Would This Statement Offend You?

[noodleknitter]

My dad is dying from cancer as I type this.

He hasn't lost his sense of humor even at this point but I must say he hasn't made one joke about having cancer.

There isn't a DAMN thing funny about cancer. Not one thing.

Maybe you see a funny wig or have a funny experience while receiving chemo but to laugh at cancer itself, yeah, tonight, especially, I find that offensive. To think of anyone laughing about cancer itself makes me sick to my stomach.

Brenda, my mom is dying too. One way she and the group of ladies we see each week deal with the issue is by laughing. None of these women will survive until spring. But our memories will be filled with laughter even as our hearts are breaking. As it stands we leave that virtual torture chamber smiling and ready to deal with the next week of misery, looking forward to the next time we see each other.

I'm sorry about your dad, and what you all are going through. I hope you find your own ways to cope with this insidious illness.

 

[LoraJ]

My dad is dying from cancer as I type this.

He hasn't lost his sense of humor even at this point but I must say he hasn't made one joke about having cancer.

There isn't a DAMN thing funny about cancer. Not one thing.

Maybe you see a funny wig or have a funny experience while receiving chemo but to laugh at cancer itself, yeah, tonight, especially, I find that offensive. To think of anyone laughing about cancer itself makes me sick to my stomach.

I'm so sorry about your dad.

When my fiance's dad was dying from cancer, one of his former co-workers came to visit. His dad informed us that he thought that night was his last night. The co-worker wnet on and on about putting in a good word with the big guy for him and all of this other stuff. At first I was like "!" but then when I saw it make his dad laugh and smile, it made me feel better. He really did need a good laugh.

 

[Principessa Alba]

If a simple statement like 'thank God I am an atheist' can undermine God and what God means to people who believe in Him, then what sort of connection do those people really have?

I think you are missing the point. Of course the OP's sister didn't feel God being undermined, but maybe she felt it of their friendship - maybe not rightly so, but I think this is where she felt the offense, if there was one, which, I doubt it.

Once in awhile my Jewish friends make fun of Christians, and I have to say, "Hey, I'm still here! Remember? The Christian??? " I know them and know that they don't mean to hurt me, they are just letting off steam for what they see as a too "Christians gone Wild" in this country. But if I wasn't so sure I might be offended. If this girl, in the original post, is all of the sudden, to her Christian friends, making jokes about it, then , it didn't seem like that big of a deal, but maybe this is what she's offended by.

 

[Principessa Alba]

I don't agree. It's not the fact that the faith is being undermined, or that someone isn't trying to undermine the OP's faith, but rather that since this friend knows how strongly the OP (or OP's sister) feels about her faith, the friend is kind of thumbing her nose and not respecting the feelings of the OPs sister, knowing as a former Christian that the OP's sister has very strong feelings.

I don't believe that this is what she means by having that phrase in her signature, & believe that she can put whatever she wants. However, from the OP's sister's POV, I can understand that she would be upset. I still think she needs to get over it, because that statement isn't about her. (I think)

I see that you beat me to my evaluation, and did it better.

 

[Principessa Alba]

My dad is dying from cancer as I type this.

He hasn't lost his sense of humor even at this point but I must say he hasn't made one joke about having cancer.

There isn't a DAMN thing funny about cancer. Not one thing.

Maybe you see a funny wig or have a funny experience while receiving chemo but to laugh at cancer itself, yeah, tonight, especially, I find that offensive. To think of anyone laughing about cancer itself makes me sick to my stomach.

Exactly! I'm so sorry about your dad and hope he can joke and laugh through this, but cancer itself, not funny. There's a difference between making a joke among cancer patients, anyway, and people who don't have cancer making jokes about people who have cancer. There's a difference between making a discreet joke at your elderly aunt's funeral and going up and sharing it with her husband and kids in the receiving line.

 

[goofygirl]

i find it more offensive that the word God is on our money than anything else.

the comment doesn't offend me. believe what you want to believe, as long as you're not hurting anyone. it doesn't make them a bad person.

I agree.

"God" does not belong on the money. The fact that its on there says a lot about how America is- how we worship the dollar and money is our God.

"Thank God I'm athiest" does not offend me at all. I get much more offended at anti-choice stickers, slogans, etc.

 

[cardaway]

What I would like to know is how someone can find "Jesus Loves You" (written in the sky) offensive, but not a statement similar to the one put forward by the OP...? It just doesn't make sense..?

There is a reason it doesn't make sense. Nobody said that the skywriter was offensive.

 

[Buckalew11]

Brenda, my mom is dying too. One way she and the group of ladies we see each week deal with the issue is by laughing. None of these women will survive until spring. But our memories will be filled with laughter even as our hearts are breaking. As it stands we leave that virtual torture chamber smiling and ready to deal with the next week of misery, looking forward to the next time we see each other.

I'm sorry about your dad, and what you all are going through. I hope you find your own ways to cope with this insidious illness.

I'm so sorry about your dad.

When my fiance's dad was dying from cancer, one of his former co-workers came to visit. His dad informed us that he thought that night was his last night. The co-worker wnet on and on about putting in a good word with the big guy for him and all of this other stuff. At first I was like "!" but then when I saw it make his dad laugh and smile, it made me feel better. He really did need a good laugh.

