Namaste,

In reading about respect I have discovered the following statement on wikipedia.

This is a succinct statement that directly correlates to my own philosophies. I treat each person with respect because to do less would be to denigrate my own humanity. Learning to respect each other despite our personal differences is crucial to developing a better civilization and a better humanity. Treating each other with respect removes the possibility of many arenas of conflict in human interaction.

For example, if each person truly respected the life of another then most forms of conflict would disappear.

In every moment. Respect.
In every conversation. Respect.
For every life. Respect.
For every thing. Respect.
For each and every thing is crucial and important even in its death. Therefore, it is worthy of being cherished for what is.

I will leave this subject open to discussion with a final quote from the wikipedia article.

In Peace,
Eglaelin

__________________

The first order of civility is to maintain respect for others. Let everyone maintain their dignity. Everyone is worthy according to their merits, and to that extent deserves respect. No one should be denied their dignity - not even the dead - and even the Devil deserves his due.

I know where your coming from Eglaelin.

People say and do things out of anger. That are erroneous and spiteful.
We can all take a lesson from it.

However, is it not important to bring out, for all to see, those that trespass willingly?
Is it not a benefit to society to bring out the ugliness - so we can learn from it?

I take your point, and I do subscribe to the theory that respect is at first a "birthright"..an asset we all are born with. At the same time however, respect is most likely lost at the hands of the beholder, that respect by others is not a constant, no longer a "given" rather it can be lost .. - if you don't "respect" the respect of others - you don't deserve getting it.

Namaste,

Respect for others needs to be a constant. The difficulty for most people is to separate the message from the messenger. While we can lose our respect for the message I believe that respect for the messenger must remain inviolate. This will allow you to refute the message without drawing anger for the messenger. To keep the worth of the person as a fulcrum of one's philosophies allows you to keep in mind that the person can be rescued from the flaws of their perceptions without losing there value as an individual.

In Peace,
Eglaelin

__________________

Dangit!
I can't beat that argument can I?

So I stand corrected for the most part.

I do however reserve the right to no longer respect those who trespass on others knowingly, and willingly.
Those that trespass out of ignorance, bias or some other human frailty should be corrected, but without loss of dignity and respect.

Namaste,

This is your right. For me, however, this would be logically inconsistent with my belief system. I maintain that respect is crucial despite the actions of others. To achieve peace means to act with peaceful intent no matter the outside provocation. Respect and peace must not be responsive to outside impact but maintained internally with consistency.

In Peace,
Eglaelin

__________________

That's pretty much where I am - Respect is not something one must earn, but it Is something that one can Unearn.

__________________
Today's forecast: Government corruption.

Tomorrow's forecast: 100% chance of more 'politics as usual'

Maybe it's finally time to vote Libertarian