Diablo brought up something interesting. Do we have the right to not be offended? For that matter, should we be so thin skinned that we are running around offended at everything?

Certainly, people need to be aware of the potential impact of what they say, but at the same time, freedom of speech directly contradicts any "right to not be offended". Doesn't it?

-- Jeff

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"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan

we have a right to do whatever we like in my opinion

Do we have the right to be not offended

yes we do

And how would you propose that we defend that right?

If a person can walk up to you and say something vulgar and offensive under the protection of free speech, then you are likely to be offended. Doesn't that violate your "right" to not be offended?

For that matter, doesn't the right to free speech by itself automatically contradict a "right to not be offended"?

-- Jeff

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"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan

There can never be such a thing as a right to not be offended. A person's rights only involve the person and no one else. That's like saying, "I have the right for you not to offend me." It just doesn't work that way.

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"Have you crashed your Windows today?"

Welcome Froix,

I agree with you, the right to not be offended implies that by exercising that right, we can control other people.

The reason that I asked the question was that another user had suggested that we do have such a "right" to not be offended in regards to prayer in school. He thought that people would be offended if forced to participate in a prayer in the classroom; I responded that nobody would be forced, but it did raise the question about being offended because people treat it as a right sometimes.

-- Jeff

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"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan

Thnx!

That incident sounds more like a case on religious rights. Students do have the right to pray but schools don't have the right to require students to pray.

The term 'right' is often loosely used. You can be offended all you want but no one is going to be held legally liable for it.

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"Have you crashed your Windows today?"

I think in such cases only interested students should be asked to pray. Religious issues are very sensitive and no one has the right to make the other person pray if he is not willing.

Absolutely correct. In the prior discussion (and in the historical case we were discussing), nobody was being forced to do anything they didn't want to (e.g. pray). Of course the argument went that even though nobody was forced to pray, some people felt that students might feel left out, uncomfortable, pressured or offended by the prayer which is why it was ultimately stopped.

This is why I brought up the question. If there is a "right" to not be offended, then banning school prayer is reasonable. If there isn't such a right, then why are we are we making decisions based on the possibility of offending people? Certainly people shouldn't go out of their way to offend, but should another person's offense be justification for limiting our own freedoms?

-- Jeff

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"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem." --Ronald Reagan

Thanks ztecc. That paints a clearer picture on the problem.

In this case, banning school prayer and any religious activities (that are not for educational purposes) would be reasonable. Not a ban on teachers or students to pray on their own of course. As one person have the right to religion, another person also have the right not to have religion. Religious teachings are best left to the parents and/or the person's congregation, not the school or its teachers.

The "right" to not be offended is another matter and is present in various cases. Like for instance, recently a group of mothers breastfed in a public subway to exercise their right to it if I remember correctly. Do you find this offensive? Will they find it offensive if you ask them not to? This kind of thing, in my own opinion, is best left to a person's discretion and perhaps common sense. Something like, if you're offended then leave or if you're about to do something people might find offensive then try to be discrete ...or not.

Hope I wasn't too confusing.

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"Have you crashed your Windows today?"