Hypersensitivity and victimhood have risen to epidemic levels

Have you noticed how so many things that lay quietly beneath our awareness for so long have now risen to crisis proportions? And how sensitive people are today; how touchy; how judgmental?

Things from the past that have no bearing on what’s going on today send people into spasms, demanding relief from these things that really have no actual effect on them.

The American south in the Civil War, for example, drives people to want to destroy important vestiges of American history because of something that happened more than 150 years ago.

One does not have to be a defender of slavery or the War Between the States to understand the importance of knowing and preserving history, even those parts of it that are not sources of pride, or may in fact be sources of shame. As wonderful a place as it is, America has not always been and is not now without problems. But why destroy reminders of what actually happened in the past instead of protecting them and using them to learn?

This sensitivity for historical things has expanded to include things that once were mundane, everyday happenings. Some of them were indeed negative, but we had learned to deal with them, rise above them. 

These things were not as serious as bullying, sexual harassment, or other such transgressions. They were minor annoyances: things didn’t go your way; you didn’t win the race; you heard things you disagreed with. These things did not send people hiding from reality.

But recently there has been an epidemic of people reacting strongly to hurt feelings and feeling serious disappointment over little things.  Unfortunately, this condition has found a sympathetic ear on many college campuses, where safe spaces are routine and trigger warnings are to be issued by instructors prior to the delivery of any classroom or other material that may upset someone.

Perhaps this sort of thinking came initially from K-12 education where school administrators decided no student should ever be made to feel bad and therefore every participant in events receives a trophy or other reward just for being there. 

Indeed, some educators have decided that recognizing the two highest academically ranked graduating seniors, the valedictorian and salutatorian, also may cause hard feelings, and has been discontinued so that those that didn’t make the grade will not suffer humiliation.

Now, many subscribe to the idea that whatever someone objects to must be recognized by everyone, even if most people disagree with doing so. This has subverted the idea of working to achieve success and of individual freedom.

Robious Middle School in Midlothian, Virginia has decreed that because some members of the school choir have said they were uncomfortable singing a Christmas song that mentioned Jesus, any Christmas song that mentions him is now verboten. It doesn’t seem to matter to the powers that be that were it not for Jesus there would be no Christmas or Christmas songs, or that Christmas is a traditional holiday going back centuries.

Apparently it did not occur to anyone that merely saying the word “Jesus” or singing it in a musical performance does not mean that a person does or should believe in Jesus, and therefore should not create trauma for anyone. Given the lack of common sense in this case, if the choir cannot sing “Away In A Manger” because the word Jesus is in the lyric, is the band then forbidden to play it?

There are now signs of rebellion to these politically correct over-reactions and the growing degree of personal effrontery. Oklahoma Wesleyan University is a private evangelical Christian university in Bartlesville, OK. Its president, Dr. Everett Piper, describes an event he experienced in a letter to students.

“This past week, I actually had a student come forward after a university chapel service and complain because he felt ‘victimized’ by a sermon on the topic of 1 Corinthians 13. It appears this young scholar felt offended because a homily on love made him feel bad for not showing love. In his mind, the speaker was wrong for making him, and his peers, feel uncomfortable.”

Piper, who has been recognized for his defense of intellectual freedom, went on to discuss how our culture has taught young people to be self-absorbed and narcissistic, and when their feelings are hurt, they see themselves as victims.

The title of the letter is a wonderful wake-up call to students: “This is Not a Day Care. It’s a University!” 

In it, he offers pieces of advice, such as:

* If you want the chaplain to tell you you’re a victim rather than tell you that you need virtue, this may not be the university you’re looking for.

* At OKWU, we teach you to be selfless rather than self-centered.

* Oklahoma Wesleyan is not a “safe place,” but rather, a place to learn.

* This is a place where you will quickly learn that you need to grow up.

The practice of coddling young people instead of helping them become mature adults is much more serious than many people understand. And the sooner it is reversed and kids have to confront unpleasant experiences and learn to deal with them, the better.

Hysterical, desperate reactions mark Trump’s early presidency

Watching Democrat/liberal reactions to President Donald Trump from the time he declared himself a candidate has been entertaining, educational, and recently more than a little disturbing. Since the election and swearing in, the anti-Trumpsters have simply become unglued, indulging in outlandish and irrational behavior.

