Offensive Jokes
A tree falls in the forest - does it make a sound? If we take the definition that sound is: Vibrations transmitted through an elastic solid or a liquid or gas, with frequencies in the approximate range of 20 to 20,000 hertz, capable of being detected by human organs of hearing then unless a human capable of hearing actually hears those vibrations then no, there is no sound.
Some would like to argue that sound is the transmission of vibrations of any frequency, but then, under that rule, ultraviolet light would be a sound. Unless we start hearing blue and yellow rays of light, sound can only be defined within the context of human hearing.
Just as there is no sound unless someone hears it, there is no offense unless someone takes it. That is to say, taking offense is something the listener, not the transmitter, does. If I tell a joke about Jewish mothers then whether it is offensive or not has nothing to do with me. If the listener is offended that's his problem, not mine.
There is no such thing as a joke to which no one will take offense. If we make a wry, humorous observation about mothers-in-law then some mother-in-law may take offense. If Chris Rock makes a nigga-joke, his audience is hardly likely to take offense, but if I were to repeat the same joke it is highly likely that some black person somewhere will take offense. So obviously the joke itself does not offend, rather the operative mechanism is whether someone has a sense of humor or not.
If we had to take into consideration every possible person who might be offended by a joke we might as well stop telling jokes altogether.
I am surprised that Muslims do not take offense at the Geico-Caveman ads, after all, Muslims are not too far behind cavemen. Hey, only joking - if you're a Muslim and that last line offends you then take it up with your religion which has kept you and your tribe from advancing for the past 1400 years.
