...The absurdity of a belief that we can and should vanquish that which "offends" ought to be self-evident. This campaign, however, has become even more farcical due to an abundance of hypocrisy.
This would appear to be the case even for some of those targeted by and ostensibly opposed to the "war on offensiveness": an attitude of "offence for thee, but not for me."
Take, for instance, Calgary's outspoken Bishop Fred Henry, who wrote a letter to this paper offering a strong defence of Campus Pro-Life (although, a pro-life bishop defending a pro-life group might fall into the "dog bites man" news category). He defended the "freedom to inquire, speak, publish, (and) debate" even if it leads to "error and abuse." So while others may bemoan the "offensiveness" of Campus Pro-Life's display, the bishop has rightly noted that freedom of expression trumps the (non-existent) freedom to not-have-my-delicate-sensibilities-ruffled.
And yet, in now leading the charge against the forthcoming Atheist Bus Ad campaign, Bishop Henry has morphed from a champion of the right to offend to a poster boy for the I'm Offended Industry.
Suddenly we are to now tremble in awe at the mighty power of the O-word: Bishop Henry is "offended" by the ads. To which we ought to say: so what?
As subjective as so much of this issue inherently is, I think one can objectively conclude that a bus ad declaring that "There's Probably No God" is far less offensive than images of aborted fetuses.
Describing the bus ads as "aggressive" and "hate-filled," Henry has adopted the rhetoric of those who would silence Campus Pro-Life--and him, for that matter.
Conversely, I doubt those who would block an "offensive" pro-life display would support a campaign to block "offensive" atheist bus ads. To that end, though, I would challenge those who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Syed Soharwardy and Mohamed Elmasry to now step forward and stand with Bishop Fred Henry.
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