These days people who are not easily offended are few and far between. Our society has morphed into angry, obnoxious individuals who believe that everything they say is the gospel and no one is allowed to disagree. And if you don't agree, well you better be prepared.

It's pretty ridiculous, honestly. It doesn't matter what you believe or whether or not you are respectful to the other person... they will still be offended.

We have created a culture where people need "safe spaces" to deal with their lives. A culture where no one can handle a common conversation without getting bent out of shape. And here's the problem with that: we can't keep hiding from the world. We can't keep believing that only ourselves have the correct answer.

How did this happen? How did our world become so horrendous? How did we become so afraid of being wrong, that we don't allow others to be right?

We have resorted to cutting each other down for our differences, instead of building each other up. We have to stop condemning those who disagree.

It's hard to live in a world where everyone preaches about free speech, but no one can handle what's being said. The same people who claim they are not being heard, refuse to hear others. The same people who say they have the short end of the stick, want to trade it off and give it to others.

Getting upset is a common response. I'm not saying that no one should ever get upset about anything. There are times when people should be offended, but there is an extent to which that should go. We have to understand that other's are not put on this earth to anger us. We should be learning from each other... teaching each other... helping each other. We should use others to generate and grow our opinions, rather than becoming angered by their opinions.

I've always believed that the people you disagree with have the most to teach you. If you agree with someone, it is likely that you already have knowledge quite similar to theirs, but if you disagree, you obviously have a discrepancy somewhere. You may only feel the way you do because you don't have the background to have built a real understanding... and by truly listening to someone with a differing opinion, you may actually begin to feel different. Or you could still feel the same, and they could have learned from you.

It doesn't matter if they don't make you change your opinion and you don't make them change theirs... that's not the point. The point is that you gave someone else's opinion a chance and you were able to learn why they feel strongly convicted about a subject.

Cutting someone else's opinion down doesn't make your opinion better... it just makes you less of a person. And, sadly, that's pretty common these days.

So, that's my two cents... are you offended yet?

"What a shame to have to beg you to see we're not all the same" - Shinedown