Cartoonist Stephan Pastis Draws a Strip That Will Offend Nobody

Happy “offense-free Friday,” fellow heathens!

Stephan Pastis, the cartoonist behind the brilliant Pearls Before Swine comic strip seems to have heard the “I believe in free speech, but…” crowd loud and clear. And he answered the call to avoid offense in a strip he shared today, explaining in the first panel, “In deference to those who say cartoonists should refrain from depicting anything that could cause offense to others, today we delete all the Pearls characters who have ever caused offense to others.”

In an atmosphere where the perceived offensiveness of speech is too often used as a rationalization for violence, even by those who purportedly support free expression, a reminder of just how absurd the caveat “unless someone is offended!” is certainly not out of place.