Where did we learn to be so easily offended? When did we begin to teach that to be offended meant someone had to change? When did our 'labels' become more important than people?
I do not profess to understand all the different ways people are choosing to live their lives etc but does that make me a bad or wrong in someway? If I don't know every PC way to refer to race or disability, for example, does that make me offensive? I ask because like so many others I do not choose to cause offence.
More and more we hear stories of people becoming aggressive and causing physical harm because they have a different opinion. Soon they are hurling abuse at each other, belittling each others existence because they believe that they are right and others are wrong. Is this not bullying?
It seems to me that those who shout the loudest and the longest get what they want especially if any ind of 'ism' is thrown in there.
So rather than provide yet another rant for the internet, what can we do about it?
Learn tolerance!
Learning to tolerate others and their opinions, beliefs and ways of being is surely the answer?
My one rule is that as long as no one is actively seeking to harm another why does it matter that they are different from you?
Perhaps this blog will offend someone somewhere because I have referred to them in the incorrect way? If so I can assure you that it was not done so deliberately or with malice, possibly ignorance.
I am the first to admit I am not au fait with all current affairs because I choose not to watch the news more than once a day purely for reasons of self-care. I don't expect everyone to understand this but as my decision I hope that it can be respected and tolerated.
How does tolerance look to you? How can we become less offended and more tolerant in our everyday lives? Can we move from tolerance to kindness?
