Disgraceful, I call it - it offends human decency... .
In his gruesome descriptions of physical sufferings the author offends against good taste even more than the writer of 2 Macc., while both contrast very unfavourably in this respect with the sober reserve of the gospel narratives.
If he failed in his wider schemes of reform, this was only one more illustration of a truth of which other " enlightened " sovereigns besides himself had experienced the force, namely, that it is impossible to impose any system, however admirable, from above on a people whose deepest convictions and prejudices it offends.
Adam's diet offends my sensibilities because I'm a food snob.
It offends by virtue of not trying, by not being assertive, and by being less than vanilla.
