1. Dr. Sarai Castro, Ph. D.

2. Respect means to acknowledge the dignity of the other person. It means to act with courtesy and gentleness towards the people around us. It means to be aware of the rights of others.

3. Misconceptions: 1. We have to respect ourselves. 2. Respect has to be earned. 3. We have to be respected first, so that we can respect others.

4. Difficulty: the rude person does not assume responsibility for his rudeness but blames the other person

5. To respect or to be rude is a decision which we take. It is our responsibility to be respectful. If the person deserves our respect or not, it is beyond our control.

6. As Magistrate Salvador Elias used to say: "a man must treat a woman as a lady, even if she is not".That is, it is my duty to behave as a gentleman, even if the people around me are rude and vulgar.

7. Regarding respect, the highest form is tolerance. It means to accept a person whether I agree with his ideas or not. It opposes sectarianism, authoritarianism, fanatism.

8. It acknowledges the right of others to think and hold opinions different to my own.

9. Limits to tolerance An absolute tolerance is self-destructive. Attitudes and actions which are based on antivalues can not be tolerated. A society which tolerates everything will end up in chaos.

10. A society which does not tolerate political diversity will fall into totalitarianism. But a society which tolerates any political diversity, even that based on antivalues, will destroy itself.