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if one is honest, that depends ... at one end of the spectrum, if it's something that doesn't matter, subjective things like favorite foods, then of course
at the other end of the spectrum, if it's something like having a difference of opinion over whether, say, pedophilia should be legal, then respecting the pro-pedo position would be absurd and vile
moreover, can you picture a random Tuesday at Auschwitz, and asking the Jews if they are respectful of the Nazis' differences? what would that even mean, to respect the people who are about to murder you for no reason because of their own ideological differences? sometimes respect is an over-used or mis-used concept
not every position or opinion deserves respect, or even a live-and-let-live tolerance, but most of the time this concept of respecting differences is only tossed around at a superficial level of convenience, or where, say, fascists and reality deniers want to try to bend life so that their opinions are equivalent to facts (or facts are binned altogether)
and some of the very people claiming they respect differences (or at least loudly bellowing for it in their direction) can routinely be found not doing so (talking the talk, but not walking the walk), and reaching for childish, clumsy or authoritarian instincts like insults, ad hominem and straw man misdirection, or (quite ironically from the recent "free speech absolutist" MAGA crowd) free speech suppression when you opine about their pet subject (even when their own position is not applied consistently to their own leaders, or they fail to see how those opining enabled their lifestyle in the first place even if they didn't participate in it directly, which just reeks of entitlement, yet again with irony)
at the other end of the spectrum, if it's something like having a difference of opinion over whether, say, pedophilia should be legal, then respecting the pro-pedo position would be absurd and vile
moreover, can you picture a random Tuesday at Auschwitz, and asking the Jews if they are respectful of the Nazis' differences? what would that even mean, to respect the people who are about to murder you for no reason because of their own ideological differences? sometimes respect is an over-used or mis-used concept
not every position or opinion deserves respect, or even a live-and-let-live tolerance, but most of the time this concept of respecting differences is only tossed around at a superficial level of convenience, or where, say, fascists and reality deniers want to try to bend life so that their opinions are equivalent to facts (or facts are binned altogether)
and some of the very people claiming they respect differences (or at least loudly bellowing for it in their direction) can routinely be found not doing so (talking the talk, but not walking the walk), and reaching for childish, clumsy or authoritarian instincts like insults, ad hominem and straw man misdirection, or (quite ironically from the recent "free speech absolutist" MAGA crowd) free speech suppression when you opine about their pet subject (even when their own position is not applied consistently to their own leaders, or they fail to see how those opining enabled their lifestyle in the first place even if they didn't participate in it directly, which just reeks of entitlement, yet again with irony)
bijouxbroussard · F
@BlueGreenGrey I think you’ve explained this so much better than I can when I try. I have the same reaction when asked, "do you judge other people ?" In some instances, I’m absolutely certain I do, and I’ll bet a lot of those quick to claim that they don’t, do judge in many situations.
@bijouxbroussard I think a lot of things in life come down to "it depends" ... so much is never as simple as anyone would like it to be, or has the attention span for, and a million little instances of people not taking the time to actually think things through before they act or speak acts like a butterfly effect to gum up society, for participants and bystanders alike ... shortsightedness, oversimplification / avoidance of anything inherently complex lead to crappy, if quick, outcomes