Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today’s post is designed to clear up a basic misunderstanding regarding the nature of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict, and to explain why it is vitally important to recognize its actual central cause. Today, most people conceptualize the main issues of the conflict pretty much like the independent, nonpartisan think tank Council On Foreign Affairs— “The decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is rooted…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. As each school year begins I like to once again post this discussion of how I would rate a school district’s handling of an incident in which a bus monitor was taunted by some middle school children during their bus ride home. Now, to be fair to the school district, I hasten to point out that the incident occurred several…
Feeling depressed? If so, you may decide to consult with a psychiatrist or other medical doctor. By doing so, chances are your description of your feelings will be translated into a language of symptoms, diagnosis, and mental illness, and you will leave the doctor’s office with a prescription for pills marketed as “antidepressants.” Unfortunately, this medicalization approach is so inconsistent with scientific evidence that many…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. About nine years ago I began this blog, and one of the first sets of words that I wrote were: We have all experienced name calling, insults and teasing, even the greatest presidents, the most talented athletes, and every member of your favorite band. If someone insults you, calls you names, or teases you, it does NOT mean that…
A Discussion of a Research Article About this Topic
Welcome to From Insults To Respect. A couple of years ago I wrote a post titled, “Am I Bad For Being Sad?” There I discussed the tendency in our society to promote the notion that when we experience sadness it is a symptom indicating there is something wrong with us. I then asked readers to consider the possibility that this notion may be disrespectful and harmful,…
During an early part of my psychological services provider career, I was hired as a school psychologist in Rochester, New York. There, students were regularly referred to me because a teacher or parent had become concerned about how a student was doing at school. When I met individually with these students, I first introduced myself, and then I’d say something like, “I was asked to…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today, we once again take up the topic of crying and its relationship to respect. Perhaps some might wonder why more than one post was not sufficient to amply cover this tearful topic. I would have been among those who wondered about this a few years ago, but then I wrote a post titled, “Responding to Criticism: Four levels of Maturity.” There,…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today we explore the wisdom of flinging two related insults at Donald Trump’s supporters–insults that fall under the general headings of “crazy” and “mental illness.” Let’s begin with the “crazy” insults. The “Crazy” Insults Trump, by all authoritative analyses, lost the 2020 election by approximately seven million votes, as well as an ample number of electoral votes. Despite this, he…
Welcome to From Insults to Respect. Today we examine a conflict witnessed by millions that involves U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan at a U.S. House Coronavirus Hearing angrily questioning infectious disease expert Dr. Fauci. It can be viewed on YouTube HERE. The conflict provides a real life event of interest, and not being ourselves embroiled in the immediacy of the situation, we can now reflect somewhat dispassionately at…
Welcome to From Insults To Respect. As I write this post, we are into the third week of the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin. The trial involves Mr Chauvin’s use of force with George Floyd, which began when a store employer from Cup Foods was paid by Floyd with a counterfeit $20 bill to purchase some cigarettes. When a store employer demanded that Floyd…
