Letters to the Editor - In Response to "Politically Correct"

Letters

We received an overwhelming response to Jerry Carter's editorial titled "Politically Correct." The majority of our readers agree that, by remaining neutral, one must also respect the right to free speech and allow interested parties to choose whether or not the subject matter is appropriate for them.

I am a Christian and I believe our country is being destroyed by this PC environment. From jamsignal
PC

I loved your article on PC and I agree 100%. I am a Christian and I believe our country is being destroyed by this PC environment. If the majority is offended, it is OK. If a small group is offended, the problem must be fixed.

...religion (like politics) is one of the most divisive issues around. I hope that most geocachers can agree on that, and try to keep religion out of geocaching. From Ken Macdonald, aka The Alethiometrists
Let's Keep Religion Out of Geocaching

In your November issue, Jerry Carter (El Diablo) wrote an editorial proposing that Geocaching.com allow religious-themed caches, and specifically those with a Christian theme. As a precedent, he referred to the many "Harry Potter" themed caches. As a Pagan geocacher who has read the "Potter" books, I feel qualified to offer a response.

While J.K. Rowling's novels may offend some folks, they could in no way accurately be construed as religious in nature. The characters actually observe the Christian holidays, and sing carols at Christmas. So it wouldn't be fair to suggest she's promoting some alternative religion. I don't know about the author, but the books seem singularly disinterested in religion, one way or the other.

However, even if a book were to allegorically touch upon religion, a cache thematically based on that book would not necessarily be promoting religion. There are caches based around "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "The Chronicles of Narnia," both of which were intended by their authors as Christian allegories. However, it would be grossly inaccurate to suggest that a cache referencing either of those series is necessarily promoting religion.

Clearly, the decision has to be made on a case-by-case basis.

Of course, people can choose to be offended by just about anything, but religion (like politics) is one of the most divisive issues around. I hope that most geocachers can agree on that, and try to keep religion out of geocaching.

...I'm no religious fanatic or anything, but this article just makes me want to put together my own religious-themed cache and put it out just to see what kind of reaction I get from these idiots. From Lee Shive, aka Gone_Bananas
Leave the Political Correctness Out of Geocaching

I just read the article titled "PC", and was rather miffed that the political correctness crowd even need to get involved with something as unpolitical as geocaching. If the people out there that are so offended by a religious-based geocache, of all themes, why do they even bother to leave their stupid homes? Geocaching is supposed to be just a game, something fun for all types of people to enjoy with their friends and family. Why do they have to pollute this harmless fun with their unbelievably stupid behavior? Why do they have to force their beliefs on everyone else? I think that they just don't have anything else better to do in their pathetic little lives than to try to ruin something as healthy and fun as geocaching. I also believe that if they would just direct all that energy towards something more useful, if they are capable of that, they might actually have something to be proud of and make their ridiculous lives worth living. You know, I'm no religious fanatic or anything, but this article just makes me want to put together my own religious-themed cache and put it out just to see what kind of reaction I get from these idiots. There should be more religion in everyone's lives, not less. Then maybe there wouldn't be as many problems in this country

If a cache is clearly marked what type of site, I don't see why geocaching.com shouldn't approve it. From Brad Meyers, aka AMH209
PC Article

I really enjoyed the article on 'PC'. I agree that there will always be sites that offend someone and the only way geocaching could prevent that is by closing all sites. I'm tired of being called a radical just because I believe in Christian values and I might offend someone. If a cache is clearly marked what type of site, I don't see why geocaching.com shouldn't approve it.

...we can decide ourselves. From Lew M.
PC

I enjoyed your editorial. Right ON. It would not be too hard to censor something that would be offensive to nearly everyone. And for the rest we can decide ourselves.

Are they trying to tell us that those who might be "offended" don't have the mental capacity to know the difference between a regular cache and a "Christian-themed" cache? From Vicki Rutherford, aka Prairie Hen 2
In regards to: PC- the dreaded...

You GO, Boy! Well said, well put! I couldn't agree more! My husband and I are new to this game, but we've thought about hiding caches with clues from Bible texts. I guess that would be "religious", and wouldn't be allowed... But, why couldn't we???? Why would it be such a crime? Only those who wanted to find the cache (those who were NOT OFFENDED by searching for the clues in the Bible) would search for the cache. I don't see how it's any different from making a decision on whether to go for a cache based on the number of "stars" it has, the general area it's located in, or any number of other reasons we decide for or against a cache. Are they trying to tell us that those who might be "offended" don't have the mental capacity to know the difference between a regular cache and a "Christian-themed" cache? Heaven forbid (oops! "religious" talk) that they open a cache and (horrors!) find a Christian music CD, or a mini-bible, or a bookmark with a Bible text on it. How awful would THAT be?!!

