In 5 Minds for the Future I studied the Respectful mind as part of my group assignment. The respectful mind analyzes how we view others and as a result how are relationships are formed.
The main idea is to view all humans as one. A community. The idea is to move away from relating to one group of individuals to trying to relate and respect all groups of individuals. Lack of respect is the number one killer of relationships. As an emerging leader I had to analyze my own views. Do I respect everyone? I like to think that I do, the reality is there are some people I don't respect, primarily because of their actions.
The problem is allowing the actions to determine your lack of respect for the group of people the individual belongs to. I have to remind my self that it is the action I don't respect and not the individual, but often times seperating the two is where we sometimes go wrong.
When you look at some of history's examples of leaders, you find many great examples of leaders who had a respectful mind and those who didn't. Two great examples are Martin Luther King Jr. and Adolf Hitler. MLK Jr. had a respectful mind because he viewed everyone as one and wanted everyone to share in eqaulity. Hitler had a disrespectful mind because of the atrocities he committed to a certain group of individuals (Jews). He also, didn't care for other races and disabled people.
In order to have a respectful mind you will need to see society as a whole and not identify with just the group that you are familiar with. The problem is, we have been doing this since the beginning of time. Social networks like FaceBook don't make it any better.
In a world that is ever changing, this paradigm shift wil need to be one that is embraced.
1 comment:
You have brought up a great dilemma, a part of which is not liking certain actions but not writing off the group to which the bad actor belongs. There is a difference in being respectful of persons whose actions are less than agreeable and embracing them regardless of their harmful discourse. Psalm 1 exxpresses it well: The man is considered blessed who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
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