Dick Cavett thinks we worry too much about being offended. He at least practices what he preaches in that he is not easily offended himself, as least on this evidence:
"My favorite first dose of offended reaction is one I may have reported here before. It came from an apparently ruffled resident of Waco, Texas. My secretary was reluctant to show it to me. Hand-printed in pencil and all in caps, it read: “DEAR DICK CAVETT YOU LITTLE SAWED OFF FAGGOT COMMUNIST SHRIMP.”
A lot of thought went into that."
A lot of thought went into that."
He makes some more serious points as well. There are some things that offend him, such as the politically correct cleaning up of Mark Twain's novel Tom Sawyer by taking out the name of the character who is the moral center of the novel.
I think this is one of the least attractive things about the contemporary liberal arts college, its attention to sensitivity, the constant drive to see that no one is offended (well, you can offend conservative Christians all you like, but leaving that issue aside). This is ultimately of little use to the supposed beneficiaries of the sensitivity regime and a disservice to all members of the community. The college exists to expose people to new ideas so they can be confronted openly, not drive them into the shadows where they can fester and sally forth when opportunity presents itself.
If it is useful to a liberal arts graduate to be able to avoid giving offense, it is even more useful to be able to avoid taking offense. The only way you can convince someone of your ideas is often to do them the courtesy of giving theirs a hearing. If you allow yourself to take offense, especially when none is intended, you will very likely let your self reciprocate and speak in anger. Persuasion depends upon getting someone to see some common element in their views and the view to which you would have them adopt. You must at some level grant that what they want or esteem is reasonable or defensible in some way but that the view you hold is more conducive to achieving to their object than the one they hold.
A good advocate must have not only a light touch but a thick skin.
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