Freedom: the right not to be offended?

From CMR:

Sorry UK. It’s all over. Either emigrate out of there or be assimilated into the stale horrific world of rampant political correctness.

This is amazing. And by amazing I mean sad yet completely predictable. A pub singer named Simon Ledger in the UK was arrested on charges of racism for singing the classic “Kung Fu Fighting” which happened to be heard by a Chinese person passing the pub who phoned the police.

The Daily Mail reports:

‘We were performing Kung Fu Fighting, as we do during all our sets,’ he said.

‘People of all races were loving it. Chinese people have never been offended by it before.

‘But this lad walking past with his mum started swearing at us and making obscene hand gestures before taking a picture on his mobile phone.

‘We hadn’t even seen them when we started the song. He must have phoned the police.’

Officers later called Mr Ledger while he was eating in a Chinese restaurant to arrange a meeting. The singer assumed it was a prank – but he was later arrested and is still under investigation.

‘They seemed pretty amazed but said the law is the law and it was their duty,’ he is reported to have said. ‘It’s political correctness gone potty. There are plenty of Welsh people at our shows – does it mean I can’t play any Tom Jones?’I love the fact that he was at a Chinese restaurant when he was called by police about being arrested for racism against Chinese people.

When did freedom become the right not to be offended?

I’ve got to admit that this story makes me proud to be an American who can still highlight on my blog videos like…THIS!

The makers of Kung Fu Panda might be in trouble.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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18 Comments

  1. Philangelus says:

    So if I’m offended by this person calling the police, can I have that person arrested?

  2. irishgirl says:

    ‘Political correctness gone potty’-leave it to the Brits to say that! Good way of saying it!
    Reading this story, I say to myself, ‘Oh, for God’s sakes…’
    Sigh…PC gone amuck!

  3. I’m offended by political correctness!

  4. teomatteo says:

    I need a martini…. make it a double!!

  5. Ben Yanke says:

    Well.. I offended by this, and those people’s lauguage and gestures. I’m going to call the police.

  6. What ever happened to the notion that the job of policemen is simply to enforce the law?

  7. Maltese says:

    Surreal. The liberal thought-police are more prevalent in the U.K. than the U.S., but, make no mistake, they are pushing that agenda here as well.

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18473074/ns/politics/

  8. spesalvi23 says:

    Oh Goodness… this is is so pathetic, it’s hilarious!!

    If people do want to emigrate – here’s a tip:
    Small central European state (partly Alpine – part of a Federal Republic) is desperately seeking qualified professionals to keep it’s economy strong.
    Engineers in automotive (!!), IT, bio-technology, economy, machinery, etc. are VERY welcome to apply.
    As well as qualified craftsmen /women in every possible field.
    No permit needed for EU citizens!
    Great food!
    Great beer!
    Pretty landscape.
    Mostly Catholic.
    Traditional, grounded, people.
    Hopefully strong enough to resist most assimilation attempts by various elements of society – so far it looks rather promising.
    Please apply!!

  9. Fr. Basil says:

    I thought that Kung Fu was thought up by Koreans.

  10. tilden says:

    @spesalvi23: Slovenia?

  11. Clinton says:

    I think that British citizens who would like to see an end to this sort of PC legislation should
    just play along and feed the beast. Surely every good British man and woman can find one or
    two offensive things each day that the police should hear about. A trip to the local library
    should yield rich reasons to take offense– Swift’s remarks about the Irish, Johnson’s about the
    Scots, everyone’s remarks about gingers… Shakespeare’s Othello should provide rich
    hunting grounds for Jewish Brits, anyone in the banking industry, and British citizens of
    African ancestry. The possibilities are endless, and that would just be the beginning.

    Then of course there are the media, broadcasting offensive materials 24/7. Report them all!
    Perhaps billboards, TV and radio spots and print ads for food items one comes across during
    fasting times for one’s religion could be called in. If I were Muslim and during the daylight
    hours of Ramadan I was subjected to an advert showing a man enjoying bacon, better believe
    I’d get the police on that most ricky-tick! Best of all would be if someone could find a way to
    take umbrage at a politician’s speech… and had him arrested. Have them all arrested! Burn
    up those phone lines! The police would have to double their staffs and work overtime to
    haul everyone in.

    I hope the British citizenry develops the thinnest skin and the most delicate sensibilities in all
    of recorded history. It would serve their nanny state right.

  12. Maltese says:

    LOL@Clinton!

    Nicely said! I also find it offensive when they say, “come here!” and “sit!” to their poor big-eyed pooches; certainly they should legislate a prohibition of such uncaring speech…

  13. Dirichlet says:

    PC liberalism is a totalitarian ideology, and Britain is the spearhead of that movement. Airstrip One, quite literally.

  14. Dr. Eric says:

    Fr. Basil,

    Blahoslovy!

    Khrystos Voskres!

    Kung Fu is the Wade-Giles Romanization of the Chinese term known in modern Mandarin as “gong fu” which means to have a skill- Jaques Pepin has gong fu in cooking, Payton Manning has gong fu in throwing the football, etc…

    The martial arts supposedly started either in India or China depending on which source you read about which monk started the movement exercises to keep the monks from falling asleep while meditating.

  15. APX says:

    @Stuart James
    The US isn’t doing much better fr.:
    BREAKING – US: Christians arrested for reading the Bible in public – Caught on Video

    I watched that, and from what I can see, he wasn’t arrested for reading the Bible in public. He was arrested for not leaving the DMV property after the security guard asked. If the DMV owns the property he was on, their security has every right to ask them to leave. If they refuse, they are then trespassing.

  16. Charivari Rob says:

    Brought something to mind from the depths of memory. A little bit of Googling later, I think I found it:

    http://archvillain.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/offensensitivity.jpg

  17. spesalvi23 says:

    @ tilden – no -> Bavaria.

Comments are closed.