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What Happened
Chris Rock doesn’t perform at colleges anymore. Why? Students are “way too conservative,” he says.
“Not in their political views—not like they’re voting Republican,” he says, “but in their social views and their willingness not to offend anybody. Kids raised on a culture of ‘We’re not going to keep score in the game because we don’t want anybody to lose.’ Or just ignoring race to a fault: You can’t say, ‘the black kid over there.’ No, it’s ‘the guy with the red shoes.’ You can’t even be offensive on your way to being inoffensive.”
Chris Rock’s not the only one who’s noticed college campuses are getting pretty sensitive. Many are awash in serious debates about something called microaggression and trigger warnings, and many students (and some faculty) want to scrub their institutions of any elements that might prove to be offensive.
For instance: Harvard law students have been asking professors to stop teaching law as it pertains to rape for fear it might disturb or traumatize some. In at least one instance, a student recommended that instructors ban the word violate, including in sentences such as, “He violated the law.”
Other campuses have debated whether to banish F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic The Great Gatsby from study, because it deals with themes of misogyny and physical abuse. In the University of California School System, administrators believe such phrases as, “America is the land of opportunity,” and, “I believe the most qualified person should get the job,” are classified as microaggressions because they could be construed as discriminatory.
One of the strangest examples took place at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., where the Asian American Student Association wanted to raise awareness of microaggressions that could offend its members. So, the members created an art installation that used phrases such as, “Aren’t you supposed to be good at math?” and, “I’m colorblind! I don’t see race,” as examples of what not to say to Asian-American students.
One problem, though: Other Asian students found the installation itself to be offensive, and the association quickly removed it. The organization’s president wrote an open letter, apologizing to anybody who was “triggered or hurt by the content of the microaggressions.”
This is a problem, some educational experts are saying. After all, college is a time when students are supposed to be challenged. It’s a time when people are supposed to debate different ideas, challenge assumptions and learn to think critically—even if the process is uncomfortable.
According to Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, today’s students—with the help of their colleges—want to be shielded from words, thoughts and ideas that make them uncomfortable and will lash out at anyone who violates that comfort zone. “You might call this impulse vindictive protectiveness,” they write in The Atlantic. “It is creating a culture in which everyone must think twice before speaking up, lest they face charges of insensitivity, aggression or worse.”
Talk About It
It’s not just colleges that can be hypersensitive. Just a look at the Internet and you’ll see evidence that it’s not too hard to stir some outrage these days. Can you think of instances in your own life where someone—or a group of people—made a huge deal out of a little thing? Have you seen people be overly sensitive to posts on Facebook or Instagram? Have you ever been guilty of being overly sensitive? When?
Christians can be particularly vulnerable to causing offense. Christians, when they talk about gay marriage, abortion or any number of other issues, can stir up all sorts of trouble. Sometimes just telling people that you’re a Christian can cause problems. Have you ever offended someone by talking about what you believe? Have some people judged you unfairly based on your faith?
Just as some people don’t want to hear much from Christians, sometimes we Christians can be guilty of the same thing. Christian schools can make it easy for us never to talk with people who might not share our faith—or people who don’t have any faith at all. While it’s important to have friends who share your beliefs and interests, do you think it’s also good to have friends or acquaintances who think very differently than you? Why or why not? What friends do you have like that now?
How can we better talk with people in these sensitive times? Have you found that there are ways to communicate with people that don’t cause needless offense? What are they? If you do offend someone, what should you do to make it better?
What the Bible Says
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17).
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:6).
“With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so” (James 3:9-10).
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:1-2).
Paul Asay has written for Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. He writes about culture for Plugged In and has published several books, including his newest, Burning Bush 2.0 (Abingdon), available now. He lives in Colorado Springs. Check out his entertainment blog at Patheos.com/Blogs/WatchingGod or follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
