Holy Shit

Looks like the lefties and so-called social justice warriors continue their attempts to rewrite history.

The issue is this: In the eyes of some, the Crusader nickname is offensive to non-Christians. Some folks see it as a symbol of slaughters during the 11th century Holy Wars between the Christians and Muslims. Others would argue that a Crusader is simply someone who is fighting for a cause. Webster’s dictionary uses both definitions.

First - so what if a mere name is 'offensive' to someone else? Has a crime been committed, like shouting 'Fire!' in a theatre? In this country we have a First Amendment which implies a right to offend, as Frank Zappa used to note with a label on some of his album covers. The first time I encountered this notion of 'being offended' was in 1993, working a temp. job for Massport. Something happened (I can't remember the contents of the conversation), and one of the weenies I was working with said 'I find that offensive'. I shot him a 'are you serious?' look and walked away, never thinking that this notion would be used in the ensuing decades to effectively curtail speech. In fact, I will amplify my own speech if it offends someone or some people I don't like just to spite them, much like I have been doing with this blog for eight years now with respect to Dan Shaughnessy.

Second, anyone bothering to research the issue for more than five minutes would realize the Crusades began "in response to centuries of Muslim wars of expansion. Their objectives were to check the spread of Islam, to retake control of the Holy Land in the eastern Mediterranean, to conquer pagan areas, and to recapture formerly Christian territories; they were seen by many of their participants as a means of redemption and expiation for sins". I say this as an avowed atheist, who shouldn't give two flying fucks about two groups who go to war with each other over whose book is holier than the other's book. My primary objection is to rewriting and ignoring history by the unwashed hordes of rock dumb Americans who grew up reading Chomsky and Zinn thinking this country is irredeemably racist, sexist, homophobic and bigoted, filled with descendants of slaveholders, Southern rednecks who love NASCAR and pig roasts, and 'climate change' deniers. They can all go jump into Boston Harbor, preferably in a few more weeks during a 'Noreaster.

Third, my high school, Manchester Memorial High School, is nicknamed - you guessed it! - The Crusaders. At least they haven't folded, yet.

This is a tricky issue in this day and age. I live in a town famous for having elementary school kids engage in a recess “tug-of-peace” because “tug-of-war” is too aggressive.

Students writing for the Holy Cross newspaper recently stated, “Why would we not consider changing something that takes away from the experience of our community, even if it is just a single person who takes issue?’’

Many institutions have gone down this path in the last 40 years. The Dartmouth Indians became the Big Green. The St. John’s Redmen became the Red Storm. The UMass Redmen became the Minutemen. The Washington Bullets became the Wizards. The Washington Redskins argument is never going away, and we can all pretty much agree that the Cleveland Indians’ hideous Chief Wahoo is racist — even though everybody in Cleveland seems to love the goofy little guy.

I am not in agreement with the notion that “if one person is offended, we should change things.’’ That’s a black hole from which we can never be rescued. But there’s certainly validity in the opinion that “Crusader” is offensive to some.
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I know where most of my friends and Holy Cross classmates stand on this. They don’t want to change. And when I ran into Tommy Heinsohn at the Garden last weekend, it was no surprise to hear Tommy’s outrage about the suggestion.

“It’s nonsense,’’ said the Celtics legend (Holy Cross, 1956). “Political correctness. Gimme a break.

So you have two choices - bend over for a bunch of whining, poorly read leftist zombies every time the pacifier falls from their mouth, or tell them in no uncertain terms to go fuck themselves, for the reasons noted above.