You can be right, but wrong at the top of your voice.
My lady brought home a book today, called Love and Respect, by some guy, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, from which she said she wished to read one chapter together everyday. I could tell instantly she assumed the book would be bashing men the whole time, and I smiled with a huge grin when we realized she was wrong. I may decide to write more on the book as we progress through it together, but the main thing I pulled from the first chapter was when he said to his wife, “You can be right, but wrong at the top of your voice.” See, she had raised her voice at him little by little in her frustration about his lack of participation in a group event they attended together earlier. He is a natural introvert, and she claimed that he came off intimidating by his silence and insensitive at times to their friends (at this moment we looked at each other and laughed, because I have heard the EXACT same thing from her before) and though she most likely would have been right in her accusation, she became wrong in her demeanor, the way she presented her argument.
I think it is pretty easy to see this same situation play out time and time again, maybe in some of our own relationships. Hell, I’ll admit having to catch myself every now and then getting loud and disrespectful.. Which leads me to the concept of respect.
Respect is a beast of its own, deeply embedded into mankind for thousands of years, in most cases, every ounce of a mans being and self-worth is based off of the respect he feels he’s earned and receives. It is part of the honor system, and it allows us to act with benevolence..
The writer quotes the bible, Ephesians 5:33 “Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” where he says the woman's want of love must ALWAYS be fulfilled by the husband, and that man's inherent need of respect must ALWAYS be sustained by his wife. It is our duty to one another, because if the wife feels a lack of love, she tends to respond with acts of anger and disrespect, and similarly, when the husband feels he is robbed of respect, he tends to react without love.. Enabling a repeating cycle of counterintuitive behavior.
It is our duty to one another to contribute our portion of the relationship, if the other is acting in disrespect, or without love, it does not constitute us doing the same, because without a positive correction the relationship will surely deteriorate. In an effort to recover the relationship we can (should) choose to maintain our own honor, act respectfully, and try to convey reason to our partner. If that doesn't work leave them be for a while, and if they pursue you violently then self-defence is a last resort.
I honestly feel that foreign policy entails the same responsibilities to a relationship as any we participate in as regular people, granted with more complexities added to the mix, but it is undeniable that respect must be present in every instance of political interaction, for without it there can be no love.. and there can be no peace, or honor, because at the slightest disagreement the cycle will begin.
(best case scenario) Every country in the world rightfully demands a certain level of respect, some more than others. They each come to the table with certain expectations, one of them rarely being international warfare, we should assume that like the average man, the average country just wants to live a free, and just “life” without judgement of others, providing prosperity for its people through whatever methodology they saw fit.
There is guaranteed to be ups and downs, and right and wrong decisions to be made, and other countries will offer advice and harsh criticisms, but it is of the utmost importance that we of the world remain diplomatic, and open to true conflict resolution, outside of war and death of millions or billions of the earth's children. It is imperative that we do no let the cycle of disrespect to repeat again on a global scale.
In america we considered ourselves the guardian of the world, standing together with those who fought against oppression and inhumanity, and we HAVE helped the world to some degree.. Though i fear that we have transitioned toward acting as the regulator of the world.. In some cases where we do not belong.. In some cases we attempt to act preemptively and end up causing more damage that we ought to have.
The United States, and the rest of the world need to take a moment to understand that “you can be right, but wrong at the top of your voice.”
You can have valid intentions, but you become wrong when you enforce your ideology with aggression and force.
This is our issue with North Korea and many others in a nutshell.
I write this from within the United States, I am a young man of 25 and I know that we are guilty of acting without love at times to MANY of our allies, and enemies, because our Government feels a lack of respect for whatever reason or due to some external influence. I am proud of what america previously stood for, I stand behind the principles of liberty and freedom, I do not stand behind the corporate and governmental greed and gluttony, that has overran it. I am for the People, not the System.
It is my understanding that humanity as a whole, exists as one race, with one goal, survival through knowledge and advancement. War and death is counter intuitive in this respect.
I greatly appreciate anyone who took the time to read, this was just a thought that dawned on me today while reading. If you find any interest in it please leave me some comments, I appreciate them all.
Shawn