respect for others

RESPECT FOR OTHERS
ive volunteered at the habitat for humanity now for over a year
the group that usually works there are mostly retired
and many have traveled and still travel all across the us and
the world
they in their travels and past occupations have be exposed to
a diverse group of people from different racial backgrounds
political backgrounds and religious backgrounds

ive seen the respect they have for these people as they also have
volunteered to work with us

each session is started by a prayer since the habitat for humanity
is a christian based organization
we all respect this even though some of the volunteers are of
different religions or no religions

even the choice of food for lunch can be altered based on
who is there
its not unusual to have a group or person who is not a
meat eater for personal or religious reasons present
when possible vegetarian choices are provided

recent we had a group
the muslim student association from the university of texas
at austin come work with us
yes they were all americans
they all spoke english
and they were all quite intelligent and
were extremely hard workers
they may be your next doctor lawyer or accountant or politician

when we all got together the leader of the volunteers
recognized this groups religious beliefs and turned
to one of us who is a retired military person who worked in an
environment that exposed him to a diverse group of people from
all over the world and to a diverse group of religions
he was asked to say a prayer

it was a nondenominational non protestant non islamic prayer
that could have been given at any protestant church catholic church
synagogue or mosque

i was impressed that there was respect for others beliefs and
that there was ground that we all could meet on as shown by
his prayer

then i got to thinking about prayer before events in schools etc
in a school near here
one of the most respected academic schools in this area

this school has a diffuse population of students whose parents are
from around the world and represent most major religions of the
world

the principal recognizing this
put it to a vote of the senior class if a prayer should be given
before graduation
the overwhelming majority who were mostly protestants
voted no as they recognized that
a protestant prayer would offend their other religions
a muslem prayer might offend the protestants
the jewish prayer might offend the muslems and the protestants
the catholic prayer might offend the protestants jewish and muslems

this group of kids this millennial group think differently than their parents
and grandparents
maybe for the better
they recognize the diversity in america and respect others
gay relationships are not a big deal
race relationships are not a problem with them
their views on politics are not the same as ours
they recognize the diverse religions
and respect them

maybe or probably the better for all of our futures
we should be more like them
but many of us
im afraid
will not

the organicgreen doctor