I don't think causing gratuitous offence is a good idea, but on the other hand I think it sometimes does us a bit of good. Some of my favourite people are satirists and they can cause grave offence, but for good reason. Has anyone read Jonathan Swifts A Modest Proposal? http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html . The good Dean (he was a clergyman) caused uproar when he suggested eating babies as a way of avoiding hunger among the poor, but he most definately was not advocating it. If people think there is a need to widen the horizon, it seems like a good idea to me.
18 Sep 2005, 7:17 am