Among the craziness we find:

·      The automatic emotional criticism of Trump’s nominees.

·      Government employees saying they will not do their jobs, because of Trump.

·      The lawful travel suspension on people in seven predominantly Muslim countries connected to radical Islamic terrorism being deliberately mislabeled as a “Muslim ban.”

·      Some are calling for the military to overthrow the government, senior Obama administration Pentagon policy official Rosa Brooks, among them.

·      Trump’s actions and/or his supporters have been met with rioting in the streets, the destruction of property, and some have been personally attacked.

Following the issuance of an Executive Order for temporary travel suspension, which was approved by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel as a lawful order, the Acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, refused to defend the order issued by her boss, her client. She could have resigned her position on principle, but chose insubordination and causing a politically motivated public incident instead, resulting in Trump telling her, “You’re fired!”

This event was met with typical liberal disdain: “This administration seems to have no regard for the rule of law;” said one of the leaders of the party of Hillary Clinton, Al Sharpton, Lois Lerner, Rod Blagojevich, and Dan Rostenkowski; that person being Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Regarding the claim that it is a “Muslim ban,” there are some 40 countries with substantial or majority Muslim populations, but the suspension covers only seven. It is a lawful and appropriate temporary suspension on travelers from seven terrorism-connected nations, and those "countries of concern" were officially identified in a 2015 law signed by then-President Barack Obama. Furthermore, Trump’s action is well within a president’s authority, and similar bans have been imposed by previous presidents, including Chester Arthur, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and, yes, Barack Obama.

Legal actions to derail the travel suspension must show it will cause plaintiffs irreparable harm. The plaintiffs in the case where U.S. District Judge James Robart issued a restraining order are the states of Washington and Minnesota, not individuals or groups of individuals, and the states cannot demonstrate irreparable harm. Some observers say, therefore, that the restraining order has political motives, rather than legal ones. Deciding to suspend foreign visitors for national security is an executive branch decision, not a judicial decision, and the restraining order should be nullified.

The travel suspension is a smart tactic that could have been handled better. It has attracted even more attention than the fake news and media screw-ups, but Trump’s nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court is not far behind.

Much wailing and gnashing of teeth followed then-President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacant seat not long after Scalia died last February. The Republican-controlled Senate announced it would not act on the nomination in Obama’s final year, saying that the next president should fill that slot.

The Republicans’ position has an interesting history. Then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) said on the U.S. Senate floor in 1992 that in a presidential election year a president should not make a nomination for the Supreme Court until after the election. This became known as “The Biden Rule.” Apparently, Biden, as Obama’s vice president, was unable to persuade him to follow his rule, or did not try.

Federalist.com notes that “Not only have there been several lengthy Supreme Court vacancies, but there are plenty of past instances when [Democrat] senators refused to confirm a [Republican] president’s nominations.” The article lists 10 such actions.

Since the Democrats do not control the Senate, they must try to show that the nominee, federal Appellate Court Judge Neal Gorsuch, is unqualified, and given the broad approval of Gorsuch’s nomination, that is a tall order.

“Judge Gorsuch has repeatedly sided with corporations over working people, demonstrated a hostility toward women’s rights, and most troubling, hewed to an ideological approach to jurisprudence that makes me skeptical that he can be a strong, independent Justice on the Court,” Minority Leader Schumer said in a statement.

Such comments of desperation – posing as thoughtful opposition – are interesting in view of the unanimous confirmation vote putting Gorsuch on the Appellate bench 10 years ago, as well as the voluminous praise of his towering qualifications for this nes position.

Gorsuch made this revealing statement during Trump’s announcement of his nomination: “A judge who likes every outcome that he reaches is very likely a bad judge,” meaning that following the law and the Constitution is more important than following one’s political philosophy, or personal desires, which is precisely the judicial philosophy we must have in all judgeships, and what he has demonstrated on the Appellate Court. Judges must have impartiality, independence, collegiality, and courage, he said.

Trumpitis has infected the land. Major news outlets demonstrate rampant symptoms through abdication of journalistic standards, and other anti-Trumpsters riot, destroy, and scream obscenities in protest. Large doses of adult behavior and acceptance of reality are prescribed.