If someone says that something offends them it seems that the whole world has to stop to soothe the person's feelings. University campuses have "safe spaces" to protect the feelings of people who are hurt because someone said something that made them feel bad. Universities used to be places where persons heard opposing viewpoints as a way to help them be able to think for themselves and be prepared for life in the real world. That can't happen if students have to run to some safe space because someone said something that made them feel bad.
Safe spaces naturally led to the cancel culture where speakers are uninvited to speak on campuses because some group objects to their message. The speakers normally canceled are conservative speakers that people fear might say something that would offend the politically correct crowd. Because universities fear that persons protesting the speaker might cause damage or instigate violence they often give in the demands of a small group of people to cancel the speaker.
Of course, it's not only college students who are offended today. It seems everyone is offended by something or someone, and for some reason we seem to have found in the Constitution the right to not be offended.
Do things ever offend me? Of course. There are many things I find in our society that I find objectionable. I don't like the vulgarity that is so often found in public today. I don't like the divisions that exist in our country. I don't like the way Christians and their faith are marginalized by many in our society today. I'm offended that politicians believe we are too stupid to know when they are lying to us, and I'm even more offended that many in the media are willing to help them deceive the American public. There is much on television that I find offensive. I could go on, but I think I've made the point that there are things that offend me. The difference is how I respond to those things.
Just because things on TV offends me I don't demand that all televisions be destroyed or that I am given a safe space to stay until the offending program goes off. There is a knob on the TV that I can control. I can change the channel or leave the TV off completely. If I am offended by people in the news media I simply choose to not watch or listen to them. If I'm in a place where the language is offensive I simply leave. One way I've found to help slow down the divisions that exist in our country is to remember that I don't have to respond to every social media post with which I disagree. I have strong political and religious beliefs, but I don't hate someone who holds different beliefs. I don't try to silence them or prevent them from having an audience. I served in the Navy so that all Americans would have the right to hold the beliefs they have and to voice those beliefs.
When people demand protection from the things that offend them they are really saying that they are unable to control their emotions. Since they are unable to control their emotions they expect other people to eliminate whatever is bringing discomfort into their lives. It is another form of victim mentality. Everyone else is responsible for making them uncomfortable, so everyone else is responsible to stop doing that.
I encourage you to take responsibility for your life. We cannot control what people might say or do, but we can control how we respond. As we listen to people with whom we disagree sometimes we might learn something that will change how we think about certain things, or it can solidify the opinions we already held, and it will always give us insight into how they think and why they believe what they believe. It is when we listen to divergent ideas that we become more mature in our own thinking. Rather than immediately thinking how something offends you, begin to view the differences you encounter as growing opportunities.
No comments:
Post a Comment