LBPCentral Archive

Home

General Stuff

General Chat

The Offensive Thread

Archive: 32 posts

No, it's not a thread for us to be offensive to each other

I would like to start a debate on "Offense", as I have found myself at the business end of a few Mods (sorry if I cause you mods any work - in an ideal world it wouldn't be necessary) for post that I personally find quite innocuous, but which obviously cause alarm bells to ring in some peoples heads.

The core debate is this;
What is - or isn't offensive?

I may express a certain view point, or ideology - and without meaning to cause offense, will have done so.
Or someone might deliberately go out to cause offense, but fail miserably at it - thus becoming a laughing stock, rather than create the offense which they intended.

It is my own personal view that offense lies in the eye of the offendee, rather than the offender.

For instance; I take offense at any assertion at a belief in a deity, or any public display of faith - as it irks at my logical brain how anyone could believe in such nonsense.
I most likely formed this view through the churches failed attempts to indoctrinate me into their faith - even from an early age (5 or 6) I was asking awkward questions at Sunday school, questions like "Isn't it more likely that the virgin Mary was unfaithful to Joseph, rather than her pregnancy being divine immaculate conception";
Now, the Teacher found this line of questioning very offensive to their faith. I was told a firm "No" and was given a smack around the head for being so insolent.
Obviously child abuse is less offensive than asking an innocent question

And that's kind of my point.
Some things that people do, without even thinking, are offensive to other people.
Now, who should cave in?
Is it the person taking offense? or the person who's being offensive?

2011-02-18 17:59:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

The OP is offensive.
I love you ; o;

2011-02-18 18:04:00

Author:
Unknown User

You smell...

Is that offensive?

2011-02-18 18:09:00

Author:
Unknown User

Is it though?

I certainly don't think so. I'm not offended at all by it.

And that's the point - when there are different interpretations, which one is right?

A recent survey in Britain found that a majority of people found the word "Pimhole" to be offensive and should only be allowed to be spoken after the watershed.

"Pimhole" is a small town in Bury, UK

So, even though Pimhole is a totally harmless, innocuous word... it still causes offense?!

2011-02-18 18:10:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

I think defining offensive would be incredibly difficult. I would suggest we should just be aware of "what could offend" and without losing to much freedom, try and cater to others feelings. We are intelligent enough to know that 90% of the time and hopefully the other 10% is rendered harmless because people could trust that we are all trying and "Oops, My Bad" would fix it up.

2011-02-18 18:11:00

Author:
EinRobot

Posts: 739

So, even though Pimhole is a totally harmless, innocuous word... it still causes offense?!

Lol, did you highlight my post? I meant, you're offensive

It's hard to explain what's offensive now-a-days, everyone gets offensive easily :/

"Oh you cut your hair?"
"ARE YOU SAYING IT'S UGLY? [/DIVORCE]"

2011-02-18 18:13:00

Author:
Unknown User

I think everyone should be free to believe, celebrate and do anything they want as long as it doesn't offense or hurt anyone. I think your parents shouldn't have forced you to go to Sunday school (as they shouldn't have forced me to do so) if you didn't ever want to. I'm not really into religion, I think this has done more harm than good but I don't want to keep other people from believing in God. Actually, I try not to think about it at all, not to say to myself Does this exist? Can that be possible? I just act like none of this is real and never ask myself such questions. I don't know enough about the world to enable myself to spread my beliefs. The way we human beings live makes me think that everything is rational and is science-related, but all this might be false as well. What if all of us were living in a giant comic strip read by giant superior creatures? This is indeed unlikely to be true, but nobody could every prove me wrong.

2011-02-18 18:23:00

Author:
Oddmania

Posts: 1305

Well, exactly.

Fundamentalists (that could be Muslims, Christians, Scientologists - you name it) - find alot of things offensive that the majority do not.
Now, they *are* deeply offended by what they see. So what they see must obviously be offensive.
Like educating women.
We see "not" educating women as being offensive - they (fundamentalist islamists) see the education of women as offensive.

For instance, Oliver Cromwell, during his tyrannical rule of Britian during the 17th century, banned MincePies and Dancing on Christmas day - as it was promoting the sin of gluttony and lust.
No-one nowadays would bat an eyelid if you ate a mincepie while dancing at a xmas party but 300 years ago, you would have been burnt at the stake as a heretic for it.

