You cannot be "offended" without your consent

[Mystical_Seeker]

People can say something to insult me. It may be true or not. It may be very mean or just mistaken.

But whether I am “offended” or “outraged” that these things happen, are all optional and are manufactured products of our ego which says there is a difference between the way the world God gave us is, and the way we would like it to be. And further, we are going to waste emotional energy over that difference, and maybe act stupidly in retaliation.

Whether people will insult me, or at least that I will perceive it as such, is unavoidable.

But whether I “become offended” is completely unavoidable.

Every day terrible things happen. People get shot every day, there are abortions every day, and people die in wars every single day. These we cannot change.

But whether they “get to us” or “make us mad” is optional. Many people think we “should be outraged” at this or that. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying I should be outraged because of the sins of another person – and in fact He has his most scathing things to say about those who did act condescendingly toward presumed “sinners.”

I do remember Him saying “rejoice and be glad” if you are insulted for your faith.

I do remember Him telling us not to be surprised when terrible things happen as we approach the end times.

I do remember Him telling us that we cannot add one day to our lives by worrying.

So do I care that bad things happen? Yes. Do I like them? No. Do I do something about them? Yes – I do take up certain causes as I can but I can only do so much. Beyond what I can do, being upset is destructive.

Being offended in the name of Jesus is what the Westboro Baptist Church is famous for.

MS

 

[ClearWater]

People can say something to insult me. It may be true or not. It may be very mean or just mistaken.

But whether I am “offended” or “outraged” that these things happen, are all optional and are manufactured products of our ego which says there is a difference between the way the world God gave us is, and the way we would like it to be. And further, we are going to waste emotional energy over that difference, and maybe act stupidly in retaliation.

Whether people will insult me, or at least that I will perceive it as such, is unavoidable.

But whether I “become offended” is completely unavoidable.

Every day terrible things happen. People get shot every day, there are abortions every day, and people die in wars every single day. These we cannot change.

But whether they “get to us” or “make us mad” is optional. Many people think we “should be outraged” at this or that. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying I should be outraged because of the sins of another person – and in fact He has his most scathing things to say about those who did act condescendingly toward presumed “sinners.”

I do remember Him saying “rejoice and be glad” if you are insulted for your faith.

I do remember Him telling us not to be surprised when terrible things happen as we approach the end times.

I do remember Him telling us that we cannot add one day to our lives by worrying.

So do I care that bad things happen? Yes. Do I like them? No. Do I do something about them? Yes – I do take up certain causes as I can but I can only do so much. Beyond what I can do, being upset is destructive.

Being offended in the name of Jesus is what the Westboro Baptist Church is famous for.

MS

I had one time in my life where I felt especially close to God where it didn´t matter what people did to me. NOTHING they could say bothered me. My inner peace was just that great. What they say, that normally would have hurt my feelings, rolled right off me like water off a duck’s back, as if I had a shield that protected me.

Also, at that moment, I was absolutely crystal clear as to what was me, what was them. If it was them, I didn´t allow it to penetrate my field, so to speak.

I was, in fact, SO at peace, I didn´t fear death, for possibly the first time in my life. I saw fear of death as “childish”, unncessary, as to any fear of any kind.

I saw fear sort of like the opposite of love.

Someone could have insulted me till he was blue in the face, and at that point, NONE of it would have affected me in the slightest. I just felt to at peace and would have seen it for what it was, that the other person would have been the one with the problem, not me, not allowed that person, or anything else, to take away my inner peace.

I have had difficulty returning to that tremendous sense of peace, but I remember it.

My sister saw me around that time, and we used to have knock-down, drag-out fights, but during that, she had to admit I was “serene”.

So yes, we actually can manage to even not feel offended, even, or hurt, because I’ve done that, know it is at least possible.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

I have had difficulty returning to that tremendous sense of peace, but I remember it.

My sister saw me around that time, and we used to have knock-down, drag-out fights, but during that, she had to admit I was “serene”.

So yes, we actually can manage to even not feel offended, even, or hurt, because I’ve done that, know it is at least possible.

If you were there and remember it, you are already in a great way IMO. Even when you aren’t there maybe at any given moment, the knowledge that you could be calm in any given storm, adds just one more bit of faith.

 

[Captain_America]

People can say something to insult me. It may be true or not. It may be very mean or just mistaken.

