{"id":11647,"date":"2021-05-16T09:20:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-16T13:20:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11647"},"modified":"2021-05-16T09:20:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T13:20:09","slug":"the-glue-a-nation-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11647","title":{"rendered":"the glue a nation needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>When the Intramuralist began, I remember feeling weary at the way people spoke not only <em>to<\/em> each other but also <em>about<\/em> each other. Day one we asserted that \u201cmost people don\u2019t know how to respect those with whom they disagree.\u201d <em>That was twelve and a half years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With respect being not only our mantra but also our practice, I am always attracted to those who warn how a<em> lack <\/em>of respect is damaging our nation. We can\u2019t be any \u201cwe the people,\u201d \u201chome of the brave\u201d or even \u201cunited\u201d state of America if we can\u2019t learn to respect the different.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notice we speak not about agreement. We don\u2019t have to agree; in fact, it\u2019s preposterous to think we all would. But we do need to respect a person\u2019s right to think, feel, and believe what they do if we are going to maintain any enduring sense of \u201cwe,\u201d \u201cbrave\u201d or \u201cunited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I believe that unity can be found amid disagreement. Unity, however, depends on respect.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Recently, <em>The Christian Science Monitor<\/em> began what they call \u201cThe Respect Project.\u201d The goal is to \u201cbridge the conflicts that divide us.\u201d In race, gender, religion, and education, they offer a frank conversation about how respect is operating in our politics. Note a few of their headlines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>\u201cBetween religious and LGBTQ rights, what does fairness look like?\u201d<\/em><\/li><li><em>\u201cWhy French Jews and Muslims are learning each other\u2019s language\u201d<\/em><\/li><li><em>\u201cThis woman bridges climate change divides, one Maine voter at a time\u201d<\/em><\/li><li><em>\u201cAsian in America: Reflections on the meaning of being American\u201d<\/em><\/li><li><em>\u201c\u2018Blind date\u2019 for political rivals? TV show is breaking down barriers.\u201d<\/em><\/li><li><em>\u201cCan friendship be bipartisan? Ask the Janets.\u201d<\/em><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cRespect: Is it the glue a polarized nation needs?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s important to acknowledge the differences between politeness, tolerance and respect. Politeness may gloss over significant difference. Tolerance may mask the depth of individual credence. But to respect means to see another as a human being, endowed by their Creator, of unquestionable dignity and worth. It is to see them no lesser than self. And it is to see them as no lesser or worse even if they have a belief, behavior or opinion that we may consider nothing short of certifiably crazy, criminal, or iniquitous.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Political commentator, Andrew Sullivan \u2014 who is included in the initial article in the <em>CS Monitor\u2019s<\/em> series \u2014 says this well. \u201cIt\u2019s my profound worry about this, that we don\u2019t see each other as individuals. We see each other as avatars of a race or an identity or as something threatening to us, as opposed to another human being.\u201d We need, as Sullivan continues, to refresh our commitment \u2014 \u201cto the bedrock principles of liberal democracies, including an abiding respect for the inherent dignity and absolute worth of every human being.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Too much of what we are advocating and teaching, friends, starts by pitting people against one another\u2026 <em>us vs. them\u2026 black vs. white\u2026 conservative vs. liberal\u2026 etc. vs. etc.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are toying with a damaging tool:<em> this pitting of one vs. another \u2014 a humanly-crafted, binary choice that only one can be good and the other must be bad or at the very least lesser.<\/em> Such is nothing short of a veiled exercise encouraging deep disrespect\u2026 an exercise which is tearing our country in far more than two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note the following insight from \u201cThe Respect Project\u201d:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201c&#8230; Amid the nation\u2019s political polarization and widening cultural divides are millions of Americans who have lost sight of each other, caught in reflexive rituals and simplistic clich\u00e9s that dismiss, demonize, or otherwise delegitimize perceived enemies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Respect is one vital way we heal and reestablish common civic ideals.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u2018\u2026 respect helps get at something a little bit richer and deeper,\u2019 says Ms. [Alexandra] Hudson, author of \u2018Against Politeness: Why Politeness Failed America and How Civility Can Save It.\u2019 \u2018And I say both civility and respect are more of a disposition, a fundamental way of looking at the world and others as human beings first, more like us than not like us. It\u2019s a way of reflecting on what that means for what we owe one another by virtue of our inherent dignity, our irreducible worth as human beings and as fellow members of the human community.\u2019\u201d<\/em><br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ah&#8230; fellow members of one community&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And to see others as more like us than not\u2026 <br><br>Yes, that\u2019s what we need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Intramuralist began, I remember feeling weary at the way people spoke not only to each other but also about each other. Day one we asserted that \u201cmost people don\u2019t know how to respect those with whom they disagree.\u201d That was twelve and a half years ago. With respect being not only our mantra &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=11647\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;the glue a nation needs&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11647"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11658,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11647\/revisions\/11658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}