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Speak no evil

» Your offence doesn’t make things offensive

Adam Tatelman
Staff Writer

was reading the Canadian

Charter of Rights and
Freedoms the other day, when
I stumbled across this curious
little chestnut in Section 2(b):
“Everyone has the following
fundamental freedoms: Freedom
of thought, belief, opinion, and
expression, including freedom
of the press and other media of
communication.” Despite all our
recent social outrage, nowhere
in this document could I find
any reference to a right not to be
offended.

I’m sick of people putting
their personal offences up ona
pedestal. There is a lot of stuff
I find offensive, mostly because
I think human intelligence has
barely risen beyond that of pond
scum, but I don’t judge others
by my standards. I don’t start
petitions to censor stupid people.
I'd get lots of support for that
cause, but that doesn’t make it
the right thing to do.

There’s nothing wrong with

feeling offended, but my ability to :

care about your offence is directly
proportionate to the relevance

of whatever offends you. Case in
point: renowned astrophysicist
Dr. Matt Taylor conducted the
first successful comet landing in
history, yet all the Twitter hate
mob could talk about was the
sexist shirt that he wore to the

: event. So much so, that, 24 hours :
: later, the man delivered a tearful
: public apology for committing

: what amounts to a thoughtcrime.

And it doesn’t end there;

: it gets even more trivial. We're

: protesting comic book covers for
: vaguely inferred sexual subtext.

: We're boycotting scantily clad

: Princess Leia action figures. We're :
: throwing hissy fits on Tumblr

: because the hand avatar in Mario:
: Maker doesn't represent people of :
: colour. :

One possible explanation for

Like it or not, we live in the

: most tolerant and progressive
: society in the history of

: civilization. Were Canadian,

: people! Our national pastimes
: are bottling maple syrup and
apologizing. It can be argued that :
: real unapologetic racists/sexists/
: homophobes are rarer than ever.
: They don't bother hiding their

: prejudices, and calling them

: out on their behaviour doesn’t

: perturb them in the least. There
: will always be people like that,

: and outrage only feeds their

: ignorance.

Illustration by Ed Appleby

 

When I offend you by

: criticizing your ideology, you

: don’t have to associate with me.

: Problem solved. Then you can

: rest assured that my offensive

: opinions wouldn't keep you up

: at night. But the moment you

: decide that my dissent should be
: banned, you are saying that your

rights are more important than

: mine. Taking away one person’s
: right to free speech to protect

yours is censorship, plain and

: simple. That’s not equality. That’s
: : privilege.

: this behaviour is that our affluent :
: society has little conflict, so we
: have to invent some in order to
: feel like we're accomplishing
something. For some reason,

: those accomplishments always
: seem to take the form of either —:
: censoring someone’s artistic work :
: or booing and decrying the artists :
themselves.

Imagine a society without

: offensive discourse. Every day

: would be like living an episode

: of Pleasantville: comfortable, but
: never morally challenging. The

: problem with being comfortable
: is that people don’t get off their

asses until they’re uncomfortable
about something. That, and it’s

: boring. I say if it offends people,
: make more of it.

: Let me be absolutely clear; |

: understand that it’s possible

: to go too far. If I start making

: Helen Keller jokes in front of

: blind people for the sole purpose

of enraging them, then I’m just

: being crude. But that’s the kicker,
: really. Intent. If I didn’t intend to
: hurt you with my words, if you

: personally weren't the target of

: my risqué humour, then what

: do you care? Why must we live

: asa nation of whiners, when the

: obvious solution is to just grow

: thicker skin?

THE OTHER PRESSIS HIRING

STAFF REPORTER

 

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The Staff Reporter is responsible for reporting on college
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Interested? Send writing
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résumeé ta
editor@theotherpress.ca by
September 24.2015

SPORTS REPORTER

 

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Press is hiring a Sports Reporter.

The Sports Reporter is responsible for writing two
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sports. The successful applicant will be responsible
for producing relevant content, conducting interviews,
and taking photos of games.

Must haves:

- Experience and familiarity with conducting interviews
and sports-style writing

- Interest in student and community news and events,
and sports

- Strong writing skills

- Digital photography skills for taking sports photos, or
a willingness to learn (equipment is provided)

Pay: $260/month
Interested? Send writing samples, cover letter, and
resume to editor@theotherpress.ca by
September 24. 2015