I hope I'm not offending anyone...

[TopazRaven]

Yeah, I kind of have to agree with Patrick here. I don't want to offend anyone even if my opinion is different and I like to let people know putting them down/offending/upsetting them was in no way ever my intention even if they do become offended.

[Furen]

Though, I understand the reasoning behind it, it seems that if we are always dropping the "NO offence" bomb, in the chance that someone forgets to write it on their post, then people could take it wrong.

I don't see why we can't just assume the vast majority of us won't want to offend people, I have very similar believes, but I don't want to always have to write "No offence" it makes me feel like I'm setting myself up to say something that'll get on someone else's case.

I did not, however say that this is a bad line to use, I'm just stating that it's being overused, and I find that when something is overused, (ie: swearing, the word love) it tends to lose it's potency.

I've seen a few here are using it as a crutch to say something (that could be said in a PM, rather than in a thread unless necessary) that will (for sure) offend someone.

Again, I am stressing that most of us (almost all) care very much for the thoughts of others, and their feelings, but if we have to resort to the "no offense" train, it doesn't seem as relaxed and well knit, we all have (at least some) respect for the boards, and we know that we aren't trying to offend people. I like everyone here, but I'm not going to be sorry for a belief of mine.

[Nami]

@Patrick: I, in no way, ever mean to offend anyone. I don't like offending people, but like RenRen says, you shouldn't have to say "no offense", people should not automatically assume we are trying to offend others with our opinion. That is never, ever what I mean to do, and I'm sure some others feel the same.

@RenRen: Yes, you are right, we shouldn't have to drop "no offense" when saying something, however, if someone knows that what they are saying will offend another member, they should tread lightly and if they didn't realize, then PM's can be used to un-knot that misunderstanding.

[Rusty Claymore]

Wierdly, there are types of people I want to offend. If I'm not offending them I'm doing something wrong. XP
But, it still doesn't feel good.

[Furen]

Wierdly, there are types of people I want to offend. If I'm not offending them I'm doing something wrong. XP
But, it still doesn't feel good.

I agree, but no one here (for me anyway)

[Dr.Faust]

i get the same way oh here. some time i want to say something but i will have a political root to it and i know i cant say it here but its fine

[Atria35]

Because I know what I'm going to say is going to offend someone, I try to preface with, "In my personal opinion..."

[Wind]

I am sorry for anything I may have said or done which was disrespectful. And I really do mean this. I apologize for it. For some things I've said and done to some people that were not out of love, I'm sorry.

thank you for you apology Mr, SmartyPants and I for one forgive you wholeheartedly and respect you for this post

[Riggidig]

Technically I'm not supposed to be typing this here because I said earlier in another section that I was leaving CAA and wasn't sure when I'll be returning, but then I saw this post...

I was recently offended on this site and I was rather shocked, because I didn't expect it to come from a Christian forum. I was so ticked off that I didn't want to have anything to do with the site anymore. I then started reading these posts of you guys and realised, that, while we are all (hopefully) Christians on here, not everyone on here can be expected to get along. I think another problem is that, by nature, I am a sensitive person who can be easily offended, especially when he places his trust in someone. This is probably the reason why I stopped going to my youth church group in real life: Someone there offended me and I didn't bother going back (it's been two months now). No one has bothered contacting me either to ask where I am. This hurts. A lot :-( I guess getting dissed online is as painful as it is offline...

[Yuki-Anne]

Yeah, as much as I'd like to say that my opinions are my opinions and I don't care who I offend, I really do. When someone is offended by something I do I tend to backpedal and try to figure out how I can fix it or how we can come to a compromise. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It can get out of hand with oversensitivity and all, but we as Christians should be sensitive to each other's needs.

Riggidig, one of the things about online interaction is that people can't see that they've hurt you. When you're in conversation with someone, you can sometimes read their body language to realize you've stepped over the line, but online there is no such possibility. So in some ways it takes an extra measure of grace to maintain harmonious relationships on a forum.