Have you ever said “Merry Christmas” to a person who did not celebrate the holiday? Have you ever held back a joke because you were afraid it would offend someone? If you have asked these questions before, you may suffer from political correctness.

Political correctness is not a bad thing. In fact, watching one’s words allows them to build up healthy relationships. Our school, like many institutions of learning in the United States, prohibits offensive or prejudicial remarks. These policies, along with the hard work of counselors and psychologists, have tried to a safe, bully-free learning environment. Along with schools, many governments have made “politically correct” moves, such as issuing apologies and making appropriate public statements. Even most of the candidates — especially Hillary Clinton — remained politically correct and largely quiet/tempered. Although, political correctness may seem dignified, there is a double-standard when it is used.

For example, let’s take an alternative right conservative and a liberal SJW (or Social Justice Warrior). Let’s say that the alt-right conservative said something that was Islamophobic and the SJW said something offensive about police officers. Because the mainstream media is more left-leaning (but still reliable), the alt-right conservative’s words will be scorned upon, as they should be. However, the SJW’s words will go un-broadcasted, except by a small segment of conservative news networks (i.e. Fox News). Believe it or not, there have been many scenarios like this. This is why Trump supporters voted for him, to fight against the double standard.

Now, back to the question of “Merry Christmas” vs. “Happy Holidays.” Nobody should take offense to either statement, because both are not prejudicial or demeaning. Of course, when someone kindly tells you they do not celebrate Christmas, you should respect that. In a recent interview, English teacher Mr. Oatis, said, “We should respect everyone, but I know where both sides of this issue are coming from.” As he said, we must agree to disagree and we should move one from this issue. With note, “Have a Happy Holiday and a Merry Christmas!”