[DeltAlum]

Of course there can be pledging without hazing and the two are certainly NOT the same thing.

I don't think that's the point of this thread, though -- which is "Hazing creates a sense of unity."

I'll also go on record again agreeing that the hazing laws have gone too far. I'll still stand by my beliefs of why that happened. Hazing went way too far and got totally out of control.

As for "Political Correctness," I did a Google search and here are some comments that underscore what I think about that. The comments are from Wikipedia -- not a source I generally even look at -- but they pretty much confirm to me what I've understood "Politically Correct" to be.

"Political correctness (also politically correct, P.C. or PC) is a term used to describe language that appears calculated to provide a minimum of offense, particularly to the racial or cultural groups being described. The term is normally used in a pejorative or ironic sense, and is a frequent target for comedians and satirists.

The concept has been extended by conservative and some liberal (Hentoff 1992, Schlesinger 1998, Brandt 1992) commentators, particularly in the United States, but also increasingly in other countries, to describe what they see as a larger "left-wing political correctness movement" focused on censorship, multiculturalism, identity politics, social engineering, and influencing popular culture through venues such as music, film, literature, arts, and advertising.

Some liberal and progressive commentators, however, argue that the term "political correctness" was fabricated by United States conservatives around 1980 and defined as a way to reframe the political scene in the United States. They say that there never was a "Political Correctness movement" in the United States, and that many who use the term are attempting to distract attention from substantive debates over discrimination and unequal treatment based on race, class, and gender (Messer-Davidow 1993, 1994; Schultz 1993; Lauter 1995; Scatamburlo 1998; Glassner 1999)."


Bottom line of "PC" to me is that, while I don't really care whether it was started by Liberals or Conservatives, most of its usage has nothing to do with the stuff above, but that it has become a usefull and easy container into which anything with which you disagree can be thrown. It's an easy place to lump things. That's why I call it a "cop out."