By Reid Stuart

Political correctness is the scourge of our First Amendment rights and is the most frustrating invention since the lid of a pickle jar. The fact that anything said has to pass through several filters so as to not offend anyone makes anything worth accomplishing ten times more difficult. This is a virus that has been plaguing our democracy since its conception, and will more than likely never leave.

Let’s back up a little. The name of the game in political correctness is to try to take offense to anything possible. In an argument, the victor is never determined by who is right, but by who is offended first.

This may seem completely ridiculous, but try it out with some friends. It works.

Therein lies the problem; political correctness is the most effective and easiest way to win an argument and is a great way to make up for being a poor debater.

Political correctness can also cover up for someone who simply does not know what he or she is talking about. The person debating such an unknowledgeable opponent now has to apologize repeatedly for what he or she said and is no longer in a position to argue again. Now this tactic is all well and good for schoolyard arguments because it is an extremely childish method. However, when fully-grown men and women employ political correctness in debates, it jumps into the upper echelons of irrationality.

This is how it is in the scale of national politics. Arguments between senators and representatives now almost always involve some kind of he said/she said deal that is fueled by the media.

Being politically correct can not only be irritating, but can be deadly as well. On November 5, 2009, there was a massacre at Fort Hood in Bell County, Texas. A lone gunman killed 13 unarmed people and injured 30 others. Major Nadal Malik Hasan worked as a psychiatrist at Fort Hood and several of the officers that knew him had reported his radical Islamic beliefs and behaviors. Emails were intercepted between Hasan and a radical imam with alleged links to Al-Qaeda. No action was ever taken on either account though, because those who would have reported it feared being labeled as anti-Muslim.

So Major Hasan remained free to slip through the nets until the massacre. The U.S. Army was too sensitive; as a result, 13 innocent American soldiers were killed.

This is why political correctness is a virus in this country, and in effect, why it is killing it. It is impossible to be for or against anything anymore without be labeled as something terrible. If you’re against illegal immigration, you’re a racist; if you’re pro-life, you’re a sexist; if you are afraid someone is a terrorist, you are anti-Muslim; and if you’re a Democrat you are a baby-killer.

Being labeled something negative breeds fear which then keeps men and women from exercising their rights and speaking out against anything, from legislation in Washington, D.C. to textbooks in Texas. This road leads directly to censorship, when some words are permitted, but others lead to persecution from peers.

Such tactics scare me. Political correctness is a terrible tool used by the weak-minded. Hopefully, its time will pass.

Reid Stuart is a sophomore majoring in political science.