan!<\/em> \u00a0However, guess who now speaks equally if not more about his future academic pursuit?\u00a0 Guess who initiates the conversation?\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t some magic formula, and the change did not immediately occur.\u00a0 It did take surrender on this semi-humble parent\u2019s part; there were many months I was uncomfortable.\u00a0 But my discomfort remained silent. \u00a0The results have been excellent.<\/p>\n Respectfully…<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I learned something the other day.\u00a0 Follow me here.\u00a0 My 17 year old is witty and bright and solid and beautiful… oh, the places he\u2019ll go!\u00a0 I\u2019m so hopeful for him… so proud.\u00a0 I\u2019ve also learned so much.\u00a0 As a wise friend shared years ago, it isn\u2019t only about what we will teach the younger … <\/p>\n