Andy Cunningham

Peter Sissons has been a BBC newsreader for as long as I can remember.

He’s recently retired, and in a Daily Mail article, has left a fairly damning criticism of the BBC.  While they still make some of the best documentaries in the world, bar none, the organisation has clearly been taken over by the PC brigade.

This is a sad trend that too many organisations are following.  Political Correctness is, like many good things in life, being turned into a force for bad.  It’s turning into something scarily reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984. 

We need a new word.  One that describes the context of respect for the fellow man, but allows the individual space for their own views as well.  I run into this dilemma often in my views on religion.  I genuinely can’t understand how any sensible person in the 21st century can believe in a god.  I really can’t.  But it’s hard to make this point without it being offensive – especially by today’s hyper-sensitive standards.

We need a new word.  One that allows for free thought, free expression of opinions, and respect of the opinions of others.  There’s room for all of us. 

We need to allow the Muslims to practice their religion, but fight against those who would bring down the Western society. 

We need to allow Christians to pray and to sing, but to laugh at those who fail to accept Darwinism as a factual model of how our world came to be.

No, we already have that word.  It’s called Freedom.  It comes with a price.  The price is being fired for being crap at your job.  The price is not being paid for time taken out to pray, or to smoke.  The price is being laughed at when you can’t defend your views in rational terms.

But we should all have the freedom to express our views, be they political, religious, atheist, or just plain insane.  And we should express those views without violence, intimidation, or legal threats, and without the fear of the same in retaliation.

Freedom.  It comes with a price. One we should all be prepared to pay.