LOL… I try to never compare. Nothing is as silly as confronting a Muslim, to hear the reply, “Well, the bible is just as bad.” LOL Well, we agree. But we are only talking about one of the books currently.
FOR ALL CONCERNED: I agree that there are passages in all religious texts that are lessons for the ages. I believe people wrote down common sense observations and simply attributed them to their prophets. Or the prophets who were educated, or worldly, wrote down some of the lessons they had learned. I’ve no problem with some good things in any religious text. As long as we don’t pretend the horrific shit isn’t printed right alongside.
I can’t recall ever calling a priest ‘father’ or a rabbi ‘rabbi.’ I don’t call police ‘officer.’ I am happy to use Sir, Ma’am. That’s about as polite as I get and I am very free with these terms. I would call a beggar Sir. I call my waiters and waitresses ‘Sir’ or ‘Ma’am.’ I have a deep respect for human beings and the more human you are the more I respect you. (People call this ‘being human,’ ‘being down to earth.’) That seems the best fit for what I am talking about. It’s not about position or intelligence but it’s about being real. I don’t call a judge ‘Your Honor’ or ‘Honorable.’ These are titles of respect for the justice system, but I don’t respect the justice system. IMO it’s broken. I will respect people, but not if they insist on being their titles. I do call my boss, boss. She owns the company. She put her money into the company and the customers I service are hers. I am hired to do a job. We have a working agreement. I am the employee and she is the boss. Those are our titles. When it comes to things job-related,
Interesting, I hadn’t thought about this until you mentioned it. I just realized that it comes from having priests, cops, and even judges sitting in front of me in my counseling office. I ran a DUI program and a first-time drug offender program for Orange County, CA. One of the things I would not put up with is someone touting their imagined authority. I also mandated - insisted - that they treat me like a human being. (I would need to get into the counselor/client relationship and therapeutic double binds to go on.) I treat people like people, not like their imagined titles. If someone is stuck on their title, I probably will not talk to them and there will certainly be no friendship with anyone I must refer to by a title.
I guess it takes all kinds. I’m just another kind making it through life the way I do it. I don’t pretend it is the right way or even the only way. It’s just the way I seem to do it. I suppose I could be nicer, but why? LOL