The offence offensive - ABC Online

The list of items people find offensive is as numerous as people themselves.

Richard has spent a lot of time examining the culture of offence in Australia and internationally. A good example was the free speech issues surrounding like the Danish cartoon controversy.

"Offence is often whipped up by political groups with an axe to grind, or a tub to thump."

He strongly feels that offence should be the beginning of a conversation, not the end.

Classically the what has been considered offensive has been about denigration of respectability or religion. In the 1990s offence became much more politicised.

We are now invited to take the accusation that something is offensive almost as an argument in itself.

Richard argues that if you ban an opinion, you ban everybody else's right to hear it, because it then removes the opportunity to exchange truth for error.

"Sometimes free speech is viewed as some sort of western luxury, and I just can't let that pass, it's such an important right that we have won for ourselves that I really feel it needs to be defended."

We have confused the idea of tolerance with the idea of acceptance. Tolerance is the pre condition for disagreement. Acceptance means not having an argument.

The claim to find something offensive or hurtful should be the beginning of a debate, not the end of it.

Offence in the media is often played out as the politics of politics, not the politics of the real world.

"We should examine our feelings, decide whether they are legitimate, and if we decide that they are, to make our case, to say why it is that we are offended."

This is an argument for more argument, not less.

Richard is also keen to pooint out that you should be able to intellectually defend your position.

"The argument of merely being offended is not an argument in itself."