Tag Archives: Offended

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That’s So Gay

Did I grab your attention? How did that feel? Were you shocked or offended? Or were you just wondering what was “so gay” that I was talking about? I cringe every time I hear that because I’m guilty of feeling offended for others when I hear it. I wouldn’t say that anymore than I would say “that’s so straight” or “that’s so midget”. It’s more about common decency than anything else. I mostly just don’t understand why it’s even used. What makes an object gay? Are Q-tips gay because they are all the same laying together? After all isn’t that what gay is, 2 of the same gender laying together? God help the homophobes that buys anything in a package…

I know that last point is a bit of a stretch, but the point remains. Some things are wrong to say. People might argue “what’s wrong with saying that?”, but then become upset that someone had the audacity to say “that’s retarded”. What’s the difference? You’re still offending a group of people by equating them to something negative. The minute you take a group of people and turn them into a synonym for something you find stupid or strange, you’re wrong.

People can say “well before it was okay to say it”. Well at some point in history the dreaded “n” word was accepted, but try to say it now. Times change and we have to adapt to that change. Society changes with the tides and what’s acceptable changes just as often. You can either keep up, or get beat up in a bar because you said how hilarious a picture of African-Americans morphed into gorillas is.

They keep saying comments about the “PC police”. I admit some people cross a line of over sensitivity and seem like they are only doing it for attention, but is  it really our place to tell someone what should or shouldn’t offend them? I’m thick-skinned and hard to offend, that doesn’t mean nothing offends me and I shouldn’t be judged for that. That also means as much as I roll my eyes at some of things that offends people, it isn’t my place to judge them.

We have become a culture of “offended”. In watching the news there’s always some story about people being offended by something, even with the commentators who are offended by the offense keep discussing how offended they are. I actually think the overuse of the word “offended” has diminished the meaning of the word as much as the annoying overuse and misuse of the word “literally”. The world is being more oversensitive these days, but eventually rather than fighting about whether something is or isn’t offensive, find out why it is and accepted that you can’t please everyone but you can have common decency.

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Then People Go A Little Crazy

I sat around watching the news recently, and wondered “are we getting more sensitive in our age, or are people just crazy?” I can’t say I ever truly figured out that answer. It’s always “____ group was offended because ____” and usually it’s something I can’t help but to tilt my head at the television, with a confused look on my face as if I were mimicking the dogs. What’s the big deal, I thought. So what? I can’t quite figure this out.

Just because I enjoy a steak, that doesn’t mean I enjoy a cow being tortured. It just means steak is delicious. One time my son approached me about why we eat meat, and if it’s cruel or not. I said “Dyl, people have been eating meat to survive for eons. Besides, if God didn’t intend you to eat bacon, why does it taste so good?” He nodded happily. I don’t care PETA exists, they have their purpose. Just because I enjoy a steak, doesn’t mean I want to wear a fur outfit from an animal I wouldn’t eat. Sure, killing an animal for it’s fur and tossing the remains aside is cruel, in my opinion. But it someone wants to wear a fur coat, it’s not my place to lecture them. So when I saw on the news that PETA was outraged by the killing of a spider, I thought I would’ve killed the freaking thing too. I don’t freak out on PETA for killing plants to eat, though plants are definitely living things. Who are they to decide what living thing is fit to be eaten? How do they know plants don’t have the capacity to feel pain or love?

I use this same philosophy on religions. I don’t care if they want a manger in the center of the town at Christmas time, no more than I’d care if they tossed up some other religious articles up at their holiday time. Atheists are allowed to be Atheists as Christians are allowed to be Christians, etc. If you don’t want to celebrate the holiday, then simply don’t celebrate it. I won’t judge you like you judge me. Being of one school of thought doesn’t make you smarter than another, unless you’re just a hateful bigot. Then I’ll ignore you on the grounds that I’m a better human being.

I think I figured it out. It’s not about the cause, it’s about the airtime you get for it. In this age of social networking and everyone being a photographer thanks to smartphones, news spreads. And people are suckers for stories on the news that makes us die a little on the inside because of the sheer stupidity of it. Do I think PETA is really offended by the killing of a spider? Probably, but I won’t tell them how many ants they probably kill walking around everyday. But crying outrage on stupid and asinine topics sells the real agenda you want them to, because you’ll get all the airtime you want.