I recently had the pleasure to read Charles Braun’s manifesto on political correctness (“Iowa State is Too Politically Correct”). Braun has many complaints about the changes here at Iowa State since he was a student in the ’80s, far too sprawling for me to discuss in any detail. But the central theme of the article was his general belief that his views were under attack by a “thought police” here on campus, so I will focus on this.

First, a quiz. Is the phrase “political correctness” good or bad? Braun seems to think bad, and it plays the role of boogeyman in his paranoia-induced dreams of collegiate tyranny. But let me propose the idea that, like the words “diversity,” “discrimination” and “sustainability” from his article, it’s just a phrase. It’s a phrase that has become a lightning rod for people struggling with the fact that their viewpoints have fallen into the minority, but neutral nonetheless.

After all, wasn’t Braun’s preferred idea of premarital abstinence the politically correct view in Puritanical American society?

My memory of “The Scarlet Letter” tells me Hester Prynne encountered a far more hostile reaction than any modern-day abstinence advocates have encountered.

Wasn’t the idea that homosexuality was immoral the politically correct view until 2008? Check annual Gallup polling to verify. In fact, from 1985-1989, presumably around the time Braun was in college at Iowa State, a majority of Americans believed homosexuality should be illegal. Until 1979, gay Iowans were literally thrown in jail and charged with felonies. Compare these abuses to the complaints of modern-day political correctness, which essentially boils down to some folks getting their feelings hurt because a lot of other folks disagree with them.

I have little doubt that Braun has received a bit of feedback from his article. This is the nature of free speech. I would hope that he realizes this by no means amounts to “stifling” him. It just means other people have as much right as he does to express their point of view.

He did, after all, get his article published in our school paper, so apparently the “thought police” let something slip through the cracks. If he is concerned that his alma mater is going down a path he doesn’t approve of, let me toss out the idea that there are many other places that are probably hiring, and there are many qualified applicants that would be excited to fill an administrative position at Iowa State. This is, as Braun said, still a “somewhat free” country after all.