But whether I am “offended” or “outraged” that these things happen, are all optional and are manufactured products of our ego which says there is a difference between the way the world God gave us is, and the way we would like it to be. And further, we are going to waste emotional energy over that difference, and maybe act stupidly in retaliation.

Whether people will insult me, or at least that I will perceive it as such, is unavoidable.

But whether I “become offended” is completely unavoidable.

Every day terrible things happen. People get shot every day, there are abortions every day, and people die in wars every single day. These we cannot change.

But whether they “get to us” or “make us mad” is optional. Many people think we “should be outraged” at this or that. I don’t recall Jesus ever saying I should be outraged because of the sins of another person – and in fact He has his most scathing things to say about those who did act condescendingly toward presumed “sinners.”

I do remember Him saying “rejoice and be glad” if you are insulted for your faith.

I do remember Him telling us not to be surprised when terrible things happen as we approach the end times.

I do remember Him telling us that we cannot add one day to our lives by worrying.

So do I care that bad things happen? Yes. Do I like them? No. Do I do something about them? Yes – I do take up certain causes as I can but I can only do so much. Beyond what I can do, being upset is destructive.

Being offended in the name of Jesus is what the Westboro Baptist Church is famous for.

MS

This is simply stoicism. There is an external reality that can’t be wished away.

 

[POJIUJH]

There is a way also of letting things roll off your back, but not letting people get away with them.

If someone insults you directly -or somebody else- over a dinner table, for instance. You aren’t called to be a pacifist. Much less if they insult God.

But there are some times like these, when the things we see and hear are constantly causing great offence to God. I can sympathise with you on this, that it is almost too much for us to bear, and we don’t even know the half of it.

Best way to deal with it is to get angry at it, but give it to God and turn our attention away from it. He has given us things that we can change and that make more practical use of righteous anger, if it is needed. The rest He has already shown you that it is in His hands, He will take care of it, even though it is sad that it is so.

 

[Dorothy]

I had one time in my life where I felt especially close to God where it didn´t matter what people did to me. NOTHING they could say bothered me. My inner peace was just that great. What they say, that normally would have hurt my feelings, rolled right off me like water off a duck’s back, as if I had a shield that protected me.

Also, at that moment, I was absolutely crystal clear as to what was me, what was them. If it was them, I didn´t allow it to penetrate my field, so to speak.

I was, in fact, SO at peace, I didn´t fear death, for possibly the first time in my life. I saw fear of death as “childish”, unncessary, as to any fear of any kind.

I saw fear sort of like the opposite of love.

Someone could have insulted me till he was blue in the face, and at that point, NONE of it would have affected me in the slightest. I just felt to at peace and would have seen it for what it was, that the other person would have been the one with the problem, not me, not allowed that person, or anything else, to take away my inner peace.

I have had difficulty returning to that tremendous sense of peace, but I remember it.

My sister saw me around that time, and we used to have knock-down, drag-out fights, but during that, she had to admit I was “serene”.

So yes, we actually can manage to even not feel offended, even, or hurt, because I’ve done that, know it is at least possible.

God gave you that grace to show you that it can be done with His help. The grace shows us it is possible, and then we need to pray much and receive the sacraments in the right disposition to be able to grow in the Lord’s peace and love.

With the Lord all things are possible.

 

[grannymh]

That is correct.

It is also a great method for interesting discussions with those people who have a different world view than mine.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

All humans feel offended when an injustice is done to them.

Even God is offended when we sin.

However, the reasons for feeling offended by humans is more often than not, for the wrong reasons.

If a person says your mother is a whore, you will be offended, and rightfully so. It’s an injustice to her and yourself. How you handle that injustice is what makes your offense right or wrong.

On the other hand, if you are offended because a person didn’t give you honor that you feel you deserve, or questioned a belief your ego-identity is attached to, being offended is disordered and unless understood, will lead you to respond inappropriately.

We’re not statues, we are human beings and being human means we have emotions and feelings.

Anyone who tells you that emotions are not part of the spiritual life, have no clue what they’re talking about.

Jim

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

This is simply stoicism. There is an external reality that can’t be wished away.

Who’s wishing anything? I didn’t say to fail to name the moment correctly.

Just not to “become offended” by it.

Prov 19:11 – It is good sense to be slow to anger, and an honor to overlook an offense.

The only thing to “wish away” here, is the personal, visceral reaction to whatever it is that offends you because…

Anything that offends you, has control over you. Becoming offended by destructive actions of others makes you a victim of them – plus it prevents you from accepting the peace of Christ because it keeps you in a constant state of judgment and discontent.

