Respect is needed for peaceful coexistence.

"Love makes the world go round."

This is a popular statement to show how loving one another is very important for a coexistence free of hitches. There is no doubt that love is a vital ingredient in this context. But the question is; can we love everyone around us?

While it is easy for some people to love people from the other divide, it is hard for others. Once there is a form of identity like religion, culture, or political affiliation, many people find it difficult to love the people from the other divide. While we may think that it is easy to love one another irrespective of the division, it is not always easy in the practical sense of it.

Here comes another vital quality that can help us navigate through.

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That quality is respect. Respect is very important if we crave a peaceful world. The lack of respect has caused much damage in our society.

I was once caught in between religious conflicts. While one religion is condemning the other, they recruit their followers to hate the other people. Irrespective of how good you are in interpersonal relationships, bearing the identity of religion A is enough for adherents of religion B to condemn and hate you. The unfortunate effect of lack of respect.

A former colleague of mine once complained about his place of residence. He was living in a neighborhood majorly populated by members of an ethnic group that were sworn enemies of his ethnic group. Ironically, his immediate neighbor is one of the best humans I have ever met. My colleague decided to jettison such good character at the expense of ethnic identity. In many instances, we fail to respect people for who they are rather than what they are. Who you are is your innate qualities while what you are is some form of identity that doesn't define you directly.

With respect, you don't need to agree with what people are doing but you respect them with their choices.

When I see people around me condemn other people because of their choices, the first thing I ask is for the complainant to tell me how such choices affect him negatively. In the absence of a convincing reason, I declare such a complaint to be a product of lack of respect for one another.

The world is in turmoil because of a lack of respect. When we respect one another, it becomes easier to love one another. Respect makes an individual view the next person beyond any existing differences in identity. You would be able to reciprocate love and even love those who hate you.

This post is inspired by a song by Lucky Dube, the late South African reggae musician, titled "Respect." The song was released in 2006 and the album happened to be his last studio album before his unfortunate demise in 2007.

He thought that one of the major problems mitigating the togetherness of the world was respect. This is still very true presently. He talked about some people who want others to shiver when they flash their badges. They want people to respect them for what they are instead of who they are.