In 1949, George Orwell wrote the literary classic 1984.  This fictional dystopian social science novel looks at the consequences of totalitarianism and how such a regime manipulates truth and facts, primarily through censorship and redefining the meaning of words.

How ironic that the University of Northampton (in England) is censoring 1984 by issuing a trigger warning that some students may find the book offensive and unsettling.  A look at some quotes by George Orwell underscores why some modern-day progressives may experience cognitive disconnects.

• “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”
• “The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”
• “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” (From 1984)
• “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
• “In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four.” (From 1984)

The cognitive dissonance continues.  David Reardon, Ph.D., a Lozier Institute associate scholar and lead author of a recent study published in the Cureus medical journal, shared the following: “We surveyed women between 41 and 45 years of age, so they had had most of their reproductive life, and we asked about their experiences with pregnancy and abortion… And of those women, we had 226 who reported a history of abortion… Over 60% reported that they felt very much pressured to abort by either their male partner, family members, other people, circumstances,…The feeling of pressure to abort was strongly correlated with more negative feelings after the abortion and more mental health problems that they attributed to the abortion specifically.”

He went on to share how these women, pressured into their abortions, said that they experienced significant levels of negative emotions related to the abortion; intrusive thoughts, including flashbacks to their abortion; frequent feelings of loss, grief, and sadness; and increased levels of stress answering questions about their abortion. (1)

The Woke mob better act fast otherwise, people might ask how abortion clinics can be pro-woman and pro-choice when they allow clients to be pressured into making only one choice.

But wait, there’s more. 

A liberal academic journal, Contraception, affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh, just published a surprisingly unbiased study comparing services between pregnancy centers and abortion clinics. Their conclusion? Pro-life Pregnancy Centers offer better and less expensive services than abortion clinics.  Special emphasis was on same-day appointments, shorter wait times, and services that are usually free. (2) Somebody on the Woke Center for Canceling Culture must have been asleep when this article got published. One might wonder who has the mother’s interest at heart vs. a financial interest in her decision?

Orwell considered freedom as having the right to tell people what they didn’t want to hear.  Yet, the Diocese of Coventry of the Church of England recently reported to the local police one of their synod members for tweeting “hate speech.”  Sam Margrave, apparently was guilty of violating the social media guidelines of the Church of England. His “sin”?  Margrave posted his belief that same-sex relationships are sinful.  Poor Sam has yet to be baptized in the font of wokeness at his local church. The Diocese justified its actions by saying, “everyone has the right to feel safe when interacting online.”(3)

Feeling safe, however, is not an absolute axiom within the Woke lexicon.   Case in point: Lia Thomas is a transgender athlete on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swim team.  Her teammates have expressed feeling awkward and uncomfortable when Thomas changes in their locker room. “Her” male body parts have been seen.  I suppose it’s more important that people feel safe online than in a locker room. 

That freedom definition is getting fuzzier.

In other news, the Associated Press has issued new guidelines (in November 2022) to their reporters about proper rules for coverage of the abortion issue. Misleading terms like “Crisis Pregnancy Centers” or “Pregnancy Resource Centers” should be avoided in favor of “anti-abortion centers.”  And for goodness sake, the AP advises reporters never to talk about a fetal heartbeat.  Better to use the phrase “cardiac activity.”  Don’t be surprised if hospitals will soon be labeled “anti-death centers” and Food Stamp programs will be relabeled as an “anti-starving”  programs. (4) It’s so good to see the news media choose political correctness over accuracy.  Orwell would be impressed.

Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) proudly wore his abortion pin to this year’s State of the Union address. In bold gold capital letters, ABORTION is spelled out, and a heart is displayed in the center of the O.  How cute.  Someone should remind the Senator that, ironically, abortion stops a beating heart.  Or is that just a cessation of cardiac activity?

The latest “Thou Shalt Not” from the Woke Commandments is to speak ill of anything to do with gender identity or dysphoria.  So someone better shut up Dr. Riittakerttu Kaltiala, the chief psychiatrist at Tampere University, Finland’s largest pediatric gender clinic.  Kaltiala, Finland’s leading expert on pediatric gender medicine, says “four out of five children will grow out of their gender confusion.” (5) I guess it’s ok to follow the science unless it conflicts with one’s progressive ideology.

The rapidity with which our culture is abandoning truth in favor of unproven, unsound, and harmful ideas is breathtaking.

This reminds me of a quote by the late Bishop Fulton Sheen, “Two principles inspire much of the personal and social dealings of many a citizen in our land:  ‘What can I get out of it?’ and ‘Can I get away with it?’ Evil is confused with good, and good is confused with evil.  Revolting books against virtue are termed ‘courageous’; those against morality are advertised as ‘daring and forward-looking’; and those against God are called ‘progressive and epoch-making.’  It has always been the characteristic of a generation in decay to paint the gates of hell with the gold of Paradise.  (Emphasis added) In a word, much of the so-called wisdom of our day is made up of that which nailed our blessed Lord to the Cross.”

Maybe that’s our problem in Western culture.  The Woke have too much Orwellian Gold paint.

And the Spirit of George Orwell is shaking its head, wondering, “didn’t anyone read my book?“

1. https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/02/07/exclusive-over-60-of-women-who-got-abortions-reported-high-level-of-pressure-study-finds/
2. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pregnancy-centers-offer-better-service-than-abortion-facilities-a-new-study-shows/
3. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253571/anglican-church-reports-anti-gay-marriage-synod-member-to-police-for-tweeting-hate-speech
4. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253567/ap-tells-reporters-to-call-crisis-pregnancy-centers-anti-abortion-centers?utm_campaign=CNA%20Daily&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=244926315&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_zMz-HIlrg04tTXbYtPabl230FOckvnJ-naTFjqn_6-KfifeCeiTLdJ0Sn-cPSQoVwUUiKVpuei2qTj-ypW10PwOU9RA&utm_content=244926315&utm_source=hs_email
5. https://www.dailywire.com/news/finlands-leading-gender-dysphoria-expert-says-4-out-of-5-children-grow-out-of-gender-confusion