Well, another cowardly attack...

[Veilex]

28. Getting the menu mixed up with the meal, as it were. Confusing the map with the territory.

I disagree. We're not comparing a tangible with an intangible... rather we're talking about two intangibles: communication and respect. You're absolutely right that they are both constructs within our minds... but you're suggesting our constructs have less power than a physical object. I would firmly challenge you on that notion.

Our entire sense of being and personality stems from exposure to the constructs that we subject ourselves to on a daily basis. Laws, societal norms, unspoken rules and courtesies, implied and subjective values, implied threats and dangers, the vast majority of our culture and society... all these things are constructs that we use in our daily lives to govern nearly every single action we take. Some of them are backed by actual physical things... but its the thought of those objects, not the object itself, that governs us.

The constructs are literally so powerful, there's an entire section of science explicitly dedicated to understanding their impacts in our lives, and how to handle them.

As to your comment regarding fundamentalists, we all have levels of seriousness and irreverence... the clashes erupt when hot-buttons for specific persons/people get hit while another person or people discard or play it down as unimportant. We all have em... issues we just cannot let go for whatever reason: Politics, Religion, Sexism, Rights, Racism, Money, Children, Guns, Sex... the list goes on virtually forever.

The difference here is we're talking about a basic respect issue... or perhaps common courtesy. This isn't merely a case of policing words so much as it is a case where people would rather not have their anatomical bits relegated to being a mere epithet. Something I think is more than reasonable... much in the same way that avoiding the use of a racial epithet, and calling out anyone who does, is considered good form.

Fortunately, this isn't likely an issue where continued use of words such as "Dick" and "Pussy" in a derogatory manner will lead to "Fundamentalists massacring schoolchildren".