The PC Gestapo Strike Again (1)

The past week, my anti-PC mode has been in full swing. I have been working on posts ranging from 9/11 to Mel Gibson. Those can wait. Today, being Sunday, I will by politically incorrect with a bit of tongue in cheek.

Over a week ago, I read an article in Reuters about a British woman who had to take down a sign on her garden gate. The sign read:

Our dogs are fed on Jehovah's Witnesses

This woman, Janet Grove, owns a terrier puppy named Rabbit. But police were summoned and ordered her to take down the sign. They were forced to act after receiving a complaint.

Janet insisted the sign was a gentle joke to discourage callers at her front door. Her late husband had put the sign up more than 30 years ago when Jehovah's called at their house on Christmas Day. Yet she had to take it down. A police spokesman is quoted as saying:

We were informed by a member of the public who found the sign to be distressing, offensive and inappropriate. Officers attended the address and the sign was voluntarily taken down.

Thing is, I can understand why the sign was put up in the first place. When I was living in Verdun, there was a time when every second Saturday or so, the door bell would ring around 8 AM and it would be Jehovah's asking if I had found God. It got to the point where one Saturday, I said fuck it. I went down to my door, stark naked and opened it.

There was a young man and his wife with their young daughter, around 5 or 6. Of course, they stared at me in abject horror. Then to really send the word, I said something to the effect "What do you want? I was just going down on my boyfriend." There was a stammered apology and they moved quickly away. And I wasn't bothered for quite a few months after that.

I can understand that it is important for Christians to witness. But coming to someone's place unannounced to push your version of religion, to me, is no different that a telemarketer calling trying to sell you something you don't need. I know, I've been a telemarketer. People do not appreciate being interrupted to hear about something they don't want or need.

I have no problem with Jehovah's who stand around the Metro (our subway system) exits, holding the Watchtower. They don't bother me or push it into my face. If I want to initiate a conversation, it is up to me.

I look at the people who are part of the church I go to occassionally. VCC is active in the Verdun community. On Aug. 26th, they are having a block party where families can get a couple of knapsacks full of supplies for their kids who are going to start school. As it was last year, it will be a big party. The religion aspect is small. Flyers about some of the various church functions like the Alpha course will be handed out. There will be a little prayer but that is it.

The same can be said for Oasis. The people going there know it is being run by VCC. But religion isn't thrust down their throat as they get their supper and little handout bags. If they want prayer or to talk about Christianity, only then is it brought up.

Yet there are some places here in Montreal where it is different. There are some soup kitchens where once the people are settled down, they have a prayer and a little sermon. Once the people are finished eating, the same thing happens with the next group that come in.

Personally, I don't appreciate being forced to hear about the evils in my life and by giving my life to Christ, life will get better. Some of these soup kitchens have a captive audience because there are not too many around Montreal. And the thing is, it doesn't work. When I was living on the street, not one of the people I knew were converted because of the prayer or sermon. The general reaction was "I don't have a choice. I need a meal, so I'll just let them babble."

Groups like VCC look things a little differently. They witness through their deeds and lives. It is the same for my friends like Brian, Jude and Bob. They are examples of what a Christian life can be. They do not annoy anyone in the morning on the weekends, or at night when people are sitting down for dinner. They try to use their lives as examples of what being a Christian can give someone.

But time to get back to the offensive sign. I have no idea who was offended by Ms. Grove's sign. I don't know if it was a Jehovah Witness or some stupid twit who is ingrained with being PC. Thing is, the sign was up for over 30 years. Whoever was offended by the sign should either get a life or a thicker skin.

But this, once again for me, shows the insipid intrusion of the PC Gestapo into people's lives. Because someone complained that they were offended and distressed by the sign, it had to go. So police were dispatched to Ms. Grove's house to have the sign removed. What happened to Janet Grove's expression of free speech?

If the sign was new, I could see the possibility of someone being offended. But the sign was up for over 30 years. Only now someone gets offended? And what is so offensive?

In the Gospels, Jesus tells his disciples that there will be people who will not listen. And what does he say to this?

And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them. [Mark 6:11 NIV]

That is the point of witnessing. Not everyone is going to listen. If they don't, move on. People will jeer, hurl insults and put you down. But if you believe in your cause, then you will continue on. Some will hear what you have to say.

And if you come about a sign which offends you, so what? Move on. Thing is though, our PC culture does not allow people to get thick skin. If something is offensive, it has to be removed. Taken from our sight. But what the PC Gestapo don't get is just because you remove the sign doesn't mean you've removed what was behind the sign.

The removal of Ms. Grove's sign may be salve to the person it offended but it doesn't get rid of the sentiment behind it. And the more the PC Gestapo try to stiffle what people are saying, the more things will go underground. The more things will fester and become a cancer.

That is one reason I am so anti-PC. I want to know what people are thinking and saying. The PC culture makes people couch what they say and do. So they form a mask which is not easy to pierce. It pushes what people honestly believe into a hidden place which only they and a few know. And I don't like that evolving culture.

So this is the first post on the current PC Gestapo tactics as I see it. Over the next week, I will have a few more things to say which will include Mel Gibson and 9/11. Stay tuned.