Thank you for a well thought out and clear comment. I appreciate it.

Any hypocrisy in my actions/statements is certainly unintended. Let me again reiterate my main point is not that I am bothered because a person was offended at a specific word and reported the post. That is a reasonable and welcome action.

What I am bothered by is the demanding and arrogant manner in which he chose to report the post.

One may be offended and choose to say, "You know, that offends me. If this is not your intent, then we might find communication easier if the mode of communication were altered." Perhaps they could even write, "Wow. Is that permitted here?" and we would get the point.

Saying, "This violates my personal standards of decency and therefore the world must accede to my demand that all people conform to my opinions and standards" is just plain silly and will never win friends nor influence people. Frankly, this sort of statement is a conversation stopper, not a conversation starter.

If the goal is to enable a group of very diverse people to share ideas one with another in as accurate and friendly a manner possible, than demanding that people "do something about it or else" is going to be counter productive. What this manner of communication is quite effective at doing is shutting down communication and alienating people one from another.

Again, my title was "Users who impose their beliefs on others," not "Users who have different beliefs and choose to make requests and start dialogues based on them."

This person says that he is sick of being offended, and the moderators doing nothing about it. Now, the Ubuntu forums do seem to guarantee that offensive posts will be removed, as someone has already pointed out in this combox. So, whether or not you agree with what this fellow finds offensive, it would appear that if he genuinely _is_ being offended, you are in fact being a first class hypocrite.

Imagine that this person had instead contacted you to request that a post using the word "cunt" had been removed because he found it offensive. Would you still have mocked him publicly? If not, why not? You accuse this fellow of "imposing" his beliefs on others by expecting something that he personally finds offensive to be removed. But then, the only reason you have not removed it appears to be that _you_ personally do _not_ find it offensive.

Unless you have some kind of higher authority to which to appeal, and by which to arbitrate an absolute standard of offensiveness, are you not in act imposing your own views on the complainer in this instance, by refusing to moderate comments which he finds offensive but which you do not? You say you are tired of people like this wanting you to follow their way of life or personal philosophy…but really, you are expecting the exact same thing from them. It’s just that you’re in the majority, so you don’t notice.

As it happens, I think this fellow is an idiot, with utterly no basis either for his extreme offense or for his demands. But it also seems to me that there is a significant element of hypocrisy going unnoticed in your own attitude.

Regards,
Bnonn

My comments were directed at people who demand that other people live according to a system of belief that they have not chosen for themselves. That comes across as incredibly arrogant and rude.

People who desire to proselytize should do so with their actions, living in such a way that others want to follow them. Making a set of rules for others to live by is ineffective at changing other people’s hearts and attitudes.

Showing an alternative to their lifestyle and philosophical foundations, an alternative that is more attractive because of the value it places on people and the kindness and grace it shows, will be effective. That is harder, though.

The former choice is what the people I am complaining about do. The latter is what Jesus himself did, as well as his followers. It wasn’t until Christianity was institutionalized as a state religion under Constantine that all this "you have to do it our way" stuff started. Before that, Christians were content to proclaim a better way of life by living it, and by speaking with profound grace and logic to people who were interested…kind of like the God of the Bible, who created people and then gave them a free will to decide to follow him or to walk away.

As usual, my desire was to initiate a big discussion. Sometimes you need to stir things up a little bit and get people talking so that ultimately a positive balance can be reached.

I am amused that Ani and Matt (above), who each commented with a similar opinion about my mental capacity, have amazingly similar IP addresses as well…and only one left an email address. Hey guys, it is okay with me if you don’t share my opinions. I’ll leave your comments intact and allow others to judge between us who is showing the better, "Christian" attitude.

I agree with you, I have no problem with people believing in something, but please don’t force your beliefs onto others.

In regards to being offended about certain words, well, that is a difficult one since everyone have different limits. I’m personally almost never offended, but I know many are offended by sexual words and to continue out of that line - why are we offended by nudity? Uhh…a breast, how terrifying! It makes little sense to me to be honest.