We've surely all experienced this, you read a post or an article or see an opinion or something. You might disagree with the logic (and that's fine), but you're not offended in any way. But then you realize how this thing you've read can offend other people so you stand against it. Sometimes you even go a long mile to show your distaste for it all for the reason that you think it is inappropriate for some people to hear and that those people would be offended but just not you, you're not offended.
Stay with me here. I know it is a great quality to feel the plight of another and stand up against things even though they do not affect you directly, so be sure you understand the particular specific occasion I'm talking about here.
Take this example: I posted a joke that blasphemes against Christianity in a way. Someone tells me to take it down that it would not sit well with Christians. Meanwhile, I had a host of Christians laughing their ass out at the joke. At this point, I realized that the person who told me to take it down was acting solely on how he thought others would perceive the joke and not how he himself perceived it. He himself laughed at it (before telling me to take it down) but told me to take it down because he didn't think others would enjoy the joke too.
And this is something I really want to point out here. What if many people enjoyed the joke, laughed about it and told me to take it down because others might not enjoy it? Then I say I'll wait till I meet one who doesn't enjoy it, and I wait but it turns out everyone I met enjoyed it but if asked for their opinion they'll say I should take it down because some people might be infuriated by it.
Isn't that really interesting? No one gets offended by it but thinks someone else would get offended by it, someone else that doesn't exist but in their analysis. Sometimes people do not say it that nice when they think others would be offended by something, sometimes they get more aggressive or even fight. They fight for the person they think would be offended when the person probably doesn't exist.
Or if the person exists the person is probably laughing their butts off at the joke because it's not everything that you think would offend someone that would offend them, sometimes it strikes a different chord, you see. So let's take it easy when we're not offended and wait till the people who we think would be offended are offended and my biggest suggestion for how to go about these things is simply that the focus should be on why something is inappropriate, why it is a wrong thing to say rather than focusing on the fact that it would offend someone.
Why should we care about someone getting offended if what was said was not inappropriate or the wrong thing to say? So that's where our focus should be, it's only common sense.
The End
Hi there, my novella Professor Otagburuagu just got published. It promises to be thoroughly entertaining and intellectually stimulating. Written by myself and illustrated by Scandinavian artist @katharsisdrill. You can get it from me for just 4 HBD.
You can also order the hard copy from anywhere in the world via this link:
https://katharsisdrill.art/the-katharsisdrill-shop/professor-otagburuagu/
I'm counting on your patronage, thank you!