General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Rude Pundit Appreciation Thread [View all]The_Commonist
(2,518 posts)I don't have a problem with someone calling Ann Coulter the c-word, I don't have a problem with someone calling Clarence Thomas a "House N-word." I don't have a problem with any use of language, anywhere, about anything at any time. They're words, not bullets. We're adults, not 6 year-olds. You counter bad language and bad ideas with good language and good ideas. Not with censorship.
That being said, I do understand that:
1) there are generally MUCH better ways for people to express themselves. I'm not much of a curser. I will use a curse word very occasionally, but when I do, I MEAN IT!
2) people have different sensitivities. I don't mind being sensitive to other people's sensitivities. It's generally the right thing to do. Treat people with kindness, etc. Not everybody feels the same way about language that I do, so I never cursed around my grandmother, for example. My mother, on the other hand is much less sensitive, so I have certainly used curse words when talking to her. But, as with #1 above, when I do, she knows there's a good reason for it. It's not gratuitous.
3) there are community standards, and those standards are different for different communities. The C-word, the N-word and the F-word are not acceptable in THIS community. There are other on-line communities that I participate in where some or all of those words are perfectly acceptable. I must understand that if I want to participate in those communities, or be told to go F-word myself.
I leave you with this. I found this sequence profound, when I was 14 or 15 and my father took me to see this movie: