There Is Only One We Dare Not Offend
by Bill Muehlenberg, Culture Watch:
Taking offense has become a national pastime in much of the West. Everyone seems to be getting offended about something. We have not only become an easily offended people, but we are even now making laws about all this. Vilification laws, hate speech laws, and the like are all about not offending anyone – or at least certain groups, such as Muslims, homosexuals, etc.
An entire industry has sprung up around the taking of offence. This has led to the death of public discussion and debate, since to simply disagree with someone today will mean they will run away crying about how they have been offended. It is leading, therefore, to the death of free speech.
It is typical of the secular left to easily take offence and thus short circuit free speech, but believers can do this as well. Increasingly we find Christians taking offence, for example, if you share any hard biblical truths. If you speak about sin, repentance, eternal judgment and such basic biblical doctrines, you will find plenty of nominal Christians taking offence.
I have even had Christians taking offence when I simply quoted Scripture. But this is not a completely recent phenomenon. The Bible actually speaks to this same matter. As I just read in my daily reading, Jeremiah had to chew out God’s people for doing this very thing. As we find Yahweh saying in Jer. 6:10:
See also: Hatred: a defence, by Brendan O’Neill
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