- Respect

Query: "Respect cannot be demanded it must be earned. Respect is earned only by giving it away."

Like so many so called "truisms" its acceptance is based on sounding nice but, in reality, is simply not true:

Every human being, by the very nature of their existence, is entitled to basic, fundamental respect. Whether this flows from being God's creations and everyone equal in his eyes or, whether simply because we are all the same and "in it together", it is an inalienable right that lies at the very heart of human rights and the dignity of mankind. This fundamental respect need not be earned and may not be lost. However, it can be denied by others at their own peril of doing irreparable harm to the dignity not to those being subjected but to their inner souls and their own self-respect. Also, it is not a question of giving it away but it flows automatically and freely by simply "doing onto other as you would have the do onto you".

Most human abuse and certainly wars, repression by those ruling countries, and the like, is sourced in denying others this basic, fundamental respect. Most animosity between individuals can be traced to originating from one person denying this basic, fundamental respect. When one denies another this basic, fundamental respect, the other has a right to demand otherwise and a duty to so do. By not standing up to such tyranny on a grand scale, or bullying on a personal level, one is abdicating the special place in nature we all have been granted and leaving future generations just that much closer to the law of the jungle.

A philosophy of "Respect cannot be demanded it must be earned. Respect is earned only by giving it away" makes human relations and interaction into a "zero sum game". It converts "respect" into the currency of exchange, used to manipulate, coerce and extort. But much worse, as with all such things, it is relied upon for the foundation of rationalizing one's actions and treatment of other thus obscures truth, blurring reality and killing the soul, one cut at a time.

W. Lloyd MacIlquham, 15 July, 2008 (all rights reserved)