If you become “offended” by something I say or do, then you have just given me the strings that control your emotions. If I were an enemy that would mean you would be weak against me because I know what buttons to press to take away your peace.

Or another way: becoming offended by something, gives it power over me that it would not have had otherwise. If something can physically harm me, my stuff, or my freedom – or that of those I care about – then I need to be aware of it and learn how to do my best amid those obstacles. But the minute I let it get me angry, is the minute I lose the peace of Christ and basically my prayer life really can’t go anywhere if I’m always angry and offended by something or other. Better to go live in a cave and ignore the rest of the world.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

There is a way also of letting things roll off your back, but not letting people get away with them.

If someone insults you directly -or somebody else- over a dinner table, for instance. You aren’t called to be a pacifist. Much less if they insult God.

But there are some times like these, when the things we see and hear are constantly causing great offence to God. I can sympathise with you on this, that it is almost too much for us to bear, and we don’t even know the half of it.

Best way to deal with it is to get angry at it, but give it to God and turn our attention away from it. He has given us things that we can change and that make more practical use of righteous anger, if it is needed. The rest He has already shown you that it is in His hands, He will take care of it, even though it is sad that it is so.

I like what you said, except for the part to get angry about it. That is a natural reaction, and yes if we get angry if we can let it go that’s how to remedy it.

But why do you think we should get angry when God is cursed? Jesus never said to become angry when our God is cursed. In fact, the Beatitudes, to me, reveal just the opposite…

Matt 5:11-12
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So here Jesus is specifically addressing what we should do, if somebody mocks Him – OUR GOD – to us. He does not say to get angry, but to “rejoice and be glad.”

So I suggest that what you’re describing is a good step, but that you can go further from “letting go” and “showing mercy” into more of a mode where there was no “becoming trapped by” or “judging” in the first place.

Let Islamic terrorists be the “part of the body” that gets angry when others mock their God. For me, I choose to me at peace. Being angry and offended are contrary to serenity and peace. So when I find myself in them I do what I can like you to let it go. For me, as I got better at “refusing to be offended” it just got easier and I got happier, and the world itself got no better or worse just less annoying to me.

Or maybe instead of the Beatitudes, you could go for “Fighting without Fighting” like Bruce Lee demonstrates here.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

Anyone who tells you that emotions are not part of the spiritual life, have no clue what they’re talking about.

I am no stranger to emotions, having gone through a “Dark Night” situation that features a dozen years of severe bipolar disorder, that I was told I would never recover from. Humans can treat symptoms with medicine and help control. But healing itself comes from God.

So yes I see what you say about the different modes of being offended. Like if somebody isn’t as interested in what I have to show them as I want, or if I lose a contest or something that feeds my ego.

When it is something more personal, like a family member, it takes a whole lot more. Especially when I have a direct involvement like if it’s someone I am supposed to care for. I don’t want to see them get hurt. Like you wouldn’t even believe the garbage that a (Catholic no less) retirement village did to my MIL when she moved in only to find out they had illegally built the house on an abandoned well and it leaked poison gas into the house. We were very angry about that.

In a case like that it would be wonderful to just say, “wow this is undesirable and I plan to do X about it.” Kind of like “Captain Picard” and “Data” working together, for a Star Trek NG reference. Take the threat seriously, meet it, and let it go. But when it comes to someone putting down my wife, for example. I still have a couple “festering wounds” that my ego likes to drag out once in a while; in time hopefully the Holy Spirit will bring me to where I don’t notice them so much at least.

I think one way to do that is to try to connect being offended by somebody who gets to me “personally” or to my loved ones, with learning to “love the enemy.” Just because I love my enemy, doesn’t mean they are necessarily going to quit being a threat so to me, ultimately it should come down to whether I’m going to “take action” or not at this time, or use it as context in case something happens in the future.

I hope this isn’t too rambling. It made sense to me at the time I typed it.

 

[POJIUJH]

I like what you said, except for the part to get angry about it. That is a natural reaction, and yes if we get angry if we can let it go that’s how to remedy it.

But why do you think we should get angry when God is cursed? Jesus never said to become angry when our God is cursed. In fact, the Beatitudes, to me, reveal just the opposite…

Matt 5:11-12
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

So here Jesus is specifically addressing what we should do, if somebody mocks Him – OUR GOD – to us. He does not say to get angry, but to “rejoice and be glad.”

