Dear List members,
I have been intrigued by this discussion and have found it very interesting and thought-provoking. Among many other things, it made me thing of my parents telling me that if I can't say something nice about someone, I shouldn't say anything at all (debatable); that I'd catch more flies with honey than with vinegar (hard to do when I didn't feel "sweet"!); about the difference between treating someone with respect vs. treating someone with courtesy; about whether someone earns our respect (aka esteem), or whether it is automatically given it until they do something that causes it to be diminished; and about the eons long debate about how to permanently change the values/beliefs/actions of others.
I'm thinking that respect is earned, but that even if I disrespect someone, I can still be polite. However, in the company of good friends I can feel free to express things with much less diplomacy and courtesy than I would in a public forum
(perhaps). I'm thinking that if I want to see things become whole that, as much as possible, I need do that which promotes healing. I'm also keenly aware of how hard it is when people, corporations and nations are doing thing such destructive, disrespectful, unwholesome things for me not to fall into a trap of destructive behavior as my response. I'm also thinking that it is a good thing that we are able to struggle with these things together. It has the potential to result in our becoming more powerful and successful as we work for transformation - of ourselves and the earth.
Thank you for your intellectual, spiritual and emotional contributions to my transformation.
Rebecca Brown
-----Original Message-----
From: GW K [mailto:simplyorganic@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2002 9:29 PM
To: GreenYes
Subject: Re: [GreenYes] Re: The need for respectful diagreement /
attitudes toward capita listic economies
To all,
First I would like to say how much I enjoyed and
learned from the NRC Congress here in Seattle.
I understand the deep passion and disdain for what we
as humans are doing to Mother Earth. The radical
activist in me yearns for the chance to do something
to easy the pain I feel inside. In the past this has
been expressed in hurtful and sharp projections
directed out towards anyone I deemed as worthy of it.
I have come to believe that I was only adding a reason
for the opposite polarity to exist. As painful and
slow it may be, the only true change to what the list
speaks of, is if ALL move in the direction of respect
for life. Any other action will have, at it's base,
manipulation thru guilt or force which is the breeding
ground for polarity. In my view polarities quickly
loose site of the subject and waste much energy and
effort apposing each other. I see a great deal of
this "opposition energy waste" going on in the
political and economic world.
I have truly benefited from the discourse of the
different views expressed here on the list......I only
ask we don't loose sight that we are all one and must
move as such to be strong.
regards,
Glen
Seattle, Wa
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