This is especially an issue in the realm of comedy. I like my comedy to be as offensive as it can be - people like Franke Boyle, Charlie Brooker or Bill Hicks are heroes of mine. The more offensive a comedian is, the more amusing I find them (of course there has to be some wit involved aswell).

I guess I feel that people don't have the right "Not" to be offended, because what is and isn;t offensive is down to personal interpretation.

2011-02-18 18:25:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

Political-correctness offends me.... I am serious, it does. I can't decide if thats really ironic and therefor funny, or just a complete kick in the pants.

2011-02-18 18:31:00

Author:
EinRobot

Posts: 739

2011-02-18 18:34:00

Author:
rtm223

Posts: 6497

Using someone else's pain and suffering at the thought that their friend was almost certainly going to die as an excuse to get on your soapbox and promote your own atheist views isn't offensive. It's just being a prick.

That's the occasion where you ran into me when I was a mod. It had nothing to do with offense per se, it was merely lack of respect for the emotions of another human being.

Actually RTM, I wasn't referring to that instance at all.

What sparked it off was being in a thread in LBPC, and talking about Hitler - and then sharing a LBP Costume/Pod design I'd done of the Nazi's & Hitler.
I saw it as a "Horror Costume" - something I would wear at Halloween - obviously other people must have assumed I'm actually a Nazi

But in relation to what you're talking about - I was (in my own tactless way) offering my condolences - but without the "prayer" part, in a thread titled "I need your prayers" - because as a life long athiest, I see "prayers" as totally meaningless.

Again, I don't mean to offend people who 'do' believe in the power of prayer - but I can't help it if they are offended by my viewpoint.

2011-02-18 18:40:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

Actually RTM, I wasn't referring to that instance at all.

What sparked it off was being in a thread in LBPC, and talking about Hitler - and then sharing a LBP Costume/Pod design I'd done of the Nazi's & Hitler.
I saw it as a "Horror Costume" - something I would wear at Halloween - obviously other people must have assumed I'm actually a Nazi

But in relation to what you're talking about - I was (in my own tactless way) offering my condolenses - but without the "prayer" part, in a thread titled "I need your prayers" - because as a life long athiest, I see "prayers" as totally meaningless.

Again, I don't mean to offend people who 'do' believe in the power of prayer - and I can't help it if they are offended by my viewpoint.

@The Hitler Part; No one thinks your Hitler (talking about this forum), it's just not appropriate for a kids' site, you should know better than that. You have great debates and a good view on things, but you need better judgement on what to post and what not to post. You have to agree with me on this one, you'd just be a hard-head if not

@The Prayer Part

I totally agree with you on that = -= But then again, maybe we shouldn't bring up religion in this thread anymore :x

2011-02-18 18:44:00

Author:
Unknown User

and I can't help it if they are offended by my viewpoint.

We are intelligent enough to know that 90% of the time and hopefully the other 10% is rendered harmless because people could trust that we are all trying and "Oops, My Bad" would fix it up.

You are intelligent enough to do this. At times you choose not to.

2011-02-18 18:45:00

Author:
rtm223

Posts: 6497

But, there is an official Ghengis Khan costume, released by MM in the History pack.

Ghengis Khan - with his own hands - killed 1000's of people... he would created human skull pyramids outside of the towns he ransacked as a warning to any other villiage that dared to oppose him.

Is that suitable for a "family" game/site?

@ RTM;
water under the bridge mate.
I am much more tactfull on this site after our run in

2011-02-18 18:49:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

But, there is an official Ghengis Khan costume, released by MM in the History pack.

Ghengis Khan - with his own hands - killed 1000's of people... he would created human skull pyramids outside of the towns he ransacked as a warning to any other villiage that dared to oppose him.

Is that suitable for a "family" game/site?

There isn't a thread dedicated to him, amirite?

Most kids don't even know who the heck Genghis Kahn is anyway

2011-02-18 18:53:00

Author:
Unknown User

But, through LBP - they might be spurned on to learn a little about history (and that's what the Nazi's are - History) - and find out what a despotic, evil monster he was.

Obviously the passage of time has lessened his crimes... but how long are we going to let Hitler keep ruining the present?

