Thought for the Day, 28 September 2005

The Rev. Joel Edwards

QUEST FOR RESPECT
Recently a hospital in Halifax launched a respect campaign banning visitors from cooing at babies. The message will tell potential cooers, "I am small and precious, treat me with privacy and respect."

It's a privacy clause for new parents rather than new babies. For I have never met anyone under 5 who didn't think that the world actually revolved around them!

But respect is a serious issue. So much so, it has become a touchstone of political life. And so it should be. For respect is a state of mind but it's also a responsibility of the State.

The problem is that we're not always sure how to go about building a more respecting society. Politics and respect feel mismatched - as odd as chopsticks in an Indian restaurant. But politicians are absolutely right to flag up the questions. All of us must help with the answers. Demonising "hoodies" and hooligans just won't do.

And urgent answers are needed. Just two days ago I sat in a small meeting with a young man working at the heart of the Criminal Justice System. An ex-prisoner himself, he is profoundly concerned about a culture of disrespect which is devouring lives and destroying his community. Urgency was etched into his every expression.

But I believe there are answers.

We need more than laws. On its own, an ASBO cannot create respect.

We also need the resources poured back into communities which gave young people something positive to do. And we must celebrate the presence of those youngsters who champion respect in a thousand ways every single day.

Everyone has the capacity to respect. For respect is a profoundly spiritual idea which rests on the notion that all people - male and female, Black and White, rich and poor - are made in God's image. Respect is far more profound and intentional than the politicised language of 'racism' or 'sexism'. These 'isms' may convict and control us but they cannot convert our attitudes.

So when the Apostle Peter told the small beleaguered Christian community to explain their faith, he laid down two conditions. Do it, he said, "with gentleness and respect." Or to be more precise, "Do it with gentleness and reverential fear".

Respect must not become a political slogan or a token of restraint. For its radical message insists that I see everyone as equal to myself. And to respect is not to maim, murder or even to misrepresent.

To respect is to be fully a person.