Authority is earned, not given

I honestly beleive this. Call me stupid or crazy, but I think all authority must be earned, not assumed. This applies to parents, teachers, leaders, everyone. This is why I could never serve in the military - I cannot simply assume that the chain of command was wise enough do dole out authority rightly.

Parents out there must earn their kids respect. It isn't an automatic as Dobson the abuser would state. Now this doesn't mean your toddler has to question your authority on the subject of hot stoves - but that saying "because I said so" is never, EVER, valid.

Teachers out there must earn their kids respect too. Once again, I feel a teacher, a professor, whomever is in an authoritative position has to prove his worth on the first day, or there's no reason to trust them on any other level other than that of a grade giver.

:D

touché :)

btw.

I damn well have authority over my children, until they are legal adults, and regardless of whether they like it or not. I do, however, have to earn their respect - that is not a given.

Authority without respect is meaningless. Respect without authority becomes authority de facto.

If ones kids have no respect for their parents, they will spend every minute you aren't watching them trying to subvert their parents, even if they know it's in their best interests to mind the parent.

Authority and respect are not interchangeable. If you were in the military, you can be damn sure that your commanding officer has the absolute AUTHORITY to issue your orders. There is no question of this - failure to obey a lawful order will cause big trouble for you.

Your CO does have to earn your RESPECT. You are not obligated to respect your CO, but you most certainly are obligated to defer to his/her authority, regardless of what your feelings about him/her may be.

Two completely different things.

His or her authority would be useless. Any time that person gave me a command, I would constantly be strategizing a way to screw it up, and make them look bad. To me that's not authority.

And like I said, one reason why I could never in good faith serve in the military.

George W. Bush comes to mind as a good example of someone with authority but not respect.

I don't even think his administration respects him - in all likelihood they go to Rove or Cheney for real answers.

But who knows? For all I know they could all be part of one organized borg hell bent on mind control of us all...

Nothing really surprises me anymore with this misadministration.

Respect is essential for legitimate authority to function. Otherwise, you're right.