The name "Adolf" has fallen out of use post WWII - it used to be a very common name... now naming your child "Adolf" would be seen as offensive (until time lessens his crimes to such an extent that we can wear a pencil (charlie chaplin) mustache and 'not' feel like a Hitler impersonater)

2111:
Most kids don't even know who "hitler" is

2011-02-18 18:56:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

But,
http://cdn1.knowyourmeme.com/i/000/098/225/original/pony-seriously.jpg?1297297855

I give up >_>

2011-02-18 18:59:00

Author:
Unknown User

Offensiveness certainly changes based on who is present and what the context is. It can be especially difficult for people like me who have difficulty relating to other people and in general don't understand how other people work. However I still want to do my best in life to minimize how much I offend people. Therefore my solution has become this: I learn what offends people in what situations, and I avoid that despite not fully understanding why it is offensive. This rule is subject to change based on the situation. For example: When Macnme says that it is offensive to have any public display of faith. I find this confusing and will most likely consider this an exception to my rule because based on my wide exposure to many people, this is a minority opinion and I'm far from being the only one who finds it a bit confusing. When that display of faith starts to cross the line and becomes an attempted conversion or just flat out "I'm right, you're wrong", then the offense becomes more understandable.

To address your example for specifically, Macnme: In an adult your question about Mary would have been offensive because as an adult there's a certain expectation that you should be able to approach it better; however, from a child the question should be treated differently, and it was wrong for the teacher to smack you (assuming you weren't joking and I didn't catch the joke). It would have been better for the teacher to recognize that she was offended, but then hold herself back due to who the question was coming from. In an ideal situation I would assume that the conversation would go like this:

"Is it possible that Mary was unfaithful to her husband?"
"Of course, but those of us who believe in Jesus as the son of God have faith that that is not the case."

Before going further I should probably state that I myself hold no religious association or belief, though being in private Catholic school for most of my life has lead me to being able to understand the perspective fairly well (as well as being able to sort out the zealots from the reasonable people).

Having a strong belief in something doesn't make someone wrong. If one makes the assumption that God exists, then one has to accept that what happened to Mary is entirely possible. Believing it to be possible and believing that it actually happened are two different things.

Now I'm getting off-track, but my point to all of this is that I believe I can hold myself as an example of being able to take the extra steps necessary to try to understand perspective and being able to minimize offensiveness. Once you understand perspective, you stand a much better chance at succeeding. Even if you choose to stick to logic, you need to move past binary thinking. Let your PC do the binary thinking.

Edit: Long post led me to not being able to see the last few posts, so I won't address any information in those.

2011-02-18 19:13:00

Author:
Patronus21

Posts: 266

Well, my mother put me through sunday school because it was expected from a catholic. I learned later in life that when my mother was a child in Ireland, my grandmother couldn't afford to keep all of her children (8 sisters 4 brothers) and had to give some of them up for a while into a catholic orphanage - where my mother suffered horrific abuse at the hands of the priests and nuns - think The Magdalane Sisters, only worse. Of course, she had repressed this childhood memory and it came back to haunt her later in life - leading to the break up of my parents marriage - and several and repeated suicide attemps from my Mother - happily, she gets the councelling and support that she needs now.

This is the kind of thing that happens when religions are allowed to have a free reign. Someone is Religious therefore they must be an upstanding, moral member of society.
When their position in society is based on a blatant, unprovable lie.

When a news story happens, or in any TV debate, they will ask along a preist or imam to give their view.... as if it is of any more importance than any other self-deluded idiot.

I find organised religions as a whole to be grossly offensive - not just morally, but intillectually. Religion is a private, personal belief - where you close your eyes and talk to your 'inner-voice' (which is obviously just your own conscious mind) - the last thing you should be doing is brainfarting out this personal revelation that the fundamental laws of physical nature that apply to the entire universe, do not apply to you personally because "You have faith that things aren't as they seem".

If there is such a thing as a "soul" - then prove it. If there is such a thing as an afterlife - then lets see some evidence for it. If there is such a thing as god - then why does he appear absent to all known detection methods?

I was taught about "Our Father, Who Art In Heaven" - that giant beard in the sky, with jesus sitting beside him, surrounded by singing angels, those strange winged beings - who's names were Archangel Gabriel, Archangel Micheal, Raphea etcl, and of course Lucifer, the fallen angel. And that when you die - if you're a good person, and hadn't committed any sin - you would get to go to that magical wonderful place. If not, then you'll burn in hell for all eternity.

Or what you might call a "traditional" catholic education.
And it wasn't a joke - corporal punishment was still accepable when I first started school.

