You are correct George, about people being sensitive…we all are …bar none.
Rick is an exception in communication skills, as he is able to control emotions better than most…and more to the point…he is extremely confident in his beliefs of what he does and why…so he lets forum hubris mostly roll off his shoulders.
But the truth of the matter is that we see much callowness in the behavior of readers, both the posters and non posters, especially in some you'd think would be much above that _ due to their status in life.
While it is not for me to say that no one should be enormously offended by the words _ because "being offended" involves an opinion-based, individual perspective_
It is impossible for me or anyone else to invalidate someone's feeling of being offended.
However, I think it is reasonable enough for me to argue that, the offended person should have first discussed the offending issue with the posters in the open forum…
because everyone's reaction _including the offended person's reaction was equally important to be looked at and analyzed by the group.
The smart readers and posters here, are quick to realize that an ‘offended person’ does not deserve special treatment because of his unwillingness to step forward and be clear why ‘the situation’ was extreme enough to allow for special treatment of his sensitivities.
But stepping forward openly_ not surreptitiously , would be greatly educational in moderating a more befitting discourse constantly affected by emotions.
At one time or another…if a person is very deeply involved in conversations, in person or on the forums…there will be the occasional flippant, tongue-in-cheek humor employed throughout_ something that seemed to make sense at the time.
We have all done that George…nobody is excepted here.
In my psychology classes I learned that in certain cases, people should be able to recognize that something offends them and just try to (gulp) deal with it without going to extremes in changing the situation, unless the ‘insult’ is to the extreme.
What we also learned is _ that in many cases…despite his/her profound conviction, there is often a quality of secretiveness or suspicion when a person is questioned about it.
The individual tends to be humorless and oversensitive, especially about the belief.
An attempt to contradict the belief is likely to arouse an inappropriately strong emotional reaction, often with irritability and hostility.
I think we can all recognize ourselves in some of the above.
