A Little Respect, Please

Sherri Goforth probably doesn’t want – or need – another person weighing in on her lack of judgment and common sense. Too bad. I’m weighing in anyway. Because her mistake has reflected poorly on my profession, my state, and my culture. Moreover, her “mistake” is illustrative of a larger problem in modern American society – a problem that needs to be addressed and corrected now, before it gets any worse.

 

Sherri Goforth is a research assistant in Tennessee State Senator Diane Black’s office. She recently forwarded an e-mail that included a montage of U.S. presidents’ photographs. Except that the “photograph” of our current president was merely a black background with two big, white, cartoonish eyes in the middle of it. The e-mail probably wouldn’t have been a big issue, if Goforth hadn’t sent it from her work computer, during work hours, to her work contacts. Which meant that some pretty powerful people were copied on this message. The outrage has achieved national proportions. And rightly so.

 

Aside from the profound lack of respect for the President (which I will address in a moment), the e-mail shows a flagrant disregard for the most basic rule of professional conduct: respect your profession and your employer.

 

As an assistant, Ms. Goforth represents Senator Black (and the State of Tennessee) to the people with whom she interacts in the course of her work. Ms. Goforth’s actions have left Senator Black open to charges of bigotry and racism, as well as an inability to control her staff.  The senator is now spending her time doing damage control instead of attending to the more pressing issues facing our elected representatives.

 

Ms. Goforth has also reinforced the stereotype of Southerners as intolerant, bigoted hicks. For the record, we’re not. We have our fair share of bigots, hicks, racists, and ignoramuses in the South, but there’s no region or state that doesn’t have at least one. It would be nice if the worst among us would stop reigniting the flames that we are trying so hard to quench.

 

And one does have to question Ms. Goforth’s work ethic. The e-mail was sent from a company computer, on company time, and to a company contact list. Compounding the offense is the fact that Ms. Goforth is a taxpayer-funded employee. If she has time at work to forward non-work-related e-mails, then, as a taxpayer, I have to question why we are paying her.

 

Furthermore, I cannot understand using company e-mail for personal communications. With the wide availability of free e-mail services, there is no excuse for not separating one’s professional and personal e-mail accounts. If your accounts are separate, then you aren’t going to accidentally send something to all of your professional contacts instead of all your friends.

 

Now that I’ve gotten all of the less important issues out of the way, though, I want to address the most egregious offense: disrespect.

 

I don’t care what your politics are, and I don’t care whether you voted for Mr. Obama or not. Mr. Obama was elected President of the United States of America, and all residents should show respect for him as the holder of that office. You may disagree with his policies, his religion, his actions, or his choice of staff, but you should do so in a way that is respectful of the fact that he is the President.

 

My readers may or may not be Christians. I am. And I am instructed by Scripture to “fear God and honour the king.” (1 Peter 2:17) I am under orders to “…be subject to rulers and authorities, … slander no one, be peaceable and considerate, and show true humility toward all men.” (Titus 3:1-2) I am not told that I must agree with the duly appointed leaders of my country, nor am I required to obey them when their instructions violate God’s law, but I am told to be respectful and honouring toward them, in recognition of the office that they hold. I am not to slander them, but am to show humility to all  men – and there is no provision for “if you like them and think they are worthy.”

 

While I deeply disagree with Mr. Obama’s stance on almost every issue facing our country, that does not give me the right to be disrespectful to the President. And, quite frankly, all this disrespect isn’t going to help those of us who disagree to gain a hearing. Quite the contrary. Who is more likely to listen to you: the man whom you have insulted and maligned, or the man to whom you are respectful and considerate, despite your differences?

 

The problem is that disrespect has become normal in our society. Children disrespect their parents. Employees are disrespectful toward employers. Employers, for that matter, are disrespectful to employees. Even in the church, you find disrespect simmering between clergy and laypeople. I’m not even sure that most of society understands what disrespect is. Some people seem to think that merely disagreeing with them is disrespecting them. It’s not.

 

According to the UCMJ, “disrespect” is “Words, acts, omissions that are synonymous with contempt and amount to behavior or language that detracts from the respect due to the authority and person of a superior.” (I used the UCMJ because it was one of the few definitions that did not simply say that ‘disrespect’ is ‘a lack of respect.’ Helpful.)

 

Note that the respect is due to the authority of the superior. This is the key to giving respect where the superior is not considered personally respectable. We show respect for the position and the authority it confers, even if we cannot respect the person in the position.

 

As a Christian, I am told that all men have worth in the sight of God. Even men whom I find to be morally reprehensible or ethically bankrupt. All  men. Christ died to redeem all people, just as He died to redeem me. I have, then, no right to hold any other person in contempt. If Christ could die for them and their sins, then surely I can live with them and, if given the opening, try to reason with them. I’m not likely to get that opening if I am disrespectful.

 

So I ask those who object to Mr. Obama and his policies to show a little respect. You don’t have to like him or agree with him. Just show respect for the authority that he holds as President of the United States, and don’t engage in behaviours that are offensive, racist, insensitive, or hurtful. And, above all, stop the chain e-mails ridiculing the President’s appearance. They are incendiary and cruel, and they do nothing to advance your cause.

Tags: Barack Obama, bigotry, character, Christianity, ethics, morality, Philosophy, Politics, racism, Religion, respect, values