Iran: "Death to bloggers who write stuff we don't like"

It seems that Iran is considering putting bloggers to death for posting "offensive" material. Yes, I said put to death:

"A new Al Jazeera English video reports that Iran is considering a law that would make "offensive" blogging punishable by death. The video notes an Amnesty International report claiming that 90 percent of all state-sanctioned execution in 2008 occurred in Iran, China or Saudi Arabia." Source: The Hufington Post

Somehow I just cannot get over the idea that WORDS on a screen (be they offensive or not) warrants the death penalty. Just think about it, individuals and groups get offended over the smallest things. To think that someone's life will hang in the balance over something as subjective as an act being interpreted as offensive is ridiculous!

Even though this case is about a nation, I want to address the notion of being "offended" on both an individual scale and as a collective group.

First it is important to understand that being "offended" is the problem of the person or group who finds the offense, not the accused offender.

Second, one should also note that a natural byproduct of "being offended" is to make an attempt to control that which you find offensive; either by eliminating it all together, or at a minimum stopping the offensive behavior.

It seems to me that when groups (or countries) maintain a position that they are offended, it is about maintaining a certain level of control over the minds of the members of that group. In the end, we know that groups are made up of individuals. Therefore, it seems unlikely to me that everyone in that group was offended by a particular action upon its occurrence. On the contrary, there are typically a few who claim to represent the group who find the offense. And these few among the group incite others to feel the same way.

When people are individually offended they need to recognize that allowing themselves to be offended is essentially allowing themselves to be controlled by the actions of others. Ironically, this reactionary behavior is what causes people to feel that they lack control. As a result, they attempt to force others into adhere to their code of conduct to regain control of the situation.

Nine times out of ten the "offense" occurs when someone does not believe or think as one does. The notion of the possibility of offending someone has led to more self-censoring under the guise of political correctness than anything else.

If people spent just half the time focusing on the quality of their own lives, instead of looking over their neighbor's shoulder, they might actually find some enjoyment out of life.

And back to Iran, if they choose to move forward with executions of "offensive" bloggers, there is no doubt that they will incite their base to support this wickedness. There are lots of reasons I'm glad not to live in Iran, and another just got added to the list...

So what do you think?