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May 11, 2008 at 23:09:26

Respect As A Core Principle: Where We Are

by Richard Volaar Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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Not easy, but it is a simple core principle that allows for diversity in thought and belief and yet allows us to unify against those who have no respect for those who do not believe or value life as we do. As we must.

So this is where we are. We have the barest of beginnings on a true New World Order after a relatively long battle with those who have battered and bloodied us all. We are weak and vulnerable but we have truth in our corner because we have learned, the hard way, that respect for each other – regardless of what we think -- is no longer an option. It is a requirement not only for how we view each other, but also for what we must demand from our leadership.

Respect for others does not mean that we revere the company of those who would cause us harm. In fact, far more respectful, depending on the legality or legitimacy of the actions of others, would be to quarantine others who exhibit a pattern of offensive disrespect for life in their behavior. Lock up criminals, in other words, but do not do so inhumanely or disrespectfully.

Above all, respect for others and one's self must become paramount. In the end, our survival as a species seems to demand that this core principle take the lead role in any of our endeavors, spiritual or material.

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3 comments

I've been an advocate of liberal values since I left high school and became aware of the gross inequities caused by selfishness and greed. I am a "liberal/progressive" for the same reasons I suspect the rest of you are--an unshakable belief in the inherent goodness of mankind and an unwavering determination to make the world a better place for everyone in it. And, an understanding that following the "Golden Rule" is the only way to realize my goal.
John Wood SrI've been an advocate of liberal values since I left high school and became aware of the gross inequities caused by selfishness and greed. I am a "liberal/progressive" for the same reasons I suspect the rest of you are--an unshakable belief in the inherent goodness of mankind and an unwavering determination to make the world a better place for everyone in it. And, an understanding that following the "Golden Rule" is the only way to realize my goal.

Why respect really matters

Very well said. It is not by accident that the "Golden Rule" is the core principle of every one of the worlds major religions.Respect is as good a word as any to describe how the "Golden Rule" instructs us to live. It is no stretch at all to understand that if we are made in Gods image, showing disrespect to another is a direct insult to our Creator. Unfortunately, organized religions are more interested in power and control for their own purposes, and have distorted the precepts they were supposedly founded to teach--they read the book then decided how to make the best use of it for themselves. More's the pity. The great teachers who have come to us, from Christ to Buddha, can't be too pleased at mans inhumanity to man, especially when their lessons are so elegantly simple. If we as a race are to survive and thrive, we must respect each other, one and all, for that is what leads to empathy, compassion, understanding, acceptance, and love. And remember that "as ye sow, so shall ye reap". What you give, you'll get back--respect others and you'll be respected--and the converse is also true.

And just for fun, read the Dalai Lama's book "Ethics for the New Millennium".

by John Wood Sr (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 97 comments) on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 9:34:44 AM

Award winning poet, writer and refugee from the educational testing industry. Richard agitates, supports and motivates activists of all kinds, the most well-known being Cindy Sheehan. Web developer and designer by day, writer by night, Richard has the disposition of an observer and essayist. Richard has fallen in love, one day at a time, with the writing of Raymond Carver, while sparring, verbally, with the flying monkey right since 1998. Richard built his first computer from scratch in 1977...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Richard VolaarAward winning poet, writer and refugee from the educational testing industry. Richard agitates, supports and motivates activists of all kinds, the most well-known being Cindy Sheehan. Web developer and designer by day, writer by night, Richard has the disposition of an observer and essayist. Richard has fallen in love, one day at a time, with the writing of Raymond Carver, while sparring, verbally, with the flying monkey right since 1998. Richard built his first computer from scratch in 1977...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Well...Hellooooooo, Dalai....

I would quibble a bit with the notion that it is "organized religion," only, that exhibits the problem. I think it's any human bureaucracy we have ever established that seems to "pee in the pool" of what begins with the best of intentions.

The Catholic bureaucracy has served the Catholic religion about as well as any bureaucracy could -- and yet it falls miserably short. It is the oldest operating bureaucracy I can think of, and certainly the sturdiest, and so there is much that can be learned. A model of what to do as well as what NOT to do when establishing a viable organization to serve some higher purpose.

But I don't think we've actually explored the label, "respect," very well here, either. "Respect" is just a label and, as you suggest, I'm really trying to map to an idea, to a core principle behind human behavior.

What does it mean to "respect" another human being? Does it mean that if I were a sadomasochist, that I should treat others as I desire to be treated? I would say probably not.

I don't have any answers here, yet, because I haven't had enough time to focus on the issue. Any ideas out there?

by Richard Volaar (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 83 diaries, 264 comments) on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 1:52:33 PM

RE$PECT?

I am a recovered Catholic myself--recovered after 64 years of guilt and emotional sludge resulting from the effective brainwashing they blessed me with in my formative years.

I will blame organized religion for being mainly responsible for the sorry mess the world is in, and here's why--IF they had taught respect for others (and all life, and the earth) as our guiding principle, then the greed merchants(some of them) might not have traveled their hurtful road, and further, if the populations of the world understood the importance of respect and it corollary virtues, they would have been more aware of the "wrongness" of hate and "profit uber alles", and would not have been so easily victimized. Bad acts can be stopped if they're strongly resisted, but who knew?

by John Wood Sr (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 97 comments) on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 3:22:03 PM