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Jan. 10, 2005 The great social thinker Carl Rogers believed that every human no matter their station in this world deserves “unconditional positive regard.” Dissecting this phrase of course is simple. Unconditional means just that, without condition, no strings attached. Positive means… uh, positive, e.g. good, without ill feelings, good. Regard is respect, esteem, or favor. Hence, all humankind should share with their co- occupiers of this earth a “no strings attached feeling of goodness and respect.” In many compartments of philosophy Rogerian thought could be considered a Christian principle. Of course it is. It is a Christian principle, a Muslim principle, a Hindu principle, and so on and so on. However, it lies in a much larger paradigm. Rogers I believe was suggesting that we must respect and give positive regard even to the deviant and anomalous sectors of our culture. We must treat the murderer and the Good Samaritan equally. We must recognize their existence as humans as well as their right to coexist on the planet. We must not view the deviant as a sinner; instead, he/she should be considered a co-inhabitant of this earth. To broaden this view of Rogerian thought, Rogers I believe wanted the deviant to recognize others with this same unconditional positive regard. Doing so, I believe, would place an amount of responsibility upon the deviant population of our world. In other words, the deviant must take responsibility for being a deviant, but must respect the lives of those not of that particular ilk. Hence, deviants could become productive citizens and law-abiding actors in society. Human Secularism runs parallel to the Rogerian paradigm. That is, belief in the goodness of human life is the basis of our existence. Rogers was a practicing Christian and in fact attended Union University of Theology. Unlike Freud who thought every person had some undercurrent of sexual gratification and incestuous frustration, Rogers viewed all humans as having an innate positive side, a positive self-regard.
Finally, it is easy to describe Rogerian
thinking as pure Christian hyperbole. However,
Carl Rogers’ had more on his mind than “love thy
neighbor.” He believed in respecting your
neighbor and treating your neighbor as if he/she
has the right to exist, a much more meaningful
and utilitarian definition of the Christian
principle. In my opinion the Christian view of
our deviant population (let’s call them sinners
shall we?) is that this group is in need of
purification and sanctity. Sinners must be
brought to bear for their deviant and wrongful
deeds. They are viewed as wrong, purely wrong,
and if they repent of their deviant behavior and
discontinue said wretchedness, these sinful
actors will have the opportunity to enter into
that great Christian nirvana in the sky. The
operative word in the Christian vocabulary
is “repent,” i.e., change. Rogers, on the other
hand, has not asked the deviant to repent. He
has simply asked the deviant to respect him or
herself and to respect the existence of others,
no strings attached.
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