I promise you Jew is not a bad word.

"I mean, [our society is] very much like Nazi Germany. And I know you're not supposed to say 'Nazi Germany,' but I don't care about political correctness. You know, you had a government using its tools to intimidate the population. We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe." -Dr. Ben Carson

Dr. Carson received some considerable push-back after this statement; however, I think he said it perfectly. 

Americans have this strange perception that they need to please everyone. Guess what? They can't. It's time the public wakes up and realizes political correctness is not the answer to all of life's issues.

In the past few years, political correctness has taken over the public sphere and it is all people seem to care about. Before people, write, speak, and sometimes it seems as though think the first thing to cross there conscious is: who might I offend and is this politically correct?

This is silly. You can't make everyone happy; it's just not possible. We live in America where we are supposed to have freedom of speech, a right we fight to protect. How can we hope to have this right if we censor ourselves in an attempt not to offend anyone?

Photo By: Carolyn Tiry

Throughout this blog, I plan to look at different topics political correctness surrounds and how it impacts the topic and other things people may believe do to it. I'm curious if my readers feel the same way about political correctness as I do, please do not be afraid to comment your opinion on political correctness as a whole or any topic discussed throughout my blog. 

This week I'm diving into political correctness and how it impacts religion. Since I'm Jewish I'd like to focus on ways I have seen political correctness when it comes to being a Jew. 

Since coming to Penn State, I have been shocked by the number of people who told me I was the first Jew they had met. Besides being Jewish myself, I come from a relatively high Jewish populated area, so I was a bit shocked to hear this. The lack of previous interactions with Jews tied in with the fear of saying something politically incorrect seems to have created a few misconceptions I'd like to clear up.

The first one being, that the word Jew is a bad word or even a racial slur. Jew is NOT a bad word or racial slur. This belief first came to my attention the first few weeks of school when I was talking to a fellow Jew who told me they had recently read an article by a fellow Penn State student claiming Jew was a bad word. I was intrigued so I found the article myself and was in disbelief as I read it. The author compared the word Jew to the "N word" and claimed that calling someone a Jew was politically incorrect and if anyone should be saying the word only Jews should. 

I am truly blown away by this. I religiously identify as a Jew, someone of the Jewish religion. You've probably noticed by now that I have called myself a Jew multiple times throughout this post and that's because I see nothing wrong with it. Plus, I have never expected my friends to refer to me as anything but a Jew or as Jewish when talking about my religion. This made me wonder what my friends here thought. It turns out a lot of them thought the word Jew could be offensive.

I found it really interesting that the author and my friends thought saying Jewish was politically correct but saying Jew was not. All that was done was adding -ish to the end. We don't think taking a word like the "N word" and adding -ish to the end makes it ok so why would Jewish be okay but Jew would not?

I also can't believe you would be able to claim two words are the same level of "bad" but not even be able to type one of them, the "N Word".

This badness seems to come purely from what people believe is politically correct, a term that seems to differ in meaning from person to person.

I believe if a word describes how a person religiously identifies, a Jew, it should not be considered politically incorrect to use.

Photo By: Aia Fernandez

The lack of knowing Jews also seems to result in confusion on the Jewish holidays and some kind of political correctness stigma around asking a Jew about it. There is nothing wrong about asking about a culture you don't understand, as it is the only way you will be able to understand it. When people ask, they tend to realize there isn't anything scary about the religion and the culture that goes with it and often find it's not so different than their own. If people understand each other's religions better we may be able to knock out some of the tiptoeing we do as to not offend anyone.

This brings me to one final point involving holidays. A huge pet peeve of mine involving political correctness is trying to appease everyone in December. There are so many religions out there that we don't wish its members a "Happy fill in the blank" throughout the year, so why do we try so hard to get it right in December. No one seems to know if they should say "Happy Hannukah," "Merry Christmas," "Happy Kwanza," or something else, so they play it safe and say the cringe-worthy, politically correct "Happy Holidays." This is emphasized ad nauseam in schools, stores, and in the workplace. In my opinion this needs to stop now.

Anyone I have ever asked, no matter their religion, has told me they couldn't care less what you wish them around Christmas; they are just glad you are thinking about them.

My Jewish friends and I joke around and say when someone says "Merry Christmas" we should just smile and reply "Happy Hannukah." I think this is a much better solution than saying "Happy Holidays" or my personal favorite "Happy Christmakwanzakkah!"

So next time, please, call me a Jew, ask me about my traditions, and wish me a Merry Christmas, I won't take offense.


Please share your take and experiences on political correctness as a whole and in religion.