“Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn’t exist in any declaration I have ever read.
If you are offended it is your problem, and frankly lots of things offend lots of people.
I can walk into a bookshop and point out a number of books that I find very unattractive in what they say. But it doesn’t occur to me to burn the bookshop down. If you don’t like a book, read another book. If you start reading a book and you decide you don’t like it, nobody is telling you to finish it.
To read a 600-page novel and then say that it has deeply offended you: well, you have done a lot of work to be offended.”
― Salman Rushdie
Lately taking offence has become the most popular hobby among the population. Everybody is offended by something whether it be a flag, a candidate, a right acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court (Yes I said acknowledged not given. It has long puzzled me that minorities claim to fight for rights. That to me misses the mark. We all have the same rights. What minorities actually fight for is their rights to be acknowledged by others. Any time they ask for or demand equal rights they are putting themselves in a subservient position. Either rights are inherent and everyone has them or they aren’t. No one can give or take them away, they can only acknowledge them or not but I digress) a style of dance, what some celebrity chooses to wear or be. There is no end to people getting angry at something that someone else has said or done.
Well, who asked them and what do they expect to happen? If someone or a group of someones tells you that something you said or did offends them, you might make changes. At least the first few times it happened. Eventually tho, it wears thin. It may even get to the point where you are told that almost everything you do or say offends someone even if it is something totally different even opposite to what you were told is offensive in the first place. If everything we do or say is offensive to someone than it will get to the point where we just say “Screw this, I am going to do what it is in me to do or say what is in me to say and they will just have to get over it.”
Part of the reason why loudly taking offence has grown so popular, in my opinion is that it is a power trip. Most people don’t wish to be offended, especially when it affects their lives or relationships. Most of us will go out of our way to make changes to accommodate others. It is easy to enjoy the sense of power that this brings. Power corrupts is a cliche but it is a true one and it is way too easy to become abusive with it.It would benefit us to realize the responsibility that comes with this power and use it wisely.
Blessings, G
Click on images to see full-sized:
Songs From the Wood by G A Rosenberg
Scarlet and Indigo by G A Rosenberg
Shades by G A Rosenberg
