I think it is a bit more complex than that. I think words (or opinions or ideas or whatever you want to call it) don't hurt people. People are hurt by words. B

I think it is a bit more complex than that. I think words (or opinions or ideas or whatever you want to call it) don't hurt people. People are hurt by words. By this I mean that if and how much a person is hurt by a specific set of words is entirely subjective and may be controlled consciously. If I stab two people in the neck, it's pretty much garanteed that I've caused them harm. Not exactly the same but probably similar harm. But with something I said I cause extreme distress in some person while it is completely insignificant to another. I usually don't try to atribute malice to people. So I try not to believe critics (or anybody) intend to cause harm by saying what they say. But I don't deny some say extreme thing with the intent of causing a reaction or ever harming some set of people.