Even as a child I could see that this was a fairy story - a platitude used to soften the inevitabilty of death - and to manipulate you into doing the churches bidding - for they hold the keys to the gates of heaven. But to go against the grain in that environment singles you out as a "trouble maker", which is the label I had to live with - when I felt I was the only sane person who could see through the blatant lies. It's easier to accept the lies and spare yourself the punishment.

Surely, from that, you can see how & why I find public displays of religion offensive, on so many levels.

(appologies for the long post - and the anti-religious sentiment - I honestly do not mean to cause any offense)

2011-02-18 20:12:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

I honestly do not mean to cause any offense)
Har har har. I see what you did thar.

Also, your opinion is based on: "This car is orange, therefore all cars or orange!"
All religeon is farcical anyway >.> <.<

2011-02-18 20:22:00

Author:
flamingemu

Posts: 1872

Har har har. I see what you did thar.

Also, your opinion is based on: "This car is orange, therefore all cars or orange!"
All religeon is farcical anyway >.> <.<

Not quite... After losing faith in catholic religion (what little I had) - I went on a spiritual soul searching journey. I have studied every major religion - I have seen the Dalai Lama speak (of all religions Bhuddism is the one that makes most sense) - but for every grain of truth contained in religion (which can be boiled down to "1.Don't kill each other. 2.Don't steal from each other 3. Be Nice to each other - which are actually the fundamental evolutionary traits shown in all human societies, even previously unknown hunter gatherer tribes) there is a mountain of BS which you are expected to swallow allong with it. And there is no filter which distinguishes the truth grains from the BS.

It's more based on "I've noticed after studying this mountian of turds... that they all smell equally as bad"

2011-02-18 20:46:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

I wish to address this point by point, but afterwards I will move on in order to avoid this becoming a religion debate.

Well, my mother put me through sunday school because it was expected from a catholic. I learned later in life that when my mother was a child in Ireland, my grandmother couldn't afford to keep all of her children (8 sisters 4 brothers) and had to give some of them up for a while into a catholic orphanage - where my mother suffered horrific abuse at the hands of the priests and nuns - think The Magdalane Sisters, only worse.
This is wrong and I'm sorry she had to go through that.

This is the kind of thing that happens when religions are allowed to have a free reign.
No, it is what happens when zealots reign.

Someone is Religious therefore they must be an upstanding, moral member of society.
No. See Westboro Baptist Church.

When their position in society is based on a blatant, unprovable lie.
This is what I was talking about earlier: You say you don't mean offense, but being that blunt can cause offense in religious people, and by adulthood there's an expectation of being able to soften that. Also, I know this counter-argument can be rather infuriating due to its circular-ness, but you can't prove that it is not a lie either.

When a news story happens, or in any TV debate, they will ask along a preist or imam to give their view.... as if it is of any more importance than any other self-deluded idiot.
This leaves me completely confused. I'm not sure what news or other TV shows you watch, but unless the program is defined as a religious program or otherwise a program with a religious perspective, OR the story has a religious element to it, a religious authority will not be asked for their view. If one of the above cases turn out to be true, then a religious authority will be asked because of simply that: they are a religious authority. It's like if the news story has to do with a new innovative computer program, they will probably bring in a computer programmer to talk about it.

I find organized religions as a whole to be grossly offensive - not just morally, but intellectually. Religion is a private, personal belief - where you close your eyes and talk to your 'inner-voice' (which is obviously just your own conscious mind) - the last thing you should be doing is brainfarting out this personal revelation that the fundamental laws of physical nature that apply to the entire universe, do not apply to you personally because "You have faith that things aren't as they seem".
The fundamental laws of physics? I'm pretty sure if I ask a priest why he can't jump six feet in the air, he'll agree with me that the Earth's gravity prevents him from doing so and he doesn't have the physical requirements necessary to overcome this. I do not see how religion is intellectually offensive because I do not see how other abstract things such as trust are intellectually offensive. They all take a leap of faith at one point or another.

If there is such a thing as a "soul" - then prove it. If there is such a thing as an afterlife - then lets see some evidence for it. If there is such a thing as god - then why does he appear absent to all known detection methods?
I would like to see what evidence you have for that last sentence. Again I would point to that circular argument of you can't disprove God's existence either. Not saying that settles the matter, simply saying that you seem to want to reduce this to 1's and 0's, which it an impossibility.

