“It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights. It's actually nothing more... than a whine. 'I find that offensive.' It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. 'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what.” - Stephen Fry.
I agree with this sentiment. I think as people, we should exercise our better judgment and not be abrasive howler monkeys, but at the same time, we do live in a society where freedom of speech & expression is allowed, and lately, it feels like we have to walk on egg shells to prevent offending people.
I don't know about you, but I am willing to get offended once in a while to preserve 1st amendment rights.
To use a personal example, the dreaded "R-Word" is something I hear just about everyday. It hits home with me since I have one brother with autism and another with downs syndrome that passed away. I don't like the use of the word, especially in the form of an insult. But at the end of the day, I am not interested in cancelling TV shows that use the word (I watch South Park for Christ sake. How hypocritical would that be?) and I am not going to yell my head off and openly judge people that do use it because, hell, I say things that others might find offensive, so who am I to judge? I could let my feelings be known and that's about the extent of it really.
People need to grow thicker skins.
