Thursday, October 25, 2012

Offended? Why should we care?

Ahhh, Philosoraptor, billions of years have taught you so much....


I have spoken about this before (although not with the bent that rant with today).

It is on the subject of offense.  People use it as a cover behind which they can hide.  

"That is offensive"

"That might offend someone"

Or even conflating offense with hate.

This is the flip side to the old "Everyone is entitled to their opinion". Both as used to keep people from disagreeing with them, and they are both cowardly.

What they are really saying is "You are not allowed to SAY that you disagree with me out loud."

What I say is "Yes! You have the right to an opinion, and you have the right to be offended"

And I have the right to say that you are stupid....


The point that needs to be made is that no one has the right NOT to be offended. You have no right to ask that others not offend you.  

None.

Low hanging, underwear exposing pants offend me, sideways hats offend my wife, sassy kids offend my mother, but that doesn't give us the right to go yell at the offending people telling them to stop what they are doing immediately.

That is because offense is subjective.

But seriously... fuck these guys

You have the right to be offended by the things that you deem disgusting or inappropriate, but unless there is harm being done, you have no right to ask that person to stop.  

Don't misunderstand me.  You can ASK, but you have no RIGHT. They can stop because they are civil people, but they are under no obligation to do so.

Everything is open to critique.... EVERYTHING.

Every thought that is expressed, every belief that is manifested by action OR word, and everything that we do. 

I have a friend who was harshly criticized a while ago for stating her opinion about the Burqa. She was called racist (Islam isn't a race people!), intolerant, and even hateful. It is NOT intolerance nor offensive to speak up. It is her stating her opinion as freely as everyone else asks to be allowed. I have to say that I find that kind of intellectual cowardice VERY offensive. They are free to be that way, and I am free to say that they are closed minded cowards who haven't the brainpower to defend their positions rationally.

If you want to hide behind your "right" to an opinion, then you can't deny others their rights too.

Except them

If you are offended and disagree with an unpalatable opinion expressed, then speak up.  Have a modicum of courage and defend your position.

Or at least find a logical position from which to deride the one that you are offended by.

BECAUSE I HATE THEM
If someone says "Jesus was a homosexual who ran a backyard brothel for lepers and told Jews that ham was awful just so that he'd have more to serve his own guests", don't just cry how that hurts your feelings.  Speak up and explain to them how Jesus was a genuine boob connoisseur and hated ham in all it's forms.

On the flip side if YOU think that gay marriage is wrong, then you better have a good and supported position that extends outside of your religion to support this position, because you can bet that someone is about to rightfully call you on it.


Think he's a Muslim born in Kenya?



Do not confuse "intolerance" with "critique". Do not even confuse intolerance with something that is always bad. We are intolerant of a lot of things.

Racism

Bullying

Spousal Abuse

Pedophilia

AND THESE GUYS!

It is not intolerance that we should be careful about. It is spurious logic. It is learning how to differentiate between things that get on our nerves that really cause no harm, and things that we should protect ourselves and others from.

If you are offended, you should take a look at what is offending you.  Look to see if that offense is YOUR issue and whether or not it causes anyone harm but your butt-hurt feelings, or if it is something that we really should be intolerant of because of the harm that you see it can cause others.  

Discuss it.

Be open minded, and willing to change your opinion if shown evidence or support for the opposing position.

Why should we NOT be critical of things that we see are harmful? 

You have a right to be offended, and you have a right to defend your position. 

Just remember that saying "I'm offended" is merely another way of whining that you don't like how someone doesn't agree with your way of seeing things.  

That is right.  If you express only that you are offended, or that you are offended because of some personal experience, you are just whining. 

You don't have a right to ask that others "respect you" if you aren't willing to respect them back by allowing them the free speech that you are asking for yourself.


and fuck this guy too (for my wife)

2 comments:

  1. Argh! I *HATE* those stupid sideways baseball caps!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I Blame designer underwear.-Torney

    ReplyDelete