[I was taught] that when you die - if you're a good person, and hadn't committed any sin - you would get to go to that magical wonderful place. If not, then you'll burn in hell for all eternity.
You forget their belief in forgiveness. Past that even many religious people find this problematic.

Or what you might call a "traditional" catholic education.
I don't actually know what would be considered traditional, so I'll just say ok.

And it wasn't a joke - corporal punishment was still acceptable when I first started school.
Doesn't mean corporal punishment is right. Nor should it shape your perspective on the whole religion, only those people.

Even as a child I could see that this was a fairy story - a platitude used to soften the inevitability of death
"Fairy story" makes it sound like you are purposefully trying to be demeaning and offensive. Just a heads up.

- and to manipulate you into doing the churches bidding - for they hold the keys to the gates of heaven.
Eh, not really.

But to go against the grain in that environment singles you out as a "trouble maker",
Only when you are dealing with people who do not like questions or change. I argue that questioning is a fundamental aspect of religion.

which is the label I had to live with - when I felt I was the only sane person who could see through the blatant lies.
I was under that label as well. However, this was only from zealots such as the principal of my elementary schools or my grandmother. I have found that normal people are much more understanding and have little issue with questions. Just learn not to be a prick when asking those questions. Otherwise they probably will turn into a brick wall and ignore you, but that is perfectly understandable.

It's easier to accept the lies and spare yourself the punishment.
True. Could argue that this used to apply to people who were left-handed, or people who are homosexual today. Pretend that what you are is a lie in order to avoid the punishment. This is an unfortunate consequence of people who despise things that are different being in control. (No, this does not apply to all religious people, as hopefully my argument has made clear by now.)

Surely, from that, you can see how & why I find public displays of religion offensive, on so many levels.
Eh, sort of. On the flip side the tl; dr version of my counter-point is that your perspective is very limited.

2011-02-18 20:54:00

Author:
Patronus21

Posts: 266

Ahh, We could go on & on me & you Patronus, it's a pleasure, but we should spare LBPC the endless "Maybe it is/Maybe it isn't".

Besides which- we have completely sidetracked the OP; "Offense"

"Fairy story" makes it sound like you are purposefully trying to be demeaning and offensive. Just a heads up.

Luckily this will get it nicely back on track.

I honestly didn't mean to be offensive - it's just that flying invisible people (angels) is pretty much my definition of a "Fairy Story".
People once believed that fairies were real - not so long ago, people thought them to be very real (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies). And yet now it seems "demeaning and offensive" to believe in fairies?

Offense changes with the moral fibre of the day.
Maybe one day it'll be ok to poke fun at Hitler (of course Mel Brooks did it in Springtime for Hitler in Germany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springtime_for_Hitler) 40 years ago, or Charlie Chaplins The Great Dictator (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Dictator) 70 years ago )

Who's "Moral Compass" do we all live by?

2011-02-18 21:18:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

No, it's not a thread for us to be offensive to each other

I would like to start a debate on "Offense", as I have found myself at the business end of a few Mods (sorry if I cause you mods any work - in an ideal world it wouldn't be necessary) for post that I personally find quite innocuous, but which obviously cause alarm bells to ring in some peoples heads.

The core debate is this;
What is - or isn't offensive?

I may express a certain view point, or ideology - and without meaning to cause offense, will have done so.
Or someone might deliberately go out to cause offense, but fail miserably at it - thus becoming a laughing stock, rather than create the offense which they intended.

It is my own personal view that offense lies in the eye of the offendee, rather than the offender.

Wait, what? So you're blaming the people who are offended, thus calling them the offenders?

For instance; I take offense at any assertion at a belief in a deity, or any public display of faith - as it irks at my logical brain how anyone could believe in such nonsense.

You see, this is where it begins. You don't phrase your words right. Rather than saying it to express yourself, you say it to insult people and their beliefs.

I most likely formed this view through the churches failed attempts to indoctrinate me into their faith - even from an early age (5 or 6) I was asking awkward questions at Sunday school, questions like "Isn't it more likely that the virgin Mary was unfaithful to Joseph, rather than her pregnancy being divine immaculate conception";
Now, the Teacher found this line of questioning very offensive to their faith. I was told a firm "No" and was given a smack around the head for being so insolent.
Obviously child abuse is less offensive than asking an innocent question

I'm sorry to hear that....

