Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Anticrombie0909
Watch how much it doesn't matter. What if you tried to baptize me? That wouldn't offend you, either- if you were a baptist. But to a hardcore Islamic extremist, saying 'Merry Christmas' might be as bad as flipping the bird, partly for reasons you stated yourself.
|
This is known as "part for the whole," and it is a logical fallacy where you take a very small fraction of a percent of the population and use them to justify or support beliefs about the whole population. I'm sure someone might be offended by "good morning," as well, but that doesn't mean we should work ourselves into a hissy fit about what's offensive to some and what's not.
Giving someone the finger is almost
universally recognized in the States as being an offensive action that is intended to express feelings of anger, hatred, or contempt. Saying "Merry Christmas" is exactly the opposite. I was hoping you wouldn't be too dense to see the distinction, but it would appear that in your mind, parallels can be drawn between any two concepts, no matter how divorced they are from each other.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Anticrombie0909
Freedom of speech is such a giant issue in America, that all newspapers have to do when the lawsuits start creeping up is scream it and be instantly cleared (Fox, anyone?). But that extends to religion and everything else. If I make a new religion that involves flipping people off when I see them, I have every right to do so.
|
And the cops have every right to throw you in the slammer for creating a public disturbance by offending people, and rightly so. You can't do anything you want under the guise of religion in this country. You know that.
I don't think that people have a right to not be offended, but I do think that people have a right not to have to deal with people trying to cause disturbances.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Anticrombie0909
Would the Christians scream? Probably. But they are, like Qreepy said, a MINORITY.
|
You are unaware that, by most recent census figures, 80% of this country identifies itself as Christian?
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Anticrombie0909
Why they govern our country is completely beyond me, since we're supposed to seperate church and state, but that's a different issue.
|
So we're not allowed to elect officials who are religious? Wouldn't that, in fact, force the creation of an atheist state? Of course, such a place is probably a paradise for you and your ilk, many of whom do not appreciate freedom of religion but rather are repulsed by it.
Besides, we're not talking about government, we're talking about society.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Anticrombie0909
My whole point is that I can get offended at whatever I damn well please, and so can everyone else- that's why we have lawyers. But on the forums, all we have is common sense and the mods- you guys.
|
And my whole point is that what you get offended by doesn't dictate what others do. It's what
the majority of people get offended by - and, as I mentioned earlier, 80% of the country definitely wouldn't be offended if you wished them a "Merry Christmas," and probably a lot of the other 20% is ambivalent.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Anticrombie0909
So it's one or the other, Chard- Democracy and free speech for all, or hypocrisy.
|
This sentence exists completely disconnected from the rest of your thesis. This has nothing to do with "democracy" at all. In fact, by some of your comments about Christian legislators, you appear to decry the idea of democracy.