Book Review – Unoffendable by Brant Hansen

Author: Brant Hansen

Book Rating: 4 out of 5 head tilts

I’m probably one of the most unoffendable people I know.  I like jokes of all kind, the more inappropriate the better.  I feel our society has become so hypersensitive to social issues that if we don’t lighten up a bit we won’t be able to fix what’s wrong in our culture because nobody will feel they can even talk about certain topics without the sensitive people pulling everything said out of context.

So why would I read a book called Unoffendable?  Isn’t that like a wealthy person reading a get rich quick book?  Perhaps; but I thought if I read it, I might be able to get some good points when trying to speak with those sensitive folk about their issues.  I didn’t.  But that’s okay, I got a lot more out of it. First, I discovered I’m probably more easily offended than I admit, just not offended by the things that don’t offend me so I can make stupid bold claims like, “I’m one of the most unnoffendable people I know.”

Two important things to know before you read this book:  Hansen uses the word offended to encompass anything that makes us angry.  It’s a catch all phrase, and if you remember that while reading it, you’ll get much more out of the book.  Second, and this is a big one that I didn’t realize until I bought the book, it is written by a Christian for Christians.  The book consistently sites biblical scripture and it’s wonderfully written for the traditional Christian who finds themselves being offended by many social topics of today.  That’s not me.  Not by a long shot.  Christian?  Yes.  Traditional Christian?  Hell no – just ask my Gay, Muslim, Mormon, Jewish, Hindu, Traditional Christian, & Atheist friends.

Take the lesson or intention of any biblical verse and you can find it in the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, Book of Mormon, or any other spiritual scripture.  So why do I care if Brant used the Bible to reinforce his point?  The points are all still in all the other books, so if you don’t subscribe to Christianity, you can still get a lot out of the book, just don’t get offended by all the Bible stuff.

I’ll let you read the book to get the tips (they are stupid simple in a brilliant way) on how to be unoffendable, but here’s the real lesson I got out of this book, and he never mentions it in the book to my recollection.

If you are unnoffendable, you will be far less offensive to others.  Think about that. Dwell on it.

I loved the author’s, conversational, self-deprecating humor.  All he while reading the book I thought to myself, “This is the kind of guy I would love to hang out with.”  And I’ll bet no matter your faith, political position, sexual orientation, or racial heritage, you would think the same thing about him.  He’s incredibly endearing because you know that if you were to be in a room with him he would accept you exactly for who you are and not have a desire to change you one bit.

While the book is written for Christians, I think the Bernie Sanders fans, Trump Train devotees, terrorist groups like Westboro Baptist Church goers and all the other extremists alike could really stand to read the book.  If you can’t stand to be in the room with people you fundamentally disagree with on every topic, then how will we ever learn to get along.  Respecting someone, and agreeing with them are not mutually inclusive.  You can still respect people you don’t agree with. If you find that notion offensive, get the book.