And that's kind of my point.
Some things that people do, without even thinking, are offensive to other people.
Now, who should cave in?
Is it the person taking offense? or the person who's being offensive?

So... basically you're saying is "Stop being a ***** and take it like a (wo)man."

The "(wo)" in "(wo)man" was added for the ladies here, of course.

2011-02-18 22:25:00

Author:
CyberSora

Posts: 5551

Trying to define 'offensive' is trying to define 'normal'... but yet, like 'normal', we find a way. Like defining 'normal', sometimes it serves us good, and then sometimes it goes too far and ruins things (I just saw a production of West Side Story where a lyric was changed simply because it used '***' in the old-fashioned sense. I found that extremely distasteful (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HaveAGayOldTime)). And like 'normal', even outside of each individual cultural context, there are things which are universally agreed to be offensive (You call someone's mom bad names, won't matter if they're Chinese, American, Muslim, or Protestant, etc... They won't like it)

But there are workarounds. For example, usually you don't change cultural contexts every day. SPECIALLY here on the Internet, where our differing cultures have practically melded together to make one. And personally, the problem I see with you, which I'm guessing was what the Mods saw wrong, is that you're not even trying to not cause offense. Perhaps you find religion a terrible thing. I'm not a big fan of blind devotion either, although I lean towards agnosticism. And you can say that. But to blatantly insult someone's beliefs with disregard for common decency is offensive. Not because it's insulting someone's beliefs, but because you're not trying to be nice about it.

And that's all that it takes. If you put a little effort into NOT being rude, you most likely won't come off a rude. But otherwise you'll end up being offensive, no matter WHAT your cultural context is.

2011-02-18 22:30:00

Author:
Astrosimi

Posts: 2046

When I think of "offensive", I think of things that might hurt one's feelings or beliefs (or physically, in terms of American football); it's not just religion, though that's usually a main focus in offensive things.

For instance, I'm Roman Catholic. I believe in whatever my faith teaches me (Jesus Christ, God, etc.), but that doesn't necessarily mean that you believe the same thing. So obviously, a follower of Hinduism or Buddhism won't have the same beliefs and opinions I would, but that doesn't mean that I have to prove something otherwise. I'll believe what I want to believe, and they'll believe what they want to believe. It's a mutual respect, in a sense.

It's only when someone goes outside of that "respect" that might cause some offense to people. A good example would be when I was impersonating Jesus Christ last year at the beginning of October. I thought it was funny (and maybe some other people thought it was funny too), but I didn't account for everyone else on this site who otherwise would think it's offensive. And, after Babydoll told me about the other people, it's then I realized that "Crap. This could really offend some people...". When people mess around with or try to strike down people's beliefs or stances in a crude or non-respectful manner (in the wrong context), it's offensive.

Or, well, that's what I believe, which doesn't necessarily mean you do, too.

2011-02-18 22:55:00

Author:
Outlaw-Jack

Posts: 5757

It offends me that Roman Catholics aren't dressed in Roman clothes.

2011-02-18 23:37:00

Author:
Rabid-Coot

Posts: 6728

But no-one has a right *not* to be offended... because there is no telling who or what you will find offensive.
What is "The Most Offensive Thing Ever!" to a few people could be "The Funniest Thing Ever" to millions.
When I showed my Hitler LBP costume to my friends and family - they were in stitches laughing - I was actually just trying to spread a little joy, not cause any offense. I think the costume/pod is funny.

No Idea should be a "no go area" - every thought or opinion should be open to critisism, review and ridicule if it is made publicly.

Take Southpark's excellent example of the topic; Having had a previous episode featuring the prohet mohammed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Best_Friends) pass without comment or controversy... they tried to air another (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/201_%28South_Park%29) and hit a wall of censorship.
Now SouthPark courts controversy - so anyone watching it should have an expectation that it "should" cause offense - there is even a disclaimer warning it shouldn't be viewed by anyone!

Surely if something offends you, rather than watch it and get offended - you simply watch something else that you don't find offensive.

And then there is historical and cultural context vs political correctness.
A classic British War Film called The Dam Busters, has a dog called - well, so offensive is the word I fear to type it without feeling the wrath of the banhammer... "The N Word" will suffice.
"The N Word" was a common, popular dogs name in the 1940's ; And this was at a time when what was considered "Offensive" by American GI's was drinking at the same bar as a coloured person - fights would often break out - and to The British armies credit, they would fight the American GIs becaused they loathed their racism.
This dog called "The N Word" is central to the story of Dam Busters - he was the squadron mascot and "The N Word" was the code name for the Dam target.

