I am having trouble with the concept of taking offense. I certainly understand being offended by the horrors of war, of violence, murder, rape, torture, etc. The physical aspects of these can be, and should be sickening. I can also understand taking offense at personal insults and an attack on one's character or integrity. What I have trouble with is how people can be offended by words or ideas, concepts,artistic representations, alternate lifestyles or sexual desires. We are certainly not born with the concept of being offended. What offends us is most often the result of conditioning. We are conditioned by our times, the social mores of our generation, the ideas of those who are closest to us, religion. But I cannot understand how one can feel so strongly about something that has been conditioned. It isn't a feeling at all, is it... at least, not a natural one. As someone who has never been offended by a person's sexuality or a work of art, I am asking for your input.
2006-12-29
16:23:11
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8 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Psychology