Further to my speculation yesterday about how long the term "black" would remain politically correct, a reader sent in the following interesting comment:
"When I was a kid in Alabama, in the 1950's, my housekeeper (we called her a maid) who was the woman who basically raised me and is likely responsible for the few people skills I have, hated being called "black" more than "n*****". She said that she was brown or colored or a Negro but not black. At that time it was a major pejorative term. There is a reason that the NAACP is not the NAABP.
You Can't Mention the Devil Either Now
This is a really curly one. Being myself an atheist, any mention of the Devil merely amuses me. So why are Leftist unbelievers bothered by mention of the Devil? Do they secretly fear that he is real and that he will come and get them if he hears his name mentioned? That's the only way I can explain the story below, anyway. Excerpt:
"When C.D. Hylton High School's marching band performs during Friday night's football game, they will be playing a different tune. This year, the marching band is performing a Georgia-themed halftime show, to celebrate their upcoming trip to perform at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta in December, band director Dennis Brown said. Until recently, the Charlie Daniels Band song "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" was in the marching band's line up of Georgia-themed music. The lyrics of the song describe the devil's attempt to steal the soul of a fiddle player in Georgia by challenging him to a fiddling duel. On Oct. 2, The Potomac News & Manassas Journal Messenger published a letter to the editor arguing that while no one objected to that song about the devil, there would be objections if the band were to play a song about God or other spiritual beings. After that letter ran in the paper, Brown dropped the song from the marching band's program".
Source
So it looks like the objector really does believe that the Devil is a spiritual being and that all mention of spiritual beings is taboo -- unless of course it is the Dalai Lama or some primitive tribe explaining their beliefs. In which case the whole thing is treated as great wisdom, of course.
Since most of the world has always believed in spiritual beings, we seem to be required to cut out a vast area of discussion and debate if we are not allowed to mention them.
No Freedom for Circuses any more
Circuses are a form of entertainment and entertainment has to be varied or people will lose interest in it. That seems to be lost on the regulation-loving Europeans. As the following excerpt shows:
"The European parliament is set to vote on a report calling for standardised rules for circuses performing across the continent. MEPs suggest circuses should be referred to as part of Europe's cultural heritage, but they disagree on whether they should include presentation of animals or not. The report contemplating the "new challenges for the circus as part of European culture" is to be voted on Thursday
Source
And this is not pie in the sky. European circuses are already regulated. But even more regulations are needed, apparently.
