Have I hurt your feelings, dear?

It's lovely to see how sensitive we are becoming as individuals, groups or countries and how easily, therefore, we are offended by anybody and anything that dares to to comment on us or criticize what we wish to stand for...

Of course this is not a serious comment on my part, but I'm trying - in my feeble, ironic way - to highlight the mind-boggling way that we now handle anything we disagree with, assisted by the idiotic spread of information aided by 'social' media. The other day a columnist on the Daily Mail, a paper I do not buy or read in any regular way, dared to suggest that children are generally better off having two parents, one from each sex, while acknowledging that, should these parents be less than perfect, a single parent or same-sex parents will fulfil the role. Well, the world jumped on him and his outrageous, prejudiced view... really!

Political correctness has gone mad - literally - trying to convince everyone that the only views allowed are the ones that accord with current thinking; everyone who disagrees is prejudiced, biased, nasty, a bigot. These views are then promoted throughout so called social media to stir up outrage against anyone and everyone, with accusations flying left, right and centre, judging and condemning all and sundry simply for voicing their - different - opinion. Never mind that such opinion may be fact-based and that, in any case, we are allowed in a free society to disagree; if political correctness judges you and condemns you you've had it.

This is the same sort of intolerance displayed by outrageous religious fanatics (currently showcased by islamist fundamentalists but not limited to, and over the centuries abundantly also displayed by christians, jews, polytheists and any religion you care to mention). This a direct attack on freedom of speech and thought and should not be allowed to dominate human discourse - remember, your freedom ends where your neighbour's begins - in order to promote only one view of the world, irrespective of what that is.

Different is not the new normal and it can never be unless we want to change the meaning of the words. Acceptance of the freedom to be who and what we want to be (and do what makes us happy and fulfilled) cannot be unilaterally enforced on others simply because we want it. Equality cannot mean that I can do what I like - and what technology allows me to - and you have to not only accept it but rejoice in it, or else.

Society has set about to correct long-standing wrongs and is going way too far the other way; this has to stop. At the risk of upsetting people I believe in a pluralistic society with a variety of opinions, the right to express them and disagree with them. No spurious moral outrage and absolutely no thought police, please, however (supposedly) well-intentioned.