The Thorn of Relationships

He who wants the rose must respect the thorn. 

I think we can all agree that one of the great things about living in America is our ability to have different opinions and support, change and voice them. However one thing that has always bothered me is the respect people show for others opinions. I would never suggest that we all should believe the same thing, that would be close minded, I'm open to any form of healthy discuss about any topic, until it gets personal. For example, I very openly support equal marriage rights for homosexual couples, part of this is because I have numerous people in my life, including a close relative, who are homosexual and because I love them I want them to be able to experience everything in life that heterosexual people can. This goes for marriage to allowing them to adopt children. This belief is the one I refuse to change. I believe that when the bible says for us to love everyone that is what we should do. 

But this isn't about my stance on gay marriage. This is about my stance on respect. We will never meet someone whose beliefs are identical to ours in every way, and we shouldn't. We should never become that alike. But respecting someone is a totally different thing then agreeing with them. I will never ask someone to change their opinion, I will never not be friends with someone because of their opinion, unless of course they are some arrogant ass who can't seem to shut up about them. But if someone can't respect my views like I respect theirs than I simply can't associate with that person. Back to the example of gay marriage. I can tolerate someone not believing they should get married (if they have a reason) but if they can't respect the individual who I love so dearly just because they are gay, then that isn't going to work. I'll respect you and the people in your life despite my beliefs if you can reciprocate.

It goes back to the quote I began this blog with. In order to have the rose you have to respect the thorn. You are going to meet people who are beautiful inside and out during your life, but you aren't going to always agree with what they believe. But as the quote says, in order to have them you have to respect the things that come with them.