RENAISSANCE OCTOBER 2020

5 Monthly Renaissance October 2020 Editorial Respecting Human Beings Dr Shehzad Saleem Respecting people has a very wide connotation. Somehow it has become confined to showing regard to elders. This obviously is a given and one must give due regard to one’s elders. However, respect must be understood in its widest connotation. As such, it means respecting every human being. In fact, animals and plants also deserve regard. These latter life-forms perhaps need extra respect because they are unable to defend and demand their rights. Showing respect to every human being refers to a number of aspects: Firstly, we must respect a person regardless of his political, religious or social views. All human beings are created equal as the progeny of Adam and Eve and they must not be differentiated between in this capacity. Every person has been given this right by God to profess to views that he deems correct. No one has the right to impose his views on another person. If we are able to exercise such respect tolerance and peaceful co- existence we will the see fruits of this labour – something so dreadfully absent these days. Secondly, we must respect the privacy of people especially those close to us whether they are our family, friends, colleagues and particularly our spouses and children. Every person has a certain set of habits and traits which we may not always like. We must remember that just as we ourselves would not like anyone to interfere in our privacy, we must always do the same as well. No two human beings are alike and as such have the right to possess personality traits peculiar to him. Thirdly, we must respect our rivals as well. People who have been unjust or harsh to us, deserve more respect from us as this might make them realize their folly. We must not abhor people;