Respect Begins at Home

We continue in prayer & reflection on respect for life in our death obsessed culture.  Let us look at the causes.  Needless to say there are many root causes but perhaps the greatest of these is the home.  The domestic situation is both the cause and the cure.

If we look into our homes with domestic violence we will find a root cause.  Abortions, murder, suicide, and euthanasia are all residents in our domestic violent setting.  Domestic violence is not an exception but a norm in our society.  In our state of New Mexico, our numbers are some of the highest in the nation.  Child protection services, mandate reporting, and other such safeguards are no longer the exceptions.

Think of all the TV movies that teach disrespect.  Children and teens are taught that adults are dumb.   The plot line is often laughing at them.  Belittling others is one of the first lessons in disrespect.  And we call this entertainment.

Anger is a common condition of being human.  Jesus was angry in the temple.  He was furious with the scribes and Pharisees.  Anger is a feeling.  It becomes a sin when we are entitled to blow off at any one over anything that offends our ego.  Anger not managed - manages us.  When anger reigns, disrespect is the invited guest.  

Think of all the novellas you have seen where the melt down scenes are the norm.  Think of those you avoid in family or at work because of their anger being unleashed.  Perhaps another way of saying all this is:  if you are respectful, you are weird.  If you are happy and responsible for your actions, you are weird.  If you speak up for life and respect of life, you are naïve and out of touch.  We have all witnessed the public displays of disrespect: hateful, unfiltered language coming out against a loved one.  Disrespect is all too common and visible.  

The home is the domestic church.  Wedding vows are about starting a home with Jesus Christ as the head of the house.  When this foundation is returned to, the home becomes the school of virtue.  Respect is not just talked about but experienced in the home such as this.  There is both a protection and nurturance of life.   

All of us are instructors of respect in a world of disrespectful people.  We must not lose heart but endure to the end.   Our respect for life does not change because we are in a minority.  Life needs to be upheld all the more in the tougher times.  All respect is local.  All respect begins at home.