Thanks you all. I am not meaning to turn this into anything about me and dad.
I realize laughter is good for the soul and in my family, I am the one who provides the laughs. My dad has laughed often throughout his 3 1/2 year struggle but never about the disease itself. He's made jokes about the shape he is in now and such as that, but for a young man of 69 who had dreams to fulfill with his wife of almost 50 years, the cancer itself is not funny or a joke. The cancer is taking every dream of the "golden years" away. That is very sad and one of the main reason I am a "live in the moment" type of person.

Maybe people aren't laughing at the diseases and I really hope not. But I suppose if that is how you might deal with it, then cope the best way you can. I have a wonderful sense of humor and know that often in times crises we cope by laughing. But cancer, AIDS, etc. are no jokes within themselves to me. Like I said, I am ultra sensitive right now.

Carry on...

 

[taximomfor4]

Oh goodness, if my family got offended at religious differences, we'd never be able to get together. My family is made up of all kinds, from Catholics (devout) all the way to agnostic to atheist, with Pantheism, Wicca and Shamanism tossed in. Yes, some family members (the Christian ones) shake their heads behind the backs of other family members (any of the non-Christians). We figured out long ago that we don't have to agree with each others' religious leanings. Oh, and we joke without discrimination. I suppose some jokes come across as tacky, but not offensive.

 

[thewishfire]

I'm with most of you on this one.

NO, I don't find that line offensive. I've never been offended by a siggy, bumpersticker, t-shirt, sticker, magnet or anything else like that. I tend not to be easily offended because, well, if you can't laugh at yourself who can you laugh at?

I also don't find anything off-limits as far as humor go. I know my boundaries though and wouldn't say certain things to certain people, but if it's not intended to hurt it's fine with me.

 

[caitycaity]

brenda, i am really sorry to hear about your dad. i have lost two of my grandparents (one of which i was very close to) to cancer.

in my family, we cope with things through humour. i am sure if someone outside the family heard some of our jokes they would probably be offended and/or think we were sick people. my grandma, for example, definitely made jokes about her cancer. that is just the way we all cope with things. i definitely respect that different people don't always feel that way though, which is why i would never repeat some of the jokes shared in my family with others.

 

[Principessa Alba]

in my family, we cope with things through humour. i am sure if someone outside the family heard some of our jokes they would probably be offended and/or think we were sick people. my grandma, for example, definitely made jokes about her cancer. that is just the way we all cope with things.

That's not sick at all, if it's in your family. It's great if you can laugh when there is sadness, but what if it were people down the hall joking about your sick grandma. Would that be so funny?

 

[Disney Doll]

I am not offended by fish bumper stickers, I just wonder why they feel the need to put their faith on the bumper of a car. I see a lot of religious bumper stickers and I wonder if they really think they are going to convert anyone. It would take more than a bumper sticker to make me believe in god.

[/FONT]Well, why do people feel the need to put anyhting on their car? Why do I care if your kid is an honor student or if Virginia is for lovers or which political candidate you like? The same question can be asked of those who wear their sexual orientation like a banner...why do I care with whom you sleep? Yet people do all of the above all of the time. I guess we must be a society that likes to share even though it annoys us.

Talk about irony!

 

[Disney Doll]

so is any display of religiosity childish and immature? i'm not sure i understand how her signature is any different than someone witnessing in their sig.

(this part is not addressing you disney doll, but rather aimed at the topic in general)
i am an atheist (duh). i just don't understand why we can't just all live and let live. ftr, the skywriter thing doesn't bother me. if i spent every minute of every day being bothered by every religious thing i came in contact with, i would probably be bothered 24/7. i don't understand why it seems so many religious people seem to get offended when they see something about atheism. i doubt you are confronted by atheism as regularly as atheists are confronted by religion.

And I don't understand why so many atheists paint religious folks with such a broad brush, yet that behavior continues too.

I couldn't care less who anyone else worships, or doesn't, for that matter. And I am a person who believes in religion. But I don't think you have to, unless you choose to.

 

[Apothecary]

As Homer Simpson once said, "God bless those pagans"

 

[TiffinyKC]

Nope, I'm not offended. I agree that it's pretty childish. Hey, do you think that I should have a siggy that says "Thank the devil I'm a Lutheran?"

I like the sound of it!

 

[drakethib]

Kind of goofy to me, but to each his own.

 

[disneydancer1969]

kinda. i know someone who is an atheist and that is weird. but i am christian.

 

[JoyG]

Thanks Jenny. I pretty much been an *** on these boards tonight and of course, this is why. I really should get off and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day and I have to work all day on top of that.

I am sorry about being extremely sensitive about this.

Praying that God gives you and your dad grace and peace... enough to get you through each day; one at a time.

 

[LiLIrishChick63]

I agree.

"God" does not belong on the money. The fact that its on there says a lot about how America is- how we worship the dollar and money is our God.

"Thank God I'm athiest" does not offend me at all. I get much more offended at anti-choice stickers, slogans, etc.

i agree with you as well!