Perhaps no one has noticed, but respectful dialogue seems to be increasingly nearing endangered species status. We seem to continuously take turns — albeit not on the Intramuralist (thank God!) — justifying why respect is no longer necessary.
Respectful dialogue is this blog’s stated priority. Regardless of society’s rhetorical digression, we will adhere to a conversation abundant with respect. We will not ignore truth; but we will also not sacrifice grace in the process.
So I wondered… what do others say about respect?
“So much drama off and online…
Be kind and respect others.
Follow the golden rule. Always.
Don’t step on others.
Chase your dreams the right way.
Keep your head up.
Then, everything else will take care of itself.”
― K.J. Kilton
“Respect begins with this attitude: ‘I acknowledge that you are a creature of extreme worth. God has endowed you with certain abilities and emotions. Therefore I respect you as a person. I will not desecrate your worth by making critical remarks about your intellect, your judgment or your logic. I will seek to understand you and grant you the freedom to think differently from the way I think and to experience emotions that I may not experience.’ Respect means that you give the other person the freedom to be an individual.” ― Gary Chapman
“Many people have the confused idea that peace will happen when all the colors in the palette are the same. The actuality of peace is accepting each color’s differences and seeing the beauty each possesses.” ― Alaric Hutchinson
There’s more…
“Keep an eye on your responses. Strong responses are about you more than them.” ― Auliq Ice
“Men are respectable only as they respect.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“In the end, those who demean others only disrespect themselves.” ― D.B. Harrop
And a couple more…
“To be respected, be respecting.” ― Himanshu Arora
“Respect is love in action.” ― Bangambiki Habyarimana
“The only true disability is the inability to accept and respect differences.” ― Tanya Masse
I heard a gentleman on one of the cable news networks this week discuss the current societal digression. He spoke specifically of the protest-laden, rhetorically-attacking, political climate; his evaluation was not one calling out solely the left, right, or anything in between. He was discussing the entire sad state of affairs and the current, clear inability to accept any ideological differences. There exists an incredibly prevalent “I’m-right-and-there’s-no-way-I-could-be-wrong-or-off-in-any-capacity” attitude. In other words, there is a concerning, existent lack of humility.
I then found myself sitting still, pondering more, and attempting to digest his stated perspective that “instead of talking with each other, we have started shouting at each other.”
Just for a moment, visualize a person shouting… ranting, raving.. and loud…
Can any other voice be heard?
Does anyone else feel respected?
Great question… really great question…
Respectfully…
AR
So well said. I just thanked everyone this morning for getting FB on it’s way back to fun and caring.
I love the quote from Gary Chapman ! I feel that today’s society has to always be right . It seems that no one today realizes that we all do not think alike, have the same opinions, or the same way of thinking . We are all different. God made us that way for a reason. If we were all alike, it would be a boring place to live in and we couldn’t properly problem solve if we were the same ! If others would acknowledge this, the world would be a nicer, better, and more loving place to live in !