how can you respect a person but not what they believe in?

Question

i asked a question yesterday about some of the observations i have made in my time on R&S http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ag918mrkcjO680yT3e.GdbggBgx.;_ylv=3?qid=20071018140656AAlyqAe and this came up. how can you respect only part of someone? surely that is saying i don't like you, but i will pretend to, as you may be useful to me later.

if you respect someone it is the whole person you respect you don't have to like everything about that person to respect them.
i dont think many if any looked at my last Q as their are assumptions as to the what the question and the answer by some, the answerer said i can respect someone but not respect what they believe in, that to me is not respectful to the person disagreeing with what someone believes is not disrespectful as some of you have pointed out but respecting someone is that respecting them as a whole person, not aggreeing with everything

Answer 1

that's how it works. many people just respect or rather tolerate others because they have to. Some politicians would rather have minorities eliminated but they are voters and they need them so they "tolerate" them. it's the same with people and their religion.

Answer 2

Good question, guess i never thought of that before. For the fact that the word respect is used so loosly now a days. Most of us are taught as children to always respect your elders, men of the clothe, police.....and so on and so forth.
But if you think of it not believing in ones beliefs or what not and respect are two different things. I completely respect my neighbor, though i may not believe in something do believes in or does. Just because I don't believe in something one does or thinks, doesn't mean that i'm going to show them disrespect.
This may not be making any sense at all to you. I know what i'm thinking and trying to say, but actually getting the point out is tougher then i though.
Like i had said though, i think that the word respect is used too losely. I do know that what we were taught as what respect is growing up, isn't what respect is now a days.

Answer 3

A person is not the sum of their beliefs. I believe in people, in the survival and prosperity of the species. We each need to eat, sleep and get out of the rain. If I don't respect the dignity of the individual, humanity suffers.

I also recognize that we all have conflicting opinions, and that some of these unverifiable opinions rise to the level of unshakable belief. I have mine, but I know I haven't quite figured everything out yet. My poor, deluded neighbor may have a bit of wisdom that I am missing, or a better way of expressing it than I do. He won't convert me, but he isn't crazy. What right do I have to condemn him, unless he's actually harming someone?

Our minds are diverse. Some of us require rational understanding. Others are romantics, activists, mystics. We can arrive at truth in various ways. The other approaches don't make "sense", at least not at the moment. I can't be forced to understand life another way unless I'm ready to. So I'm not going to inflict my version on someone else, even if they're "wrong". They may indeed be "useful" to me later, whether I like it or not.

Answer 4

Respect means I don't intend to hurt your feelings. Frankly, that should be your que to not take offense unless the persons words are directly offensive. If you need agreement with someone's ideas, that would be your problem, not the other persons. Are some people being dishonest? Possibly, but in this case, so what is probably the best answer. Afterall, is it worth having fights and ending friendships over doubt of someone's respect for you via what you believe in?

Answer 5

Easily. I can respect a person's actions and how they live their lives, but completely disrespect their opinion or point of view on a particular subject. I've met plenty of fine, admirable Republicans. I have NO respect for their belief that Bush is doing a good job, but I have plenty of respect for some of the other ways in which they live their lives.

Answer 6

If a person honestly believes in their values, principles, lifestyle and doesn't dislike other people for not believing these same things - then I would respect that person. I might not believe those things myself but I know that in order to have any self respect I need to allow that person their freedom of choice - if I do anything other than that then I am a hypocrite. I am preaching something (freedom of choice) in one breathe and denying it in another. I am therefore quite at peace in respecting other people as honest human beings whilst not necessarily believing in the same Deity they do. However, I equally deserve the same respect for my beliefs and would not want to be dictated to by another person as to what I SHOULD believe.

Answer 7

Easy, you just agree to disagree and go on with it. I can almost bet you that there are no two people that see eye to eye on 100% of everything.

My dad was an atheist until right before he died. There was never EVER a time when I did not love him and have 100% respect for him. I respected him so that when he told me not to pray for him I honored his request. His coming to Christ had nothing to do with my prayers nor me forcing what I believed on him, it happened because I honored my father and God knew my heart.

My dad passed in April 07 in March he called me from his death bed and asked if it would be possible for me to drive 600 miles just to go to church with him, and I did it was the first and last time I ever set foot in church with my Dad.

My point is it is not what a person believes that makes us care for them, it is what we believe and how we perceive love and compassion. If my dad had died an atheist I would not regret a thing, as long as he was happy that is what mattered most to me.

Answer 8

I am a Christian. For some years I lived in an Islamic society and made many friends whom I respected greatly. It was not pretence or 'part respect'. They respected me, too. But we disagreed strongly on issues of belief.
Why should you have to abandon respect because you disagree.
(I am a RL fan, but respect the right of people to follow Soccer, RU and other such pastimes)

Answer 9

You can respect the other parts of them. For example, you might respect a hard-working father who takes care of his wife and kids, who never cheats or steals despite temptation, and who is generous to everyone he knows. There's a lot of good to respect in a man like that - even if he happens to hold a belief that you don't share (for example, you're a evolutionist and think his religious belief in creationism is absurd).

It's saying "I like parts of you, but I don't like other parts of you, and I'm not sure which outweighs the other." Is he a good person with bad traits, or a bad person with good traits, or just a person with both good and bad traits?

Answer 10

You must recognize that people are complex and constantly changing. If you hold your friends or people you respect to some unbending standard of respectability that you carry around with you then, you might find out that your circle of friends is likely to be very small indeed. If on the other hand you are tolerant of mistakes and embrace the foibles of yourself and your friends then, you will be surrounded by friends, you will rarely be disappointed and your life will be happier.

Answer 11

I have a saying If Two Of Us Were Just Alike Then One Of Us Is unnecessary. That is what makes up a culture it is possible to agree to disagree. Matter of fact I don't respect someone who is wishy washy about what they believe or who they are.