A more detailed general apology

[conuly]

The more I talk about important issues (that is, issues that are important mihi), the more I worry that I am about to offend somebody. So, a quick statement

I am probably not trying to offend you.

Unless I am very explicit, I am probably not trying to insult you. If you're worried, ask me.

I have very strong feelings on a lot of things. Most of the time, my beliefs are rooted in fact. I think that if you can't justify a belief, you shouldn't have it.

I'm not good at lying. I don't even like to lie. I can, and do, but I'm not good at it and I don't like it.

I'm also not especially good at the tactful thing, or so I'm told. I suspect I'm better at it online, which may or may not show how bad I am at it in real life.

Strong feelings tend to upset people. Someone, somewhere, is going to get offended. That's fine. If something I said offended you, ever, I am sorry.

However, and this is important, I will not apologise for deliberate misunderstandings. I crossposted my breastfeeding rant to a parenting community, since I know many of the people on my friends list won't benefit from it. The first person to reply said that I shouldn't be vilifying formula. When I replied that I hadn't done that, she said "oh, well, I was basing this off of the feelings of most people with your views". Um, okay? Don't do that? She then proceeded to say that "if we're going to outlaw formula, why not outlaw vaccinations too?" I never said a damn thing about outlawing formula or anything! Where is she getting this? And she chewed me out for "judging parents". Um, what? If you think I judged parents, please, tell me. I made sure to say that I don't think formula feeding is a sign of bad parenting. I worked really hard to be informative without being judgmental, and she still assigned emotions to me that I. Did. Not. Feel.

So, let's be clear. If I actually said something to offend you, I'll apologise. If you made something up and attributed it to me, you can apologise to yourself for being a liar.

Djusk' a.

Comments

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the flame war I got into on Autistic Spectrum Treehouse because I said that if people are going to own guns, which they have a right to do, there had to be some way to prevent children from shooting themselves with guns that they find in their homes (which their parents shouldn't leave in reach, but that's apparently too much to expect). This made people say things to me like: "Why don't we just ban cars, since children die in car accidents? Oh, and we should ban swimming pools, since children die in swimming pools all the time."

Did I say "Let's outlaw guns"? No, I did not. But that was how my statement was interpreted.

[conuly]

"Why don't we just ban cars, since children die in car accidents?

I'm cool with that. It's stupid though. Even if you HAD said that, it'd STILL be stupid because cars are not designed to kill. Guns are. Cars are not often used deliberately to kill. That is the only purpose of a gun. Cars and guns are not the same thing.

[fjorab-teke.livejournal.com]

BAN WATER!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE DROWN EACH YEAR?!?!?!

*coughs and composes self*

If only we could somehow erase stupidity (AKA willful ignorance and/or dumb actions) off the face of humanity, that would solve LOTS of problems. Too bad it seems a bit too infiltrated. :-p I know I've got a portion of it in my own viens though.

As for guns, I wish there were an easy way to regulate them. It's a good thing that cars are generally much harder to come by and also much more difficult to conceal. ;-)

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the flame war I got into on Autistic Spectrum Treehouse because I said that if people are going to own guns, which they have a right to do, there had to be some way to prevent children from shooting themselves with guns that they find in their homes (which their parents shouldn't leave in reach, but that's apparently too much to expect). This made people say things to me like: "Why don't we just ban cars, since children die in car accidents? Oh, and we should ban swimming pools, since children die in swimming pools all the time."

Did I say "Let's outlaw guns"? No, I did not. But that was how my statement was interpreted.

[conuly]

"Why don't we just ban cars, since children die in car accidents?

I'm cool with that. It's stupid though. Even if you HAD said that, it'd STILL be stupid because cars are not designed to kill. Guns are. Cars are not often used deliberately to kill. That is the only purpose of a gun. Cars and guns are not the same thing.

[fjorab-teke.livejournal.com]

BAN WATER!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE DROWN EACH YEAR?!?!?!

*coughs and composes self*

If only we could somehow erase stupidity (AKA willful ignorance and/or dumb actions) off the face of humanity, that would solve LOTS of problems. Too bad it seems a bit too infiltrated. :-p I know I've got a portion of it in my own viens though.

As for guns, I wish there were an easy way to regulate them. It's a good thing that cars are generally much harder to come by and also much more difficult to conceal. ;-)