Seafra said:
I never said you or anyone else was trying to shove something down someones throat. In fact, I wasn't even replying to your post.
You mentioned shoving enlightenment down people's throat -
I was replying to your post. In the same way that it's disrespectful and counterproductive to do that (and I agree it is), it is also wrong to shove intolerance and ignorance down people's throat. Tarotphobia, involving drama and a campaign against someone use of the tarot, especially in someone's own intimate circle, is a far cry from quiet disapproval or bemusement.
Seafra said:
IETA: I believe you can't demand respect. Respect is earned. If someone doesn't respect your views there are a myriad of reasons why they don't or won't.
I don't agree with that. Respect is owed to everybody and every living thing on this planet. Nobody has the right to attack or diss someone else. Whether they
agree with your views or not is another matter. If they don't, that's their right, of course - but their not agreeing is no excuse for them to attack, denigrate, debase, mock or otherwise make the other feel small, wrong, evil or stupid.
It comes down to the old battle-cry of tolerance, written long ago by one of my heroes, Voltaire:
I do not agree with what you say, but I shall fight to the death for your right to say it.
That's the kind of respect I'm talking about - and it's not earned, it is a due, like food or clean air. I have friends and family who don't think very highly of tarot, but none of them have ever had a go at me for it, or showed me anything but respect, regardless of what they think of my choice of interests. And that's normal. I treat them with respect, though I might not find all of their interests that productive, worthwhile or even right (what do I say to friends that hunt? I don't agree with hunting wild animals in a dwindling wilderness - but I don't hector them and call them murderers).
As for rejecting someone for their beliefs - I agree it's painful like all forms of rejection; but it's also a form of intolerance and phobia. Of course, when it happens, we let go, and we move on in the best way we can, with love; but it leaves a greater scar, I think, than when the rejection is due to something less profound in us.