It seems that an inordinate amount of energy is being expended on who is offending whom with what speech . I say let it go already!

We have connected the world, and made communication between continents and countries and cultures trivial. There is no way that anyone can communicate with that broad of an audience and not offend someone, sometime. The trick is to focus on making your communication clear, intelligent and well-thought-out. Those who will take offense will be offended no matter what. Those who are more open to new ideas are going to judge your communication based on its merits. And with that in mind, I am rarely ever offended at anything intelligent. (Yes, poorly thought-out, muddy and unintelligent conversation annoys me, but it is much harder to offend me.)

Of course, I think a large number of cases of “offense” are actually annoyance. And as long as we are on the subject, why is that those who are most offended are usually trying their hardest to offend right back ? It is the inability to laugh at ourselves that leaves us fragile and easily injured. Bah! I laugh at myself all the time. That’s why the article over at comicbookresources.com made me smile a bit. The headline says it all: Israeli group announces anti-Semitic cartoons contest!

I challenge anyone who is currently taking offense at something being said to take a moment, and try to come up with your own, even more offensive remark or statement about the same subject and see if that helps you to put it into perspective. Now that I’ve got that off my chest I can get off my fat ass and get back to doing something productive!