226 Global Ethics for Leadership
trunk for their flourishing and fruitfulness. The prayer “Our Father”
taught by Jesus reiterates the universal brotherhood and sisterhood. The
microcosmic understanding of the human person in the macrocosmic
universe is a fact that substantiates the interdependence of each one with
all things in the world. Besides, whatever, wherever, whenever and
whoever does, has a repercussion on something, somewhere, sometime,
and someone. All things make an interrelated whole. A symphony is the
work of an orderly operation of all the instruments in the orchestra.
Dialogue is the way of life. In order to protect, preserve, and pro-
mote anything in life, dialogue is inevitable. Dialogue, thus, is the fabric
of life, including the question of life. In a world encircled by the culture
of death, there is an urgent need of dialogue in order to save the bedrock
of all human endeavours, beginning with human thinking and imagining.
The question of the virtue of respect fundamentally and essentially
springs from the respect for the culture of life. Primarily, people should
know and love the value of life and it should be treasured and cherished.
Since life is the fundamental good, which is the basis of all human activ-
ity, people should first and foremost begin to appreciate and appropriate
its intrinsic value. Hence, the value of life paves the way for the virtue
of respecting life, which is the first step towards the full flowering of the
human person. The virtue of respect, therefore, begins with the first les-
sons on the respect for life, evolved in the context of love. As the care
for life, so the respect for others.
17.4 Respect Begins in the Family ...
If life is the bedrock of respect, then the family is the cradle of hu-
man life and virtues. It is in the family that people learn the basic lessons
of love and life, including the basics of respect. Children learn to respect
others, seeing the respect of their parents and siblings at home. Home is
the primary and permanent school of learning the values of life and the