Asshole

This last week I was on my Facebook and one of my friends posted a link to a group called "Nuke the Whales". I clicked on the link and was really hurt by what I saw. There were over 200 members and most of them had posted comments about the group that sound a lot like this:

"Nuke the f***ers! they deserve to die!!!"

and

"Stupid animals can't even breathe underwater, all they do is eat our fish!"

and

"United Nations Indoctrinating Our Youth in Earth Worship; Documentary uncovers the real objective behind the Earth Charter. Many U.S. city and educational officials have already been persuaded to endorse this pro-UN manifesto. Learn why this campaign, masquerading as a plan to protect the environment, is potentially lethal to family, faith, and freedom.
http://www.documentarywire.com/indoctrinating-our-youth-in-earth-worship"

So, in response, I posted a note (kind of like a blog entry) that goes like this:

I know that most of my friends don't necessarily find the Save the Whales cause to be one that they strongly support. Some of you may not even think this cause is valid. I glanced at my home page today and found something that truly offended me. One of my friends had posted a link to a group called Nuke the Whales, most of the wall posts contained members who seemed almost excited by the idea that these wonderful creatures are a drain on society and should be eliminated. I want to dedicate my life to helping restore the world's population of baleen and toothed whales and I was deeply hurt by the ideas expressed in this group. I understand that the premise of the group is intended as a joke, but I am deeply offended by it. Some of you may not understand why, but I don't find this funny. These animals are endangered and are dieing out before we know enough about them to understand them. There is still so much we don't know about whales and the conservation efforts are not moving very fast. In a world where stupid things amuse the majority, I would feel defeated and that my efforts are for naught if more groups like this start popping up and become more popular. Cartoons about stupid people are popular all over the place and I do not want Nuke the Whales to join the ranks of Charlie the Unicorn, South Park or Family Guy. I'll get off my soap box now, for those of you who actually read this, thank you :)

I tagged a few of my friends that I thought might appreciate the fact that I took a stand and wrote about what I believe. One of these people, who I tagged because I consider him an intellectual and was curious about what he thought wrote this to me:

First off, you're wrong. That's ok, most people are most of the time. Including me. The group itself is parody and they're expressing loudly that they think whales are important. This is similar to making racist, sexist or otherwise bigoted statements that are absolutely untrue to point out the ridiculousness of said statements, the only problem is that this group took it to an extreme and made it a little less satirical and a lot less funny. They point being, they're still on your side. None of those people think that losing whales is a good thing at all and I'm sure plenty of them appreciate good humor. Like South Park. Which is satire. Second off, they are expressing one of the most treasured aspects of free speech: you have no right to not be offended. You're bound to run into plenty of people who offend you and it is your job to understand what they are saying completely, to comprehend their motives and methods and realize that 1) they're wrong or 2) they're not so bad after all. The free marketplace of ideas is a harsh place to live, a no-holds bar arena of thought and reason. To be unable to communicate thoroughly or take the time to read the statement of the group (and I found three in a search, all of which were in no way serious) then you should in no way be complaining. Do realize that I love you, but I will in no way coddle you. Your argument is flawed, misspelled, and holds as well as a sieve on a shooting range. And to help you learn from it the best thing for me to do is not tell you it looks like a nice bucket.

I am furious. So I told him:

Thanks Alex, I thought you might have something intelligent to say because I consider you an intellectual. Obviously I underestimated your sense of morality and understanding for other people's causes. I stated that I understand that the groups are meant to be funny, but that I do not find them to be and was simply expressing my opinion that in my current field of study these groups, while seemingly harmless have the potential to be detrimental to the cause I have chosen to spend my entire future promoting. Also, if I misspelled any words, please, do tell! I can't find them.

I know this is kind of long, but I needed to vent. :)