Maybe I’ve been living under a rock, but until this week, I had never heard of this supposed trend among certain men to walk up to female reporters (and perhaps others) and offer an exclamation whose acronym is FHRITP. The fact that Shauna Hunt of CityNews in Toronto was willing to call some men out on this abhorrent activity has brought it to light, thanks to the viral nature of social media.
Critics are right to complain that this is unacceptable behaviour. Where does it come from? What would prompt men to disrespect women in this way – or in any other way?
Schools can do all the teaching they want to on values and the like, but if boys (and girls) are not taught at home about the innate value of human persons, it’s not likely to stick. Parents, and especially Christian parents, have a responsibility to teach their children – particularly by modelling it – that everyone deserves respect.
Do you treat your spouse respectfully? Your parents? Your kids? Your friends?
Do you have the guts to call out a friend who treats another person disrespectfully?
After all, as followers of Jesus, we have the greatest reason of all to respect others: all human beings, according to Scripture, are made in God’s image. And that in itself should be enough to enable us to respect others.
What about those who are not followers of Jesus?
Well, there’s one more reason to share the good news of Christ with them!
“So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1.27, NLT).
