RE: A thought on 'taking offense' and 'sensitivity'
June 4, 2009 at 12:54 pm
(This post was last modified: June 4, 2009 at 12:57 pm by Meatball.)
Being confident in yourself is one thing, but claiming that nothing offends you is questionable. It's normal to have emotional reactions, if you don't have a negative reaction to anything, you've got a problem.
I'm not one to take offense to racial or national attacks, but I'd be lying if I told you I don't take offense to generalizations about things like atheists or marijuana users. When a federal lawmaker stands in front of the country and says atheists don't have a place in his country, it's hard not to have a response to that. When someone says everyone who uses marijuana is supporting the people behind the 9/11 attacks, it's hard to suppress an emotional reaction.
I think there's a discrepency in our definitions of 'taking offense'.
Edit: That said, people take this concept to extremes and start taking offesne on the behalf of others, and that's how we get garbage like the Superbowl 'Nipplegate' and hyper-sensitivity you can see in american media.
I'm not one to take offense to racial or national attacks, but I'd be lying if I told you I don't take offense to generalizations about things like atheists or marijuana users. When a federal lawmaker stands in front of the country and says atheists don't have a place in his country, it's hard not to have a response to that. When someone says everyone who uses marijuana is supporting the people behind the 9/11 attacks, it's hard to suppress an emotional reaction.
I think there's a discrepency in our definitions of 'taking offense'.
Edit: That said, people take this concept to extremes and start taking offesne on the behalf of others, and that's how we get garbage like the Superbowl 'Nipplegate' and hyper-sensitivity you can see in american media.
- Meatball