This PC issue is bigger than caching! And it's really gotten out of control in our country. Seriously, maybe those of us who don't mind "Christian" caches ought to start our own web site and see if Groundspeak would just "link" cachers to it if they were interested. We often spend pleasant "Sabbath" afternoon hours hiking in the woods looking for a cache. How much better to have a "Sabbath" themed cache waiting at the end of our hike, perhaps with a spiritual object lesson from nature as the "treasure"! It would be a treat compared with some of the (pardon me...) junk we've been finding in caches in our area.

Keep writing articles like the PC one. Thanks for sharing your views. Keep Caching!

...this country has tried not to hurt other peoples feeling so much that they have failed to realized they are stepping on the toes of so many more people... From Kayak Kouple
About Being PC

I just read your article about being PC & I just want to say THANK YOU.....this country has tried not to hurt other peoples feeling so much that they have failed to realized they are stepping on the toes of so many more people...just thought I'd tell you, you had a great article and that more people believe the way you do.

The key here is that either choice by Geocaching.com can be construed to be neutral. This is certainly the case if we trust that their *intent* is to remain neutral. What is required by the rest of us is to take on face value that they have made their choice (whichever it is) from their own desire to remain neutral. It is not reasonable to accuse them, regardless of the choice, of not being neutral unless they clearly act in an unmistakenly biased way. From Chris Mills, aka millsspam
Politically Correct

In regard to the editorial entitled "PC," perhaps a neutral policy is in the intent. I am not going to speak to geocaching.com's policy choices on the delicate issue of religious caches, because I trust their intent, and I don't believe they have acted at any time in any way, other than to remain neutral. It is up to them to decide how best to implement a neutral policy. Unless they act in a manner clearly inconsistent with the intent to be neutral, I wouldn't second guess them.

The previous editorial seemed to imply that they were acting in a manner inconsistent with neutrality and so I thought it would be worthwhile addressing this position, and clearing up what I believe are some misconceptions.

First it should be noted that religion expressed in a public forum certainly has the potential to spark intense passions, and fuel strong emotions which would be inappropriate for a Geocaching forum. This doesn't mean that it necessarily would. However, choosing to keep religion out of a public forum certainly shouldn't be construed to make a statement about religion one way or the other. It is a neutral choice. Keeping politics out for similar reasons is no different. It is certainly reasonable to take this approach as a matter of policy-- that is keep topics that can provoke strong emotional responses out of the public forum. This keeps it simple. However, it is also certainly conceivable one could maintain a neutral forum which allowed both religion and politics-- the key to an appropriate policy choice is perhaps in how easily civility can be controlled, or maybe even in avoiding the potential for civility to get out of control in the first place.

Second, at first glance, the reference to the Constitution in the previous editorial in this context appears to be misapplied. Our Constitution is a document regarding how our government should be structured and the nature of the relationship between the governors and the governed. In this is a codification of a principle that those that are being governed should have a right to openly speak their opinions without fear of retribution from the governemnt. The many codifications emboddied in the Constitution may be derived from important and worthy higher principles which might apply in broader contexts than governance alone. However, the direct application of the Constitution outside this goevernance context, is not particularly useful. This is because it is not a document which was designed for this purpose.

So being a bit confused by how the Constitution's concept of free speech applies to a forum attempting to remain neutral, I looked to extract a more general principle which may encapsulate the principle of free speech emboddied in the Constitution. Perhaps understanding such a principle might help me understand the point being made in the previous editorial. My best guess to this broader principle would be something as follows: "In certain contexts expressing strongly felt convictions to others in order to attempt to change their views or perhaps reinforce there existing views is a worthy, or maybe even necessary endevour." I think this is a fair first shot at a more generalised principle applying outside the context of governance. It certainly seems that the concept of free speech in the context of governance could be derived from this principle. But this is a principle of the value of confrontation in certain contexts, not of the value of maintaining neutrality. So I can't! see how this applies here. In fact, it appears to be just the opposite-- it is a principle applied in situations where non-neutrality is most appropriate.

Now, having said all this, I don't mean to imply that geocaching.com should either allow, or disallow religious caches. This is their choice. A choice to allow religious caches could be made on the basis of allowing those that wish to express their heart-felt faith in whatever religion that they partake through a geocaching activity. This choice can certainly be construed to be neutral.

It is fair for each of us to express a preference one way or another on what we might like to see on the site, but once Geocaching.com have decided how to deal with this delicate issue, regardless of the choice, I believe we should respect their choice. We certainly shouldn't accuse them of being non-neutral. We can only accuse them of this if they start steering their site towards expressing strongly held views on the topic of religion, no matter what the view. This is where they could be accused of being non-neutral.

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