The Meaning of Respect

From Caroline:
You are all ignorant. I personally believe in God and modesty, but just because you don’t doesn’t mean you should disrespect me by trying to tell me my beliefs are false. I respect your beliefs, so why must everyone constantly fight about it. Stop being immature and learn to respect each other. This discussion is about being bare breasted, not God. If someone makes a comment that they’re for modesty because of their beliefs, it is rude and disrespectful to tell them otherwise and vice versa. Grow up. (Pokedandprodded.health.com, my emphasis.)

The above came from a health website where the author was promoting topfreedom. Naturally, the web being what it is, some supported the idea (and this included males who simply wanted a change of scenery), while others disagreed. Many, if not most, who disagreed did so for religious reasons. While they spoke of modesty, they always tied it to a belief in what they thought was the will of God.

To be fair, some were fine with a belief in God, but added that God, as far as they knew, never intended for breasts to be reduced to nothing more than objects of sexual attraction. Others, though, made it clear they did not have any religious beliefs and criticised those who did. I won’t pick sides on this specific issue.

However, Caroline’s reaction to comments by others does bring up an interesting philosophical issue. She wants atheists and agnostics to show her respect by not telling her that her false beliefs are exactly that: false. She says she respects the beliefs of atheists and agnostics, but she clearly doesn’t want to hear them because they are, apparently, disrespectful – even if she respects them. If she at least tried to criticise both sides by also castigating the religious people for criticising those who see no problem with baring breasts, religious or not, I might have given her the benefit of the doubt. But she didn’t. Only we atheists and agnostics are capable of disrespect, it seems.

While it’s fun to wax philosophical on such issues, there is one thing we must remember: Freedom of religion includes freedom from religion and its constraints, and this must include the right to criticise religion. Is it possible to do so in such a way that religionists will not feel disrespected? I doubt it. After all, many tend to not see the plank in their own eyes when they criticise non-believers for the sawdust in theirs. (Matthew 7, 3.)

If they bring up the subject of religion, they should expect to be soundly rebuked by whatever Internet user is on at that time. It’s the nature of the medium as well as a natural consequence of debate in a public space.