Joke Sensitivity: Have We Gone Too Far?

What is your reaction to this series of sentences?  Picture you're reading a textbook passage on theology.

1.  Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden by God.  Seems the Devil, risen from the depths of Hell, seduced them into eating the forbidden fruit.  God turned a deaf ear to their pleas to remain.

Let's try another.  Picture you're reading an excerpt from a longer story in an anthology.

2.  Harrison refused to join the other boys for a game of stickball.  "Hey, egghead!" Jimmy yelled.  Harrison looked up from his novel.  "Yeah! You, bookworm!  What are you, deaf?"

If you are deeply offended by these sentences, then I apologize for the political incorrectness of my phrasing.  Author Diane Ravitch might not be so apologetic.  In her novel, The Language Police, she outlines a comprehensive list of over 500 words banned from school textbooks and tests.  Her discussion highlights how overly sensitive we've become to language use and political correctness.   Here are my sentences, rewritten to fit PC usage.  See if you can pick out the differences.

1.  Eve and Adam were banished from the Garden of Eden by the deity believed in by Judeo-Christian faiths.  Seems a horned creature of evil rose from the depths of heck (or darn) and seduced them.  The deity believed in by Judeo-Christian faiths ignored their pleas to remain.

2.  Harrison refused to join the other boys for a game similar to baseball in which a long stick and smaller ball are used.  "Hey, intelligent reader!" Jimmy yelled.  Harrison looked up from his novel.  "Yeah! You, intelligent reader!  What are you a person with a loss of hearing?"

Here's another brain teaser.

Would you describe Helen Keller as courageous?

If you did, you are insensitive, as calling someone with a disability courageous is patronizing and banned.

Is Christopher Reeve inspirational?

No, he's not.  Calling someone with a disability inspirational is also patronizing and banned. Sorry, Superman.

How would you describe a woman on her 90th birthday?  Old?  Senior citizen?  Elderly?

Wrong again, you insensitive jerk.  This "older person" should be respected with the proper word usage.

All kidding aside, I realize how people in the past have chosen to use the power of words for ill.  Hurtful, derogatory, and downright hateful slurs have been spewed.  But when we restrict the very writers who bring the written word to life, we choke the power of the narrative and raw emotion away from them.  I have seen this phenomenon pour into novel editing, as content from my novels were cut because they may be seen as insensitive to one gender or the other. But was it me talking?  No.  It was the character.  The character I'm looking to bring to life for the reader.

Banning words.  Now that's just lame.  Our Founding Fathers would be furious, wouldn't they? Shoot!....I meant, now that just walks with a cane.  The "Framers" would be furious, wouldn't they?  :)

~Scott Heydt

"Live, Learn, Teach"

www.scotthbooks.com

http://scotthbooks.blogspot.com