Jesus, President Obama, Trigger Warnings, and "Never Taste Chemicals"

As my son entered his junior year of high school, the requisite number of start-of-school release forms and acknowledgments seemed to grow exponentially. I don't recall having to mutually sign a form with my parents regarding whether I bothered to read the syllabus or not. Many things were just assumed back in the day — if the school or its personnel generate it, action is required. It was on his science class syllabus and lab rules that the phrase caught my attention:

Never taste chemicals.

You'd think such would be painfully obvious, but there it is. Because some citizens occasionally deny what is obvious — including reality itself — these things are necessary these days. And yet, what isn't obvious in all the paperwork, is the presupposition underlying it all:

It isn't that we don't trust your kids not to do something stupid. We're terrified your kid will actually do something stupid, and you'll sue us for his or her stupidity.

I've had great conversations with my own kids about why this paperwork is "necessary." Schools have now had to protect themselves from the mentality of a society that rewards participation and hands out trophies just for showing up. It's sad when a pro football player has to point out the obvious and it seems like a breath of fresh air on a stifling day. (He wasn't without his critics, though.)

In counseling, I've sat across the table from folks who have been through some horribly traumatic experiences. To hear their stories can be difficult. But one thing stands out between them and something I've noticed while teaching college classes: having your beliefs challenged is not the same thing as being emotionally traumatized. I fear our society is losing that distinction.

The Atlantic ran a recent editorial that captures that particular notion quite well. A "trigger warning" is, by definition, an announcement to listeners of a lecture (or viewers of a video) that material is included that could trigger emotional distress. It has become a matter of concern on many college campuses that trigger warnings should be given by professors if the material they cover may be upsetting to someone in their class. (God forbid someone needs a trigger warning for trigger warnings. Talk about an infinite regress.)

Way back in the day, in one of my design classes, I had my head buried in my ever-present sketchbook. Good ideas can be fleeting and need to be recorded if and when they strike. My professor unfortunately misinterpreted my focus as disinterest, and his words to me were quite blunt:

Phillips, you're really starting to piss me off.

In this day and age on college campuses, such a comment would clearly be deemed a microaggression; I doubt any professor these days would feel free enough to make such a statement for fear of student reprisals. (Just prior to graduation, at an end-of-year department banquet, my professor and I actually shared a laugh about the experience; he claimed that as soon as the words left his mouth, it dawned on him that, in his words, "You're twice as big as I am." I responded by saying, "I've been insulted by littler men than you." I wonder where he was when he caught exactly what I meant.)

However, I sense the onslaught of trigger warnings is not to protect students from emotional distress, but is actually an effort to add another layer of protection for the faculty. If comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld will no longer play college campuses for fear of political correctness, heaven forbid a student should have their thinking challenged through cognitive dissonance and Socratic teaching methods.

Thinking critically about tough issues is not the same as enduring emotional trauma. We've become a nation where emotions drive our actions; the reality is this: emotions are not an indicator of truth. I personally was never the fastest runner, or the best baseball player, or the best shot in basketball. Some folks are physically gifted. God bless 'em. There's no emotional distress in those words; it is an accurate depiction of reality. Constructive criticism is not hate speech.

President Obama even mentioned his concern this week. In an address at Des Moines, Iowa, he went on record with the following, using specifically the word "coddling" when describing today's crop of college students:

I've heard some college campuses where they don't want to have a guest speaker who is too conservative or they don't want to read a book if it has language that is offensive to African-Americans or somehow sends a demeaning signal towards women. I gotta tell you, I don't agree with that either. I don't agree that you, when you become students at colleges, have to be coddled and protected from different points of view. I think you should be able to — anybody who comes to speak to you and you disagree with, you should have an argument with 'em. But you shouldn't silence them by saying, "You can't come because I'm too sensitive to hear what you have to say." That's not the way we learn, either.

We now live in a culture where merely describing reality is designated as microaggression. Bernie Sanders just spoke at Liberty University. Inviting a progressive socialist to a conservative evangelical university would seem to invite trouble in this day and age — especially at a school where attendance at such events can be mandatory. But things were civil, much as to be expected, at a school where behavior is an outgrowth of the university's student code of conduct. The students had questions, as expected. It is actually good for everyone concerned, and here is why.

Jesus Himself is the ultimate in cognitive dissonance: to the rich, He is a threat to their money. To the overly religious and the self-centered, He points out their good works cannot save them. To the atheist, He has some good moral teachings, but He isn't divine. To those who view Him as myth, He forces them to deny the reality of history. To those who view marriage as merely a social construct, His words can be discarded. He is singularly the ultimate stumbling block to every person born: accept His words as truth, or face the consequences of the decision to dismiss them.

Cognitive dissonance allows a person to sharpen their own beliefs. It shouldn't be feared; it should be encouraged. We should be asking one another Socratic questions about abortion, divorce, marriage, euthanasia, taxes, metaphysics, ethics, economics, environmental responsibilities, and the meaning of life. Sheltering yourself from challenging your thinking is to deny the reality of the world we live in. (Just wait a couple decades when this current group of college students starts obtaining positions of power. Yeehaw!)