I was blog hopping as usual and saw this post on the Mad Momma's blog. While the post itself is not controversial(some people might disagree), the comments sure fired a storm. Some of her readers seem to have taken offense to this:
And then people want to know why the lower castes want to opt out of the system and convert to a casteless society - be it Buddhism or Christianity. I’ve never stopped thanking my forefathers for the choice they made.
When I originally read the post, I never realized this line could provoke people. It merely seemed like a statement of personal opinion...but boy! were there fireworks or what!
A lot of people took offense because they thought she was demeaning Hinduism and extolling the virtues of Christianity. A lot of commentators wrote how she was worng in saying that and some even talked about Christianity and conversion! While its the reader's prerogative to feel bad or angry at what they read, it definitely is stepping over the line to lecture someone about how their opninions are wrong. I would not do that even with my good friends because differences in opinion are what makes us so diverse. Can I not sit in my livingroom and say what I think about anything at all? Why do we have to be so intolerant of diverse opinion? As long as we are not imposing on others or not hurting others in any way, how is it bad to hold ones opinion dear to one's heart? I do not like it when people lecture me about my life. I have had this happen so many times:
Have a kid now, dont wait too much, you are getting old, buy a house now, you need to invest
you should have done this...done that....wth? Of all the things I get to hear, its the "dont wait anymore to have a kid" that pisses me off the most. I have had people(women), who I was talking to for the second time ever say that to me! And all the while, I have held my anger and frustration back and politely nodded. SO here is what I am confused about.
There are two issues here. One is that we live in a so-called free society where (ideally) there is tolerance for whatever religious, societal beliefs and opinions we hold. Like MM holds the opinion that she is glad she is of a particular religion, so do those commentors BUT they seemed to cross a line when they hopped over to HER blogspace and tried to bully her! This then brings me to the second issue I am concerned about, When people seem to step over the line, should you give them a piece of your mind, or be polite and ignore them?
12 years ago
Posts
yeah, like i say on my blog to have a baby but i've never said it to anyone in real life ;) not saying it now either!!!
ReplyDeleteas for rude people - i think one should let people leave their opinion on the blog since its a free world, unless they use abusive language. and if the comment is there, i like to address it simply because it brings up issues that no one else might have thought of and i dont leave anything unresolved.
Yeah MM dealt with a lot of crap for that post. I was one of the few Hindus who supported her. It was rly stupid how ppl attacked her.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I try to be super diplomatic when ppl try to 'advice' me on anything but sometimes if they won't take the hint or go on and on like a runaway train, I do tell them to mind their own business. Problem is, lots of people get super offended by that, so u need to pick your battles.