I watched the PBS show "America at a Crossroads". There was a very bright young Canadian Muslim woman named Irshad Manji. Among many excellent points was a pearl of wisdom that went something like:
"In a diverse society, you will very likely be offended. Being offended is not the same as being oppressed."
Wise words and I will be thinking about this over the next few days. It is a good lesson. Is being offensive a criminal offense? Should it be? I think it has become so and how free or diverse is a society when this is the case. Very interesting.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Being Offended is not the same as being Oppressed
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4 comments:
I've seen Irshad Manji speak a couple of times at the U, and I've read her book "The Trouble with Islam". She is very smart and makes her points in a very commonsense and logical way.
The being offended thing is so touchy because it's so subjective and based totally on perception and interpretation. I think if we all looked for something to be offended by, we'd not only be offended every day but many times a day. This is an extremely negative way to conduct a life.
I love Irshad. My muslim labmate read the book and loved it. Of course she feels the same way and is always talking about the misrepresentation of the koran by islamic states and fundamentalists. Had she been a conservative muslim, she certainly would have been offended! I feel being offended is a bit of a hobby for some people.
Mich, you can be offensive. With that horn on your forhead. Ever heard of makeup?
There isn't a makeup out there that would cover this thing! Alas, you will just have to look away and love me for my inner beauty.
I would hope to be offended regularly and am certainly never disappointed. To not be offended on a daily basis implies to me a lack of moral character. The yardstick used by a society should always be how we react to being offended. If we use that yardstick, passing judgement on a society is relatively easy!
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