Pedro Timoteo wants to know which of the following two signs are offensive:
Sign A: There is a God.
Sign B: There is no God.
I replied to his post stating that both are offensive. They are both false statements and I believe false statements are offensive.
However, many other statements are true but can be offensive to many people. Consider this sign:
Fuck, I don't like paying my taxes.
Here is a statement that is not false, but yet offensive. I'm uncomfortable with my children reading statements like this but I have difficulty explaining why. For most people, swearing is considered to have a time and place. In general, we don't swear in public places (at least, we're not supposed to). We don't swear at work, in school, around children or the elderly or in church. I threw in church because I think that we unconciously consider some places (or people) 'sacred'.
Jonathon Haidt discusses this in 'The Happiness Hypothesis'. Even 'liberals' who claim that the sacred is a myth find certain places near and dear to them. Consider your loved ones, where you got engaged, that first car, or that place in nature that you once stood and contemplated the universe - now imagine someone is urinating on them. Perhaps this is offensive to you.
Haidt writes that it's part of our psychology to be offended by things that disgust us. All swear words refer to things that we find disgusting - bodily fluids and waste materials, corpses, sexual impulses, etc. We also swear to attack the sacred to elicit an emotion of disgust. The French say "Tabernacle!", we might yell, "Motherfucker!" both of which are meant to bring up negative images of traditional sacred objects.
I agree with Haidt when he says, "...conservatives have a better understanding of moral development." (Pg. 178, The Happiness Hypothesis) We don't want children growing up in a world that allows the humiliation of our sacred objects in the public sphere. It's important that children learn that there are things worth holding as sacred (parents, teddy bears, home, etc). We want them to respect people and places that hold significance and not destroy those things that others hold sacred. To do this, children need to know what sacred things 'are' and have a chance to build their own. Swearing in public is offensive because it elicits the same emotions as watching someone humiliate a loved one (albeit, not as severe). And, in public or in our homes, we deserve the right to not have our sacred objects attacked.
Thus, I think I can safely propose two comments about offensive behaviour:
1. We will not allow the promotion of untruths as this is offensive.
2. When we feel we want to be offensive (swear, sell Baby Jesus Butt Plugs, criticize religions, etc.) we'll be careful to keep it out of public places.
5 comments:
Disagree 100%. Nothing is sacred. The very word sacred allows small groups to control public discourse. We should be working to reverse this trend and promote vigorous and robust public dialog, with no subject off limits.
We need to distinguish between speech and action. As the saying goes, I may disagree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Piss on my sacred spot in the woods--I couldn't care less. Just don't piss on me.
Your comment made me realize that I forgot to include the idea that 'offensive' should be looked at from the eyes of a child. Children are public citizens and if speech is distressing to a child or suitable only for adults, it may properly qualify as offensive. Children need to be given the time to learn and develop rules of morality before they can understand when it's appropriate to break them.
This is why I'm uncomfortable allowing my kids to watch 'Family Guy'. It's a great show but it breaks moral rules (part of what I find funny). Children watching the show have much greater problems understanding what is and is not appropriate (and when) because they still haven't learned the rules.
I've spent a lot of time in an elementary school and my own limited experience shows that the most troubled kids are the ones who are very confused about what good behaviour is. There is a correlation between defiant behaviour and kids watching or listening to adult shows and music. I don't condemn the shows but I do want the ability to keep it away from my kids until they are old enough to understand it.
My nieces and nephew (all under 12) have a better grasp of the world than most adults do, in my opinion.
Heck, the kids regularly defile my home once a week. My nephew steals stuffed animals out of my room and farts on them. Kids LIKE gross stuff - and all three of the kids LOVE Family Guy. They basically ignore what they don't understand.
None of the kids swear or act disrespectful toward adults. They all get excellent grades in school and go to plenty of social events than make 'em happy.
When I was a kid, The Simpsons premiered on television. While tame compared to Family Guy, it was a big deal in the morals department at the time. It became my favorite television show, and I'm still watching it! It didn't make me a moral degenerate - not to toot my own horn, but I see myself as more ethical and kind than most people.
We live in a different generation now. Kids aren't as naive as adults expect them to be anymore.
And as for conservatives having an upper hand on morality? Tell that to the parents that let their children hold protest signs of two men in "doggy style" position as a message against homosexuality.
(continued)...
I forgot to mention my oldest niece. Guess what she thinks about homosexuality? Here is her take on lesbians - "it's like gay, but for girls." She knew about the "vagina" and the "womb" by age 10, even though she pronounced them wrong.
My niece gets it, but most adults fume about it.
And my youngest niece on religion? She said right out (with anger too) that her mother always replies "God did it" for an answer to the questions she just doesn't know. Smart kid.
The 'Family Guy' correlation did not imply a causation. It was only a symptom of larger problems. Both liberal and conservative homes produce kids with behaviour problems at school. I see kids with no boundaries and with highly restrictive ones. Maybe it's better explained as poor character development.
As Haidt writes (he is a liberal) there is a problem when socially-progressive, liberal-minded people gather, ignoring the conservative side. He states that conservatives are "better at moral development (but not moral psychology)". There is something to be learned from both points of view.
Honestly, I think our society is in a transition. For the most part, we've lost the old, conservative, authoritarian character development model that was based on god, John Wayne, etc. (and for the best). Parents today have been taught to reject authority and are not sure how to teach manners, morals, etc. because the underlying idea seems to be 'let it be'. As one teacher said to me, "parents don't know how to raise boys anymore."
Imagine a 9-year-old boy writing a story about how Santa got anally raped while in prison and then wanting to read it to the class because he thought it was funny. True story, I was there.
What's going on here?
Then again, maybe it's the schools that are wrong.
Post a Comment