No One Has The Right To Spend Their Life Without Being Offended

No one has the right to live without ever being offended

You know who is awesome? Philip Pullman. He's the author of the marvelous His Dark Materials trilogy (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass), a kind of anti-Christian un-Narnia series for kids who would rather have their fantasy reading unadulterated by Christianity. Excellent starter books for the tot too young for Nietzsche or Rand.

Sample Pullman line: "I suppose technically, you'd have to put me down as an agnostic. But if there is a God, and He is as the Christians describe Him, then He deserves to be put down and rebelled against."

He has a new book due out called The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. Naturally, the title makes some folks feel tetchy. Asked about it at an Oxford lecture, he gave a pleasingly blunt and complete defense of free speech:

reply to post by traditionaldrummer


I agree.

I was quite upset when I first bought the Narnia movies for my children and the subsequent books for them to read, only to realize it was Christian Propaganda.

As far as this goes, he's right, you DO NOT have the right to not be offended. I think getting offended is a learning experience.

It provides you with perspective about other people.

Edit to remove nonsensical sentence..

~Keeper

[edit on 5/22/2010 by tothetenthpower]

I've asked about the likelihood of "god" being a liar, and actually being an utterly malevolent tyrant on a power-trip. -- It's very interesting.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower

As far as this goes, he's right, you DO NOT have the right to not be offended. I think getting offended is a learning experience.

It provides you with perspective about other people.

I agree, but much of the devout religious world disagrees, and the U.N. is seeking laws against any speech deemed offensive to religion.

Additionally, Ireland recently passed blasphemy laws which are extreme

Too right, i agree with this, thankfully i learnt something at school, about half the population, and never will forget the trash they did.

It certainly is a learning exp, and i am glad that i feel the way i do today.

No one offends another. This simply is impossible. One chooses to be offended. They can choose not to be offended. They choose to, simply based on what they have been told offends them. If no one told you xyz is "offensive" how on earth would you come to that conclusion? And no the answer to that isn't "well some things just are, and you know them when you see them" as that is not an answer but an excuse to see you don't choose - you are a victim, when in fact you do.

One can go through and entire life, all 80 years, without being offended once - by simply not choosing to be offended. Don't choose to be a victim - offended, choose to be empowered by choosing something else.

reply to post by crankyoldman


your choice should always be the most free source to be the most effective real for you
your choice should never be according to what you dont want, what you dont want is what is not there already why making a life out of it

and of course it is normal to be offended because you are always the most you as one living so any other living is an offense by itself to handle nonexistence, especially when everything is from everything source that is never to any mortal condition one

that is why he is correct you should more accept being offended it is normal fact, and deal with it without killing the other you cannot kill everyone so dont kill anyone, and even if you kill everyone there is still everything source and your body condition within,
it is simply about training oneself to reject what is not him and be himself more dont use that rejection as a meaning of life but as a meaning of founding yourself positive free expressions more