Careful about giving your views?

[ruthie]

Following on from the IVF debate do you now feel that people in this country are more afraid to give their views on a number of subjects due to the PC culture created by this goverment ?

[smirnoff]

yes i do. I have had som many conversations with people who i dont know particularly well and i am always conscious of offending them iykwim.... i think i have become more confident recently now as i say my opinion and see what the consequences are.... i am entitled to my oppinion as is everyone else. I think that a healthy debate is great, but if it gets to personal attacks then that is different. If ever i offend though, please let me know!!! IT generally isnt meant!!!

[Jen]

I respect the opions of all, actually I love to hear the veiws of others, would be rather boring if we all thought the same.
But saying that, I try to be careful in what I say for the fear of offending.

[MrTempleDene]

I've always been worried about offending people. I call it being polite.

I don't think the PC attitude is something this .gov has introduced, it started way before the Blair mob got into power. I think it is now being vilified in certain areas of the press as they want to be able to more "politically incorrect" about illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, travellers etc.

[smirnoff]

true... but shouldnt we all have the right to say what we think???? You may have noticed i am giving my opinion more and more atm.....

[ruthie]

I've always been worried about offending people. I call it being polite.

I don't think the PC attitude is something this .gov has introduced, it started way before the Blair mob got into power. I think it is now being vilified in certain areas of the press as they want to be able to more "politically incorrect" about illegal immigrants, asylum seekers, travellers etc.


Well obviously we are all polite well mannered people!. When do you think it started going this way then?, I don't can't remember it being as it is before Labour got in.

[MrTempleDene]

I certainly wasn't implying that anyone here was rude or impolite.

I don't know when it started but I am sure I remember hearing the stories about blackboards becoming chalkboards and baa baa black sheep becoming baa baa green sheep etc. when I was at school, and I left school in 1984.

[Netty]

But why does it have to be a "chalk board" but schools still use "white boards"?

[ruthie]

I certainly wasn't implying that anyone here was rude or impolite.

I don't know when it started but I am sure I remember hearing the stories about blackboards becoming chalkboards and baa baa black sheep becoming baa baa green sheep etc. when I was at school, and I left school in 1984.


I never for one moment thought you were:no: added an exclaimation mark wrongly.
I think your right about those few things but I think it has definatly got a lot worse and I think we are losing our freedom of speech, although I don't agree with people preaching hatred etc so guess it's a fine line.

[loopychick]

i think when ppl say it's a free country i dont think that is true becuase if you walk down the street you can't say certain things incase someone has a go or in my area stabs you i have very strong views on things of which you do not know of as on the last site i went to that got me into trouble because of the way i put it across i still agree with what i said and i think the pc just makes it worse because it sounds different when someone is reading it i mean personally i love to hear other ppls opinions and prefer if they are honest about them but if your not going to be honest then dont say at all which is what i have done cos i dont want to upset or offend any of you on here cos your all so lovely

[MrTempleDene]

I agree with you that we are losing our freedom of speech, it is now illegal under one of the terrorism acts to protest outside the houses of parliament as MP's didn't want to be bothered by protests!!!

That is not to be confused with PC though, that was supposed to battle racism and prejudice, but has been hijacked by little jobsworths to stop people having fun, and hijacked by racists as clamping down on their freedom of speech!

I suppose neither point answers your question about if people are not willing to give their opinions, except by example.

[Sarah]

I'm not afraid of giving my opinion as you all well know! I do hold back on lots of issues though simply because they don't come across well on a forum, no one can see your facial expressions, it doesn't show when you are talking with compassion, lots of other posts come in the middle and confuse things. I'm much better at talking to people face to face when I'm always happy to share what I believe.

[MrTempleDene]

I must admit SnowFairy I agree with that, having been in "heated debates" on other forums I realise how easily you can say something which can be read two ways and grossly misread.

On the other hand though on a forum people can think about what they want to say, compose a reply and voice an opinion where in a real world situation they would be too shy, or not quite quick enough to get a point across before the conversation has moved on.

I know there have been some subjects on mumszone I have thought about for hours before posting comment on because I wanted to make sure I said the right thing, in the right way. And because sometimes I wanted to consider my own views to make sure what I thougt made sense!

[Sarah]

I've spent hours considering issues too but I'm sad to say I don't have the vocabulary or literary talent to be able to put it down in words for it to all make sense :no:

[MrTempleDene]

I've read your posts SnowFairy, don't put yourself down.

[Jess85]

I think I'm a bit conscious what I say aswell on forums, I tend to 'sit on the fence' I think lol and don't generally get myself involved in any heated debates! Smirnoff - I think it's good thing that you're being more confident etc

[loopychick]

snowfairy thats what i was trying to get across in my post but me being blonde lol it comes out a bit dumb

[runragged]

I'm not afraid of giving my opinion as you all well know! I do hold back on lots of issues though simply because they don't come across well on a forum, no one can see your facial expressions, it doesn't show when you are talking with compassion, lots of other posts come in the middle and confuse things. I'm much better at talking to people face to face when I'm always happy to share what I believe.

:iagree: Thats why the smilies are such a good addition, you can pop them in to show when you're joking. My posts are peppered with them! :party05:

I love smilies!

[Seren]

a world where everyone is PC is not one in which I would want to live in, when people talk about "respect" for another persons opinion, I understand and see where they are coming from and agree that in some circumstances that there are differences that compliement and enrich society and life, however, what if we stood by during the second world war, and decided to "respect" Hitlers opinion? I just wonder. I don't wholly agree with War and am horrified at the mess in the middle east and indeed Korea. So is it OK to "respect" all views/opinions to be politically correct. I think not, at times we are required to come off the fence (me included) to stand up for what we believe in, to oppose tyranny and injustice.

The problem with being PC etc is that in general, the real emotions of people are bubbling beneath the surface and erupt every sunny bank holiday or so. education is the key, teaching people to express and debate without a slanging match or violence, we are a diverse and rich culture, that is what makes us English. I am proud of being English, it doesn't make me a thug or a bigot, I am allowed to have my views and opinions, it doesn't make them right, it doesn't make them wrong. I am thankful that I live in a country that allows me the freedom to write this, I believe that others should be thankful that they are in a country where they can freely practice their chosen faith (not a dig at anyone here). There are countries where you cannot take a religous book unless it happens to be the "book" for the religion of that country, there are countries where you could not where a necklace which would indicate that your chosen faith was not the athorised faith of that country.


It is a shame that the art of debating is lost over the internet and indeed in rl, all because we think that the PC police will have a field day with us.

i believe we should have consideration for other peoples feelings etc, but not at the cost of our own. Sometimes we should just say nothing at all, apart from the obvious.........


:fryingpan:

[Sarah]

Wow very well said hun, excellent.

[wkdfraggle]

I deffinately worry about upsetting ppl - both in real life (IYKWIM) and on forums.
I tend to keep opinions to myself - but that may have something more to do with depression and low self esteem.

Simone
xxx