But, instead it is rather the opposite, as the beatitudes talk about ourselves being the object of insult, not God, but rather we ought to rejoice because good is being done.

Jesus is the perfection to be imitated, and elsewhere, although He didn’t always retaliate against insults against Him, He also gives us a lesson of imitation by chasing the money changers and traders out of the Temple. He didn’t just get angry, He made a weapon out of cords, destroyed their stalls and scattered their goods. He used non-lethal force.

There is some sense in what you say, but there are other things that lack balance. For instance, it is acceptable if I become angry and contradict someone who insults my sister. If need be, I even have the ability to use my fists, providing this is very well checked and controlled. Infact, if I said and did nothing I could actually commit an evil. It is acceptable to be angry at certain things like my sister being insulted, how much more I should be angry when Our Lord is insulted.

Don’t take me for certain, but could it possibly be that the example of the muslims are affecting your conclusions? Their problem is slightly different, but it could also be caused by a poor understanding of some principles of particular things like judgementalism, as Our Lord taught us to use our judgement, to judge with righteousness. What He didn’t teach was to judge the state of a persons soul, which only He can do. This is quite a common modern misunderstanding, so you wouldn’t really be at fault for thinking this way.

In short, being angry and offended aren’t necessarily contrary to peace, as Our Lord would not embody them if they were. However, they can lead to a loss of peace if we don’t check ourselves. There is no contrary extremes, there is just healthy anger and unhealthy anger. Proper balance would be the area where we would grow in virtue.

(If I say anything bluntly it is because I am typing in haste)

 

[Elena321]

Is it always a sin if someone gets offended by something you say?
Ie:someone told me their adult child was mad at them because they asked them to remove a Facebook picture/post they found “confronting”
I responded that as grow ups people can choose what to post on their Facebook pages & parents shouldn’t ask them to change it and that they should instead just focus on harmonious relations with their child.
They said they were very offended by what I said:shrug:

 

[POJIUJH]

Is it always a sin if someone gets offended by something you say?
Ie:someone told me their adult child was mad at them because they asked them to remove a Facebook picture/post they found “confronting”
I responded that as grow ups people can choose what to post on their Facebook pages & parents shouldn’t ask them to change it and that they should instead just focus on harmonious relations with their child.
They said they were very offended by what I said:shrug:

Not at all. Confronting is neutral but insulting is another. In his case it may have been that they used soft language to refer to the latter, but that you picked it up to be the neutral former.

When we use the word offended in these days we are usually thinking of a fairly broad negative emotion, but this itself is still neutral, so I don’t think you have done anything wrong, there may have only been a misunderstanding.

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

But, instead it is rather the opposite, as the beatitudes talk about ourselves being the object of insult, not God, but rather we ought to rejoice because good is being done.

So if they mock me for following God, I should rejoice? But why would they mock me for following God without having mocked God Himself? I don’t understand.

Jesus is the perfection to be imitated, and elsewhere, although He didn’t always retaliate against insults against Him, He also gives us a lesson of imitation by chasing the money changers and traders out of the Temple. He didn’t just get angry, He made a weapon out of cords, destroyed their stalls and scattered their goods. He used non-lethal force.

Yes. We have one documented instance of him “throwing a tantrum” like this. This behavior was completely contrary to any other behavior I know of; even Jesus could be pushed a little too far. But maybe that’s your point; that Jesus let them do stuff to Him but not to His “Father’s House.”

There is some sense in what you say, but there are other things that lack balance. For instance, it is acceptable if I become angry and contradict someone who insults my sister. If need be, I even have the ability to use my fists, providing this is very well checked and controlled. Infact, if I said and did nothing I could actually commit an evil. It is acceptable to be angry at certain things like my sister being insulted, how much more I should be angry when Our Lord is insulted.

I think I see your point and I’d like to go into it more, but I just got called away for an errand so I’ll leave this post incomplete for now and maybe later I can express it better after thinking about it.

Don’t take me for certain, but could it possibly be that the example of the muslims are affecting your conclusions? Their problem is slightly different, but it could also be caused by a poor understanding of some principles of particular things like judgementalism, as Our Lord taught us to use our judgement, to judge with righteousness. What He didn’t teach was to judge the state of a persons soul, which only He can do. This is quite a common modern misunderstanding, so you wouldn’t really be at fault for thinking this way.

