subject: Respect, where does it start, where does it end? [print this page] Should a terrorist be respected? Should a killer be respected? Respect, where does it start, where does it end? Profound questions not often addressed.
First, it must be understood that without respect, communication is impossible and without communication there cannot be improvement in any situation. Without respect, the law of the jungle predominates. Lack of respect can only diminish the status of man and can only serve to appease raw emotions.
Lack of respect can only foster discord and aggravate an undesirable condition or situation. History has shown that the greatest leaders were the ones who showed respect for their enemies. They had different views on world's affair but they still accorded respect and human dignity to those they disagreed with.
We are all members of the human race. To demean one of us is to demean all of us and to demean ourselves in the process.
Above all, respect means allowing the space for an individual to be what he is so long as it does not infringe on others right. It does not mean that we share and agree with other's opinions but that we respect their right to have that opinion.
Without mutual respect, we fall into primitive barbarism. It is a throwback to the Stone Age. Our self-worth is directly proportional to the respect that we give others.
Frank Barron, the internationally known UC Berkeley scholar said, "Never take a person's dignity: it is worth everything to them, and nothing to you." That, I believe, says it all.
To take away someone's dignity is the ultimate show of disrespect. It says more about the person doing it than it says about the subject of that affront.
Disrespect only shows up when the necessary elements are not available to refute someone's position or actions. Not necessarily the hallmark of culture or of a well garnished intellect.
We, and we alone, get to decide if we are big enough and mature enough to show respect. We and we alone get to decide if we are moving toward enlightenment or the laws of the jungle. We and we alone get to decide whether to show strength and wisdom or some of the more basic instincts of man. We get to decide our level of maturity by choosing respectful dialog over hateful condemnation.
