I never said that insulting was the same as threatening.
Also, I don't believe that insulting is the same as offending. Offending is vague, I agree. Insulting is when you say bad words to a person.
But I do believe that both (insult and threatening) should be punished, but not with the same punishment, of course.
So, you wrote a long comment almost in vain because you argue about offense and I am talking about insults.
Wsblind is in disbelief and said that maybe the couple didn't threaten the children but was merely "exercising their freedom of speech" by yelling insults at those children. Please, we are all grownup christians here and we know that insulting someone is not the same as freedom of speech.
At least that's what I understood from wsblind's comment.
The word "insult" is just as vague, and subjective, as the word "offense."
The word "insult" is subjective... it is contingent only upon the subjectivity of the "hearer."
I can say your last post "insulted" me... and you still have to go to jail.
The word "insult" is subjective.
If I say you insulted me, you have no way to claim you did not.
Regardless of what you say, I can claim it hurt my feelings, and I felt insulted.
Being insulted is not an objective reality, it is a subjective feeling.
We all need to put on our big girl pants and act like adults.
Saying people should be punished for SUBJECTIVE things like "verbal insult", or "verbal offense" is ridiculous.
And for the record, linguistically, "insult" would be nothing but a vague subset of the vague word "offense."
They are related, and in many cases interchangeable.