In short, being angry and offended aren’t necessarily contrary to peace, as Our Lord would not embody them if they were. However, they can lead to a loss of peace if we don’t check ourselves. There is no contrary extremes, there is just healthy anger and unhealthy anger. Proper balance would be the area where we would grow in virtue.

(If I say anything bluntly it is because I am typing in haste)

No you are expressing yourself well IMO. I’ll hope to get back to this later today.

 

[POJIUJH]

So if they mock me for following God, I should rejoice? But why would they mock me for following God without having mocked God Himself? I don’t understand.

They would have mocked God also (as they did) but I would think that it would be on the part of rejoicing that God is working in us.

Yes. We have one documented instance of him “throwing a tantrum” like this. This behavior was completely contrary to any other behavior I know of; even Jesus could be pushed a little too far. But maybe that’s your point; that Jesus let them do stuff to Him but not to His “Father’s House.”

Yes that’s what I mean.

I think I see your point and I’d like to go into it more, but I just got called away for an errand so I’ll leave this post incomplete for now and maybe later I can express it better after thinking about it.

No problem at all!

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

There is some sense in what you say, but there are other things that lack balance. For instance, it is acceptable if I become angry and contradict someone who insults my sister. If need be, I even have the ability to use my fists, providing this is very well checked and controlled. Infact, if I said and did nothing I could actually commit an evil. It is acceptable to be angry at certain things like my sister being insulted, how much more I should be angry when Our Lord is insulted.

Protecting her against insult, and against injury are two different things. Insults can become injuries if they for example turn into gossip that has adverse reaction. It’s “only natural” that I would become annoyed if I thought my daughter were unfairly spoken against. (I use “daughter” because I didn’t have any sisters so it’s easier for me to visualize.) Becoming annoyed has two different components: “actual” damage as in harmful to reputation, professional status, or other worldly sanction, and “emotional” damage where it just feels bad to be mocked.

If they “damage” my daughter than I may get angry but my intent is to quickly “get through that” or “process it” I sometimes say, and then make up my mind. Am I going to do something about this or not? Like for example, do I need to “teach them a lesson” or at least do something to “take away their power” for future attacks?

Once that decision is made, I should ultimately be able to let it go.

It’s not so much about whether I “have a right” to be angry, but to what degree I can become emotionally self-controlled. Christ got pretty upset a lot especially at jerks who were correctly observing that “others” were sinning, but He didn’t go off about it.

That said, I’m guessing that once the tables were turned over, He went on to His next thing without having to go home and take a drink and calm down. If not, then He’s not as emotionally stable as I give Him credit for being.

I’ve had many reasons to be offended and many people to blame for taking away my civil rights, for unnecessarily disrupting the career of a parent of six, based on lies, and even one of my ex-pastors for banning me from parish property (except to come play piano for Mass or drop my kids at school) because I was “scary.” So I got to play the social leper and you know what? I became almost completely resistant to insults. Oh I love to hear honest insults because they give me valuable information I might use to become better. But they don’t hurt my feelings.

And if somebody is going to take a swing at my daughter or trash her in social media for example, I will be the first to devise a plan to either prevent them or seriously make them wish they hadn’t, or both. I see that as a stimulus-response thing. The world stimulates me a certain way, and I respond. All I’m really suggesting is that if any of my energy goes into feeding the emotion “offended” then IMO it is not helpful and indicates more about my desire to preserve me ego and its own self-image which is apparently not very strong if it’s threatened by others’ stupid remarks.

I’ve found a level that isn’t quite where I want it to be, but is so much better than I used to have. I have done some pretty sick things of getting back at people, and forced a few people to “eat crow.” And I cannot lie; when somebody who annoys me gets “told off really well” I do enjoy it. In a way because I like to see truth win, but in a way because I like to see people who are annoying, fail to get their way because of it. I like to think I try not to train them to be bad but realistically that’s kind of a lofty goal – more likely it’s for my own ego. So I’m not as perfect as the level I’m calling for, but I’ve tasted it.

I’ve tasted when my daughter is insulted and she feels empowered by the information and has been able to protect herself. But I also trained her that “feeling insulted” is a good indicator of a problem, but it is not a solution nor even a very useful state, except as an interim state toward a state of serenity.

