I was watching a PBS Documentary the other day, about how they “moved” 4 large cemeteries out to a community built to house them (Colma) from San Francisco at the beginning of the 20th Century.
Now, I don’t think this would be allowed today, due to the large group of society who feel that the dead have rights to respect. Obviously this was not that big of a concern in the 1930s when the WPA was used to move 2 of the cemeteries to give the unemloyed jobs.
So my question is:
Who defines respect? Isn’t the memory of a deceased family member or friend unable to be disrepected? It is the memory in the hearts of family & friends, which is the topic, not someone who never knew them when they were alive, or even cared to.
If someone in a bar says something disrespectful to a news story, and it just happens to be about your sister, do you feel you need to “defend her honor?” Or do you feel that since you and your sister do not know him, it does not matter what he thinks, as everyone is entitled to their own opinions?
I have been call disrespectful for some of my comments on 9/11. Personally, I feel I have not disrespected any of the victoms, or the “fallen heros” (as they have been made by the media), as I have said nothing of them personally. I have only made remarks towards the media’s use of their deaths to instill fear into the public.
Someone else says in another thread, don’t disrespect the dead of Coumbine, by debating who is to be held responsible. A debate would possibly bring forward a way to prevent this from happening again, so why would it be disrespectful to the dead, by debating who should be held responsible?
IMO -
The dead have no rights, and deserve no more “respect” than any living human. The living humans deserve respect, just because they are alive, and have rights to be observed.
The families and Friends of the dead can give their “respects” as much as they want. I just don’t feel it is right for them to demand that others “respect” their dead relatives just as much as they do.
I’d like to know how you people feel about this word “respect” and how it gets thrown around.
