confoozled.com - why i won't pledge to stop using a word

I don't normally stir up controversy but on this I just have to speak up. Sparked by the use of a particular word in the movie Tropic Thunder, there has been a campaign making its way through the web to get people to pledge to "stop using the r-word".

In the words of my friend Connie (a blogger whom I love and respect but simply disagree with this time around), "The R word is degrading. It is not funny. It is demoralizing." The truth is, a word is nothing but a combination of letters. And combinations of letters simply do not have that kind of power unless you give it to them. So let's stop giving it to them.

I firmly believe that offense is almost always a matter of choice. We choose to be offended by something, usually because someone else told us to. Why do we let people tell us what to be offended by? I long ago made the decision not to allow others to dictate what offends me, and you're much more likely to earn my respect by doing the same. Start thinking for yourself, make your own choices of what to be offended by, and recognize that you and you alone are responsible for that choice. You cannot blame anyone else for your choice to be offended by words or anything else.

why i won't pledge to stop using a word	Fri 08/22/2008 11:21 AM
I don't normally stir up controversy but on this I just have to speak up. Sparked by the use of a particular word in the movie Tropic Thunder, there has been a campaign making its way through the web to get people to pledge to "stop using the r-word". In the words of my friend Connie (a blogger whom I love and respect but simply disagree with this time around), "The R word is degrading. It is not funny. It is demoralizing." The truth is, a word is nothing but a combination of letters. And combinations of letters simply do not have that kind of power unless you give it to them. So let's stop giving it to them. I firmly believe that offense is almost always a matter of choice. We choose to be offended by something, usually because someone else told us to. Why do we let people tell us what to be offended by? I long ago made the decision not to allow others to dictate what offends me, and you're much more likely to earn my respect by doing the same. Start thinking for yourself, make your own choices of what to be offended by, and recognize that you and you alone are responsible for that choice. You cannot blame anyone else for your choice to be offended by words or anything else. << prev • home • next >>
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2 comments/trackbacks
comment: from Jennifer Cole/JennyLin Arashi I completely agree with you.:) We get to choose in life who we give power to and who we don't. Fri 08/22/2008 1:46 PM trackback: disabled children paddled in school from confoozled.com According to human rights organizations, more than 200,000 US school children were spanked or paddled in school in the past year. And a disproportionately high number of these kids were students with physical or mental disabilities... read the whole article Mon 08/25/2008 4:43 PM
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