In a nutshell: don’t get mad, get even. Or if we’re not going to “get even” or take other action – then “let go” of the anger because there is no spiritual benefit to holding on to it. Never let go of the “lessons” though that others’ bad behavior may have offered though, because who knows? People keep doing the same wrong things and like some say, “fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”

(continued)

 

[Mystical_Seeker]

Don’t take me for certain, but could it possibly be that the example of the muslims are affecting your conclusions? Their problem is slightly different, but it could also be caused by a poor understanding of some principles of particular things like judgementalism, as Our Lord taught us to use our judgement, to judge with righteousness. What He didn’t teach was to judge the state of a persons soul, which only He can do. This is quite a common modern misunderstanding, so you wouldn’t really be at fault for thinking this way.

The example of Muslims affect my conclusions only in they are acting as living examples of how bad “intolerance” for views opposing one’s beliefs can get. So yes I think it is valid to bring that up.

But I’m not talking about whether it is “sinful” to be angry. I’m talking about how “perfect” can we possibly be?

When I was young, I never understood why when two kids were having a standoff, one could just make some remark about the others’ mother, and suddenly there was a fight. If someone said something bad about my mother, I would just become confused because I didn’t understand when I was little, why kids made up negative things about others like that. So they thought it was funny when I didn’t fight back; I just thought they were stupid.

In short, being angry and offended aren’t necessarily contrary to peace, as Our Lord would not embody them if they were. However, they can lead to a loss of peace if we don’t check ourselves. There is no contrary extremes, there is just healthy anger and unhealthy anger. Proper balance would be the area where we would grow in virtue.

I would give you that if a sense of “anger” or better yet “urgency” motivates me to act, then I might consider that “useful.” Or if it helps me “remember” a problem that I haven’t dealt with yet. Other than that, though, I still maintain it’s not only possible but delightful to live a life where I simply “refuse to be offended.” I have found huge power in “not being offended” and even a bit at times of “I don’t care or at least I won’t let you see that I do” in being able to deal with attacks with a cool head.

It’s hard to convey ideas that I’ve thought in my head for all this time, in words. Because as soon as I do, I can see how those words don’t quite exactly tell the story. I hope that from this, you get that I am asserting that while “being offended” is a fairly normal reaction, it is almost never of any positive value and that sufficient status at being what I call an “emo-ninja” can lead to a life of serenity in which I neither take offense, nor provide any material for others to continue an offensive attack.

It’s like somebody has to be the first to “stand down” and “turn the other cheek.” I don’t take that literally for myself as in if somebody is hitting my physically, but just emotionally. If they have something to say, let’s go ahead and let them have it out and say the whole thing. Who knows? Maybe they actually have a point somewhere that if I listened to them rather than got upset about it, I could benefit from? In this way we can actually benefit from enemies.

Just a couple extra things I’ve done that have been useful if counterintuitive, is to watch videos of people I find offensive, and try to see their point of view. Or I will watch comedians who trash what I consider to be sacred, and see if I can figure out why it’s funny to them? Or maybe they are seeing something I’d never have seen from the outside and I can become better. I call this “mortifying myself” to my own triggers. Psychologists call it “habituating.” One time when I was particularly annoyed at certain sex crimes in the news, I watched some totally heartless courtroom testimony from the “BTK Strangler” and boy I’ll tell you after watching that a while – I could listen to some pretty harsh things and not have them cause a visceral reaction.

My intent isn’t to become numb or unaware of others’ bad behavior. My intent is to cut the emotional strings that allow them direct access to my heart and soul. Because if a few words can insult me, that’s a lot cheaper than a sword. I’ve gone from a world where I get offended by many things, to a world which is just as “messed up” but no longer causes me this anxiety.

I hope that makes more sense now.

MS

 

[PelagiathePenit]

I think taking offensive is neutral. It depends on what is actually being said though. I think being offended, hurt, angry just shows you either you perceive an injustice of some sort. People are very different. I get very angry with the idea I should never be angry. Who are you to tell how I should or should not feel? As long as I do not express it. I need time separate my feelings from certain events. It may take longer for some people.
Should we or should we not be friends with people with strongly different views than us?
Not everyone will reach that level of tolerance within their lives.
As for those Muslim extremists reaction, I did not actually see the magazine/newspaper for myself. I think murdering those people is an extreme reaction.
People do have the right to feel offended if they believe they are being insulted. You may think it is illogical, irrational.

 

[PelagiathePenit]

The same people have the freedom to say, think or however they wish. People still have the right to be offended.