For a while during the nineties - they basically airbrushed the name out of history because of "political correctness" - but recently have been showing the full uncensored version.
Is it ok or is it not ok to use "the N Word"?

So is it ok or not ok to have an image of the prohet mohammed?
I'm not a muslim, so why should 'their' rules apply to me?
Why should I be prevented from seeing an uncensored version of Southpark because muslims find it offensive - even though only a few years earlier - we were allowed to, no question?

Somethings are deliberately offensive - like "Yo Momma's so ugly/fat" put downs - but they can also be incredibly funny. What makes the difference is your own ability to "Take a joke" and let it slide.

Edit: Quite Literally - Case In Point! (https://lbpcentral.lbp-hub.com/index.php?t=10664-Show-us-your-Sackboy!%A9&p=573242&viewfull=1#post573242)

2011-02-18 23:59:00

Author:
Macnme

Posts: 1970

I think the bottom line is:

No one can ever settle anything.

We can't label what's offensive and what's not. That's above us.

As for your "My logical brain no buleeve da jesus" Just shut up :/ you'll be doing the forums a favor in not talking about religion.

No one cares that you don't like religion. There are plenty of other members that are the same way and they're not voicing their opinions. I suggest you do the same.

Also, you're brain's not logical. It's full of fault and failure. Everyone's is. You know why? Because no one's perfect. No one's greater than another person, everyone's the equal amount of everything bad in this world.

2011-02-19 03:25:00

Author:
Unknown User

Also, you're brain's not logical. It's full of fault and failure. Everyone's is. You know why? Because no one's perfect. No one's greater than another person, everyone's the equal amount of everything bad in this world.

Y u think im stuped?

2011-02-19 04:09:00

Author:
Bremnen

Posts: 1800

I hate to jump into this flame war, but I'm going to have to because I am offended by what certain people are saying! So, Macnme, I'm gonna have to say this regarding you. Bye bye respect! You come and make this thread, ranting about how you hate it when people shove their religions down other throats, but yet, in you waltz, rambling about how God doesn't exist! I can understand your anger at being abused like that, none the less at such a young age, but you're being such a hypocrite! You talk about how you're being offended, but not once do you stop and think about how offensive you're being!

You tell me to prove God exists!
I'm going to tell you to prove He doesn't!

Which bring us back to the topic of faith!
You are flat out, no buts about it, insisting that you are correct! If you oh so believe that God is wrong, He doesn't exist, and all that other ****, then fine, just shut up about it! And yes, I am arguing for my beliefs, as are you, but I am arguing because you began first. I am a Catholic, and I am only 14, but I know I believe, and no one will ever tell me otherwise. That's what it's all about. Believing. I am going to live my entire life knowing that when I die, because I will,whether I like it or not, I will be held accountable. I am also going to live my life knowing that when I die, because I will, whether I like it or not, I can say I believed in something, rather than nothing. After all, what's life without believing in something?! And, by the way, I am offended by you. I guess you never learned not to open your mouth, none the less listen to those who posted before you, warning you that different people are offended by different things! And, just for the irony, since you seem to be fine with it, if I offended anyone, I'm sorry

You were warned. You crossed the line. Believe that, if nothing else...

2011-02-19 05:06:00

Author:
Super_Clone

Posts: 849

Offensive thread is becoming offensive and is likely to become even more so..... Locking.

I'm going to reiterate the whole E for everyone mantra and while I firmly believe you guys can believe whatever you want, and discuss whatever you want, you really need to keep in mind who frequents this site. If you really want to debate adult/offensive/potentially offensive themed stuff, go to a more appropriate site to discuss it.

2011-02-19 05:16:00

Author:
Morgana25

Posts: 5983

LBPCentral Archive Statistics

Posts: 1077139 Threads: 69970 Members: 9661 Archive-Date: 2019-01-19

Datenschutz

Aus dem Archiv wurden alle persönlichen Daten wie Name, Anschrift, Email etc. - aber auch sämtliche Inhalte wie z.B. persönliche Nachrichten - entfernt.
Die Nutzung dieser Webseite erfolgt ohne Speicherung personenbezogener Daten. Es werden keinerlei Cookies, Logs, 3rd-Party-Plugins etc. verwendet.