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During my civics classes a quarter-century ago, we learned about our rights to petition, to assemble, to worship freely, to free speech, to bear arms, and so forth. (Naturally, we got in trouble if we tried to exercise our inalienable rights in school, but what are schools for?)
However, we did not learn about an important new right which has evolved during this enlightened era -- the right not to be offended.
The traditional exercise of rights went like this:
Shut up, you water buffalo!
Stuff it, you pig!
That is, if someone called you a name, you were free to return the insult. Now that the right not to be offended is gaining a role, the exchange goes like this:
Shut up, you water buffalo!
By referring to us as animals, we have been cruelly
victimized, and if the institution tolerates this verbal
brutalization process, it no longer offers a nurturing,
supportive, compassionate environment. Therefore,
insensitive boors like you must be removed so that we can
enjoy free discourse in this great republic.
Currently the right not to be offended appears mostly on campus, but it will doubtless spread, and a mundane sidewalk encounter will proceed along these lines:
Hi.
That's a homophone for 'high,' which means that
someone is under the influence of a controlled substance,
and that implication could cost me my career and
self-esteem during the War on Drugs. How could you be so
callous, when it must be obvious that I treat my body well
with wholesome foods and regular exercise?
Good morning.
Many of us operate under an alternative circadian
cycle, and never perceive a morning as 'good' -- we are
owls, not larks, and we are victimized by a mainstream
society which has adopted as conventional wisdom the
bigoted rantings of Benjamin Franklin about 'early to bed,
early to rise.'
In short, we are differently chronologized, and your
failure to recognize that element of the rich mosaic of our
modern multi-cultural pluralistic society means that you
need sensitization in a re-education seminar.
How have you been?
Your prying into my innermost child within is not
appreciated. Those matters are properly the concern of my
channeler, therapist and personal nutritionist. Please mind
your own business.
Well, have a nice day.
The very concept that one can 'have' a day of any
kind, let alone nice, comes from the insatiable impulse of
colonizing Western culture to seize control of the rich and
diverse web of nature. One cannot 'have a day' any more
than one can 'seize the moment' or 'control the skies.'
In effect, you have futilely attempted to command me
to separate myself from my environment, an attitude that
has despoiled our planet and threatens extinction for
thousands of species in the rain forests. Their blood will
be on your hands.
[expletive deleted] you!
That's only a start on how casual encounters will proceed in the day when the right not to be offended becomes widespread.
This probably explain why increasing numbers of people are cocooning with the TV set and its remote control. There's no chance of accidentally offending anyone when you switch channels.
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