Going back to the discussion that was had over whether or not one should take offense
to being called the "B" word...i overheard some things said this weekend
that made me think back to that conversation...
i'll spare you the gory details,
because, it might in fact offend some people, it certainly offended me
There seems to be a trend these days where people say whatever is on their mind
regardless of who it might offend, or who's feelings it might hurt and then
qualifiying it by saying, "i'm just being honest" as if taking the
old addage that "honesty is the best policy" and applying it to situations
where it might not be if you thought about it for a moment
I'm a lover of the constitution and a proponent of the 1st amendment...one of
my favorite quotes is "i disprove of what you say but i will defend with my
life your right to say it"-voltaire
HOWEVER, i feel that just because there are no laws against hurting someone's
feelings, that some people forget what it's like when your feelings do get hurt,
and despite the old addage about sticks and stones, names can hurt
i can think of more than a few that are hurtful to large numbers of people and we
all know what they are
so why is hurting someone's feelings so easily dismissed by calling the person
hypersensative or easily offended?
shouldn't we care about other peoples feelings?
Sure your neighbor might be fat, but is saying so to his face justified by the fact
that he is fat? What about how it makes him feel to hear it? Even if he is truly a plain ole lazy glutton...is it your our place to point out? What gives you the right to do so? The first amendment protects our right to free speach, not our right to be nasty towards one another.
When did insults become honesty?
We have the right to say WHATEVER we want to say in this country so long as it isn't
libelious...but should we?
Having a strong opinion is perfectly acceptable, but it seems now more than ever,
hitting below the belt is the go to move, rathter than coming up with an articulate,
educated argument
It's my humble belief that before we speak, we should consider the feelings
of the people that will be hearing what we say ...knowing your audience might be
benificial not just so that you don't hurt or offend, but your message might
reach more people if you take the time to express it in a way that is palatable
to the majority of the poeple that are hearing it.
Do you think honesty and freedom to say what we wants trumps peoples feelings?
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4 comments:
bears repeating: It's my humble belief that before we speak, we should consider the feelings of the people that will be hearing what we say ...knowing your audience might be benificial not just so that you don't hurt or offend, but your message might
reach more people if you take the time to express it in a way that is palatable to the majority of the poeple that are hearing it.
I believe we should be more sensitive about what we say. Yes honesty is great, and we do have an amazing constitution with freedom speech. But, some people it seems that they use honesty as a way to insult people. sometimes, people can be vicious and intentionally be honest to hurt someone, but sometimes they phrase it wrong. i think we should be more careful about what we say or how we say it, especially since we are educated people (after all we are at cal state LA). Because we could be hurting someone.
If your words are not helping someone or encouraging the person why say it. The addage of "I'm just being honest" is crap. It's an excuse to be rude. If we take the time to think of how someone else feels before we speak we can help someone instead or harming them.
yes - we are here to create beauty. That is all we need to remember.
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