Respecting Relationships
It is not often that you find people respecting others in today's world, let alone finding people that will respect others' relationships that they have. To an extent, I will agree with the saying "all is fair in love and war", but I think there are ethical limits that we have to draw. Like always, these moral boundaries that we draw are, for the vast majority, relative to each individual. However, I think that we can agree on a few key ideas that I am going to talk about.
Currently, I find myself in a situation where I have to exercise restraint in my desires. I have found myself liking a friend mine. Out of respect for my friend and her relationship, I can't allow myself to progress any farther than friendship until the relationship is on hold or ended. It is not the most ideal situation for me, and knowing that she isn't the happiest in the relationship does not make it any easier, but I do take solace in knowing that I am being respectful, and that it is appreciated. Of course, this is the situation that has driven me to write this entry.
I find that the most important element of a relationship, be it sexual or platonic is the respect that the two parties share for each other. Without this respect, there is no sense of duty or loyalty to one another, and without any moral duty towards someone, you're more likely willing to take advantage of this person. Put on a universal scale, and society cannot function because we are then put into a situation, much like Hobbes' state of nature. We need relationships to help progress as individuals and a society as a whole. While I am not fond of people, I choose to be respectful towards people for this reason.
While close friendships, in general, need vast amounts of respect to work, sexual relationships require a lot more. If you cannot even show enough respect towards a mate as you do a friend, then the relationship is doomed to fail. It may not fail in terms of longevity, but it will fail to keep both parties happy, especially the party whose being disrespected. I think this is the key principle behind my philosophy of respecting others' relationships. If I cannot respect a potential mate as a friend, then I don't feel that I could respect her in my relationship, as I would not have any concept of respect in a relationship.
I find that if a potential mate allows you disrespect their current relationship, then that only shows that they don't have respect for that relationship, and that could very well be the case for your relationship should it progress to that. If both parties are not willing to respect each other, then the relationship is not worth it. It would only be a relationship of lust, and happiness cannot come from that.
In all, respect is the catalyst for social and individual progression and successful, loving relationships (both platonic and sexual). Not only does showing respect help but to command respect being given back to you, it can also help to judge how others are willing to respect you. If someone is willing to reciprocate the respect that you give to them, then you know it is someone you can trust to be loyal and vice versa.