The problem with keeping my eye on American and international issues is that I sometimes miss interesting stories in Canada. Even with the National Post and various other Canadian publications, some stories do tend to slip through the cracks. I heard about this on ‘The Michael Coren Show’, and thanks to SDAMatt2, I can show you the video of the segment.
While the word “shiksa” is offensive, I’m having trouble seeing any real reason to ban it. It is downright mind-boggling when even silliness like this banned, but that is the point isn’t it? We have developed this culture where anything offensive is banned, where certain statement, no matter their validity, lead to calls for apology. Has Canada become so thin skinned that we can’t, by law, say anything that may offend anyone else? I could go on about the value of free speech, and how protecting the feelings of others has hurt it in Canada, but I think I made my point. There is, however, another side to this story which both Michael Coren and Blazing Cat Fur point out; the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), which is up in arms over banning this word, has a history of demanding certain words be banned. Oh sweet delicious irony…
Maybe this will teach the CJC that their nonsense has a way of turning around on them. While I definitely don’t support outlawing offensive words, I do enjoy sitting on the sidelines watching the “language police” fighting amongst themselves. If this word isn’t banned, it demonstrates the double standard of these political correctness obsessed hypocrites. If the word is banned, well that is a blow to the credibility of the CJC to protect the Jewish community isn’t it? Either way, it will hopefully force these people to reexamine how their campaign to make Canada free of insulting words. Am I holding my breath on this one? Obviously not, especially since this will most likely end with “shiska” being put on an exception list, but I can still hope for a better outcome right?
Where does this political correctness campaign end? This is the problem I see with this whole fiasco. Maybe if the CJC bothered to think about where their efforts would lead, they wouldn’t be in this situation. This is a problem they have helped create and now we get to see if they will be able to have to “have their cake and eat it too”… Mind-boggling…
UPDATE: Joseph Brean at the National Post is reporting on the CJC’s reaction to banning the word “shiksa”. If you are looking for a more detailed account of this fiasco, I recommend you give this story a read.
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