Reply #46: From your first sentence, I am once again awed by my powers of gentle persuaion.

[rug]

Nevertheless, to answer your question, Yes, I do continue to respect the most rabid person, incuding bin Laden, as a person, regardless of their ideas or, more pertinently, their actions.

Of course, continue to resist the ideas, fight the actions, and if necessary, destroy the person still committing those acts. But respect for the person remains.

Respect means to look again. I have looked at myself often enough to know that I am not, nor is any living person for that matter, in a position to claim moral, intellectual or any other type of superiority over another.

So yes, respect is reserved for the person. It should not be stripped.

As for ideas, it really doesn't matter.