Political Correctness or Tolerance and Respect ?

I was at my Doctor's office a few days ago. The waiting room was nearly empty as I sat and looked around the room. Suddenly, my eyes fixated on an object beneath one of the chairs. I got up and walked closer. Was it a man's "dress hat" as some older gentlemen still wear? No, it didn't quite have the right shape. As I reached the other side of the room, still puzzled, I thought maybe I knew the answer. My eyes began to search the immediate area for some kind of confirmation. Not far from the chair, was a table, sitting in the corner, holding magazines and flyers. But prominently piled at the front of the table was the confirmation I was looking for. In case you are still "wondering", they were Amish hats.
As I turned to ask the Receptionist a question, from the hallway appeared two Amish ladies. One was of retired age, the other - just a young lady. They both sat down with me in the waiting room.

Forgive me; I must back-up a little bit...



Shortly after I had noticed the hats and quickly took pictures of them, two other ladies had come into the office and sat down to wait, also. They began to converse with me. We were talking about gardening, canning, cooking and so-on. So, it was just natural to include the Amish ladies in our conversation when they joined us. There was no hesitation from anyone in the room. We were just a small group of women, sharing our experiences and secrets of baking pies, making home-made noodles, gardening and canning.

As I sat there and looked at the five of us talking and inter-acting with each other I realized there were no "lines" of any kind that made us different from each other. Yes, we each had our own style of dress and "appearance", but we were just five women sharing common experiences and laughter!

It seems to me that because so much of our thinking, today, is spent making sure that we are being politically correct, we often cannot see the trees for the forest. When did plain, old-fashioned tolerance and respect become such an issue that we changed the name of those virtues to "Political Correctness"?

Supposedly, we are now more sophisticated in order that we not offend anyone in any way, in regards to how they look, think or act. Are we now a generation of more tolerant and polite people? I, personally, don't think so. When I think back to how children were raised in my era, (and even further back to my parent's era), there were just values instilled in us that demanded respect. I realize that from that time to the present, many people have been made more aware and educated about physical and mental limitations in particular people groups. Many also have learned that ALL people are equal, no matter their color, their size, their education, or their social status.

I guess the whole thought process that I had that day as I looked at those articles of clothing that distinguished one group of people from the rest of the world was, when you get down to the heart of women interacting with other women , we are just that... we are all just women! We have the same desires, responsibilities, and, yes, even the same underlying need that ALL MANKIND has had from the beginning... ACCEPTANCE for who we are!

God used some hats that day to show me more clearly HIS thoughts on the subject:

James 2:9 (NLT) says: "But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. James 2: 12-13 (NLT) adds: "So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you."