In the 1940’s, Americans volunteered to go overseas and have people shoot at their heads in order to defend the nation.

They faced real violence in a real war where real life hung in the balance.

Today, we’ve really lost a sense of the high stakes.

What’s important? Life. Family. Faith. Purpose.

Our society, it seems to me, is crumbling from a loss of the biggies. And it’s accompanied by an attempt to make the infinitesimal huge.

Children were once taught “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” They were made to be resilient because their self worth didn’t depend upon the opinions of others.

These days, names are putting sticks and stones to shame.

People are insisting their feelings be affirmed, because they’re owed it. Otherwise, they’re enduring paralyzing adversity.

Another wonder: The fact that they’re called “micro” aggressions, it seems to me, should be an indication that they’re…ya know…micro.

But it ain’t.

Appropos, during CNN’s Equality Town Hall Thursday night, Julián Castro got a lesson in physical force.

﻿

Singer Shea Diamond took to the mic for a question, and his name was mispronounced by the network’s Nia-Malika Henderson as “Shay”:

“I want to bring in [“Shay”] Diamond, a singer/songwriter from L.A. She currently supports Mayor Pete Buttigieg. What’s your question?”

Shea replied:

“Uh, it’s ‘Shia’ Diamond. Put that on the record. Yes, honey. It’s violence to misgender or to alter a name of a trans person, so let’s always get that right first.”

It’s violence to mispronounce someone’s name.

Watch the video above.

Fortunately for Shea, Cory Booker was there for support: The macho, physical-assault-aspiring 2020 hopeful asserted the country’s facing a “national emergency” in the area of violence against the LGBT community, and that it may in fact require a federal Office on Hate Crimes and White Supremacy.

Back to Shea, to be clear, I’m not suggesting a man identifying as a woman is the ultimate manifestation of our national weakness. It could’ve just as easily been a straight white millennial, and it has been. And it will be again.

We’re becoming crippled by the trivial.

And that is a national emergency.

Lord help us if the Japanese attack again.

-ALEX

Relevant RedState links in this article: here.

See 3 more pieces from me:

Where We Are: Gen Z Vegan Claims Sausage Roll Has Left Her ‘Traumatized For Life’ And Possibly Cancer-Stricken

Think You’ve Heard The Stupidest Thing Ever? I Disagree. Witness The Woke’s New Condemnation Of IKEA

Woke Student Geniuses Protest At The University Of Minnesota, Demand All Campus Police Be Disarmed Immediately

Find all my RedState work here.

And please follow Alex Parker on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you for reading! Please sound off in the Comments section below.