RE: Another peeve I have with fellow liberals.
June 2, 2015 at 6:46 pm
(This post was last modified: June 2, 2015 at 7:24 pm by Jackie.)
(June 2, 2015 at 11:59 am)Chad32 Wrote: When it comes to curse words, I think it depends on how you say it. "What the fuck" is fine. "Fuck you" is not. Personal insults should be frowned upon. Instead of debating on whether words can really hurt people or not, let's just try not to make personal attacks. You can argue with someone without calling them a piece of shit or whatever.
Whether they deserve to be called a bitch or not, do you want to be seen as better than them, or just not quite as bad as them?
Ultimately our word choice does not matter if we are going to be civil and non violent. I am not arguing your intent, I am arguing against utopias.
And what do you mean "fuck you" is not fine? As Hitchens described many times and not just in his book, about the story of God asking someone to kill their kid, his response, and I agree would be "No FUCK YOU".
The only reasonable argument on word choice is "it depends". Getting into the game of who gets to decide what is or is not offensive is a dangerous game for all parties involved. The best I see my species doing being a worthy goal is agreeing that no matter what is said, you leave it at words.
NO, will not play verbally nice with assholes who promote religious bigotry. I will not play verbally nice with those who promote scientific absurdity. That does not mean I hate human rights, and all of us reading this who hold the label atheist have family and friends who hold beliefs. It merely means I will not sugar coat my words, especially when it comes to anyone promoting religious bigotry or violence.
(June 2, 2015 at 3:15 pm)Alex K Wrote: They think that e.g. using female gender based insults regularly, helps create a general climate in society where misogyny becomes more acceptable. I can't deny that it might be true to some extent...
No, what makes that perpetuate is the same thing that makes any pejorative linger, giving it meaning. And again, it isn't one word that bothers me, what bothers me is my species thinking our differences are best solved through taboos.
You focus on the word "bitch" because that is the example I used in the OP. Any word in our human language can be used in both positive and negative connotations.
If we stopped using words because others used them in a negative way, then none of us should call ourselves atheists. To say that the word "atheist" is not seen as evil or bad ever is an absurd argument.
