Do any of you respect someone, even though you disagree with him/her?

Question

If so, who? Why do you disagree with him/her? And why do you respect him/her?

If not, why?

I want you to really think about this before you answer.

Please no bashing, no derogatory comments, no generalizing, no trolling, and no profanity.

I'm talking about forum members. There seems to be a lot of rudeness and hate floating around, and I guess this is just my impractical attempt at making people think about why they must be cruel.

Answer 1

I do. I can think of several WS posters with whom I have had respectful disagreement. I respect these people because they state their views with passion, but they don't demean anyone in the process.

There are also a number of users that I find myself disagreeing with often, and I have lost respect for these people because they have attacked me (or other users)personally.

There are even people with whom I agree on principle, but I do not respect them because they have engaged in unfair and undesirable behavior in this forum.

And then there are the trolls - you know, the ones who post inflammatory questions just to get a reaction from people. This is the lowest form of life in Answers, and deserves no respect or even any attention at all.
I try to ignore them for the most part. But when they monopolize the board, it is difficult to ignore.

Answer 2

I agree and disagree with many people here and on the "outside" (of Yahoo). The people I respect the most are the people who have the characteristics I wish I had, primarily, patience. I regret when I lose my temper, but I have, and I especially regret when I've been sarcastic to someone who was sincerely asking a question, and I assumed they were being nasty.

I use to be a radical feminist, which probably quite a few posters still consider I am, but I have calmed down quite a bit, and see much more of the view of people who have different opinions from myself. I appreciate people who are sincere and helpful, people who have researched their opinions, and people who don't base their attitudes primarily on their personal experiences.

I have made many mistakes and still do when I base my opinions on my personal experiences alone, since some of my personal experiences have been very harsh.

The people I don't respect are those that assume all men are alike and/or all women are alike, and actually say it! I don't respect those that try to intimidate or threaten others or use any form of violence. I find it hard to respect people who minimize, deny or mock the pain and suffering of people who talk about difficult topics like incest, child rape, date rape, and battering, since they are trying to once again silence people who have been silent too long.

Answer 3

Well like a few have said respect has to be earned. but for the most part I do respect my co-worker who has some strange ideas about the world. I think some of the things she comes up with are goofy. but the thing is she takes the time to listen to my side of things and even when she hates what i think ( half of the time ) she has earned my respect and I have earned hers.

As for my Boss well yeah i respect him. he's a good guy for a boss :) just because you don't agree with someone doesn't mean you have to hate or think low about him/her. OK i know this makes NO sense :) better go and try and think of what I just said God Bless

Answer 4

I have a minority viewpoint in regards to religion. I disagree with most of the dominant religious viewpoints on the planet. I also disagree with atheism. I can best be described as a Deist. This means billions of people disagree with my view. I just don't have the energy to disrespect them on purpose. Some people particularly of the religious persuasion feel that to be disagreed with is to be disrespected. These people can not be engaged in conversation but I can still do my best to be respectful of them as people even if they can not show me the same respect.
I think people who side with a majority viewpoint sometimes are more hostile to differing points of view. They get a sense of entitlement from being agreed with so much. So when someone comes along with another point of view they are almost seen as criminal or at least deviant.
In women studies there are a lot of angry males who feel their since of entitlement has been challenged by women who disagree with the way society has set roles for women. These men feel they are being attacked personally by all women because a few radical feminist are reactionary in their rhetoric. It becomes a back and forth struggle between resentful people on both sides of the debate. It has mostly degenerated into name calling. Both side share some blame but my sympathies are with the pro feminist because the anti-feminist come off as just plain bullies. I rarely contribute to WS section but I do read many of the post sometimes I have to admit just for the spectacle.

Answer 5

Yes. I can think of a few that I respect and even admire
even though we share difference of opinion on a hot- button
issue. I am pro-choice and several of my contacts and
even one friend that I am very fond of are pro-life. I really
respect the ladies stances because they are female. I'm
not even sure I have the right to hold an opinion on the
subject since pregnancy could never affect my body.
It is clearly an issue of public debate that should eventually be decided on exclusively by women. We males probably don't even have any business trying to debate, or legislate anything regarding that topic.

Answer 6

Yes I do, not just here but in real life.

I have several people in my contacts which I admire for their high intelligence. I don't have to agree with them all the time, that is what makes us unique and actually I learn from their personal point of view.

Even with our best friends in real life we don't agree all the time, is part of life, to have different points of views on different subjects.

BUT, the people I don't respect at all, are the ones that think they are the only ones that are right, the ones that are racists, the cruel ones, the ones that are just full of hate, for women, men, animals and the planet. Those people I don't respect at all.

Answer 7

i was on here before with a different account and yes i seen so many nasty questions that i was sure at the time that they was just set to make others upset ( like my self) and to get them worked up or to perhaps make the asker fill better by belittling others. well i thought that this was just not a good place to be and to get out and deleted my account. the reason i did this is i felt it was doing me more harm then good to hear all this. i later gave it some thought and came to the conclusion that perhaps some people are suffering from some sort of act that happened to them and actually are crying out for help that is being displayed in anger. i decided to give it another try and to just let some things go by me if need be if i fill it is to destructive. to add, there are some one here that are nice and decent and are very helpful with all sorts of things, to those i thank them for there input. and also if you wonder why i do not give names it is do to the fact i do not wish to put any one on the spot or hurt them.

Answer 8

Respecting someone and disagreeing are two totally different things.

You can respect the heck out of someone and still disagree with things they say or do.

You can disagree respectfully, smile! That's what having an opinion and also being a listener in tails.

Great Question!!!

Answer 9

It has always been a principle of mine to give what i get. Call it a balancing or an act of efficient behavior. However 9 out of ten times i end up on the losing end of the stick. It's that one time though i look at. The other nine are learned from and not repeated.

Answer 10

like 98 percent of the population dislikes people who disagree with them it seems. I always respect people who disagree with me. I may not agree but they are entitled to thier opinion. It can get pretty tense if you are disagreeing about something you both have strong opinions about but im willing to just take that for what it is, it has no effect of my view of the person. Ive got into some pretty heated debates with a person i very much respect and they have gotten a little ticked off with my viewpoints and mine theirs but im willing to just take it for what it is, different opinions. If i know im right about the issue i will just listen to them openly and let them state their opinion but it dosent matter because im right. But right is relative to different people. You just have to be tolerant of others.

If i can understand where the person is coming from and their argument has some real basis in reality i will accept it, if its just 'cruel comments' as you mention i ignore it, they arent wanting to debate or state their opinion just trash talk for the sake of it. Thats immaturity and shouldnt even be considered.