I was taught to respect authority when I was growing up. I memorized the Ten Commandments in public school and learned to honor my father and mother as the fifth commandment specifies. My parents taught me that my teachers in school and church were to be respected and admired. I was also instructed to highly esteem the pastor of our church, who was God’s man and worthy of honor.?

I learned at an early age that the leaders of our community, our state, and nation were to be held in high regard. Holding my hand over my heart when pledging allegiance to the flag or when listening to or singing the National Anthem was also ingrained into my mind and heart. However, today it seems that those who should be honored are the primary objects of scorn and ridicule.

I’m not exactly sure when we lost respect for authority, but it seems that the 1960s was a decade filled with ferment and rebellion that fostered a whole new disrespect for authority. I remember well the riots and demonstrations that took place on many college and university campuses in 1967-68. There was a crusade to “tear down the establishment.”

This “crusade” carried over into the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Abbie Hoffman, a self-proclaimed communo-anarchist, was arrested and tried for conspiracy and inciting to riot as a result of his role in protests that led to violent confrontations with police during that fateful Democratic National Convention. Hoffman along with other individuals became known, collectively, as the Chicago Seven. In his autobiography Hoffman wrote: “Kids need to be educated to disrespect authority. Otherwise, democracy is a farce.”

I would never recommend Hoffman’s book, but somehow his message, which was conceived by the devil and hatched in hell, has found a lodging place in the minds of many.

I was in a restaurant last week and in the booth behind me a mother was eating lunch with her two small children. There was constant bantering between the poor beleaguered mother and the two very vociferous and rambunctious children.

The children were apparently born in the objective mood and the negative case. They were not happy with the restaurant their mother had chosen, the color of Crayons they had received from the server, the food, or the surroundings. At one point the mother said to her son, “Landon, eat your chicken fingers.”

He responded by shouting loud enough for the chef in the kitchen to hear, “I hate this food and I don’t have to do what you say!”

If I had ever said that to my mother or father in public or private the wrath of Khan would have seemed like a walk in the park compared to the retribution I would have received from my parents. But then, my parents taught me to have a reverence for God, a respect for authority, and a reason for living.

To me it is of little wonder that many children fail to respect the authority of their parents, because there is a lack of respect for authority on just about every level of our society. When adults fail to respect those in authority over them, why should we expect any less from children? Unfortunately, in our day we not only see authority disrespected, but demeaned.

A recent issue of the New York Times carried a full-page advertisement by Moveon.org under the headline: “General Petraeus or General Betray us? Cooking the books for the White House.”

Regardless of how you feel about the war in Iraq, General Petraeus has served this country for over 35 years with honor, distinction, and integrity. To attack as a traitor an American general commanding forces in war is shameful. To me it is a blatant example of disrespect for authority.

In fact, it appears that respecting authority is out of vogue today. When we fail to have a high regard for those who are in places of leadership we are flirting with anarchy.

The funny boys on the television talk shows take potshots at our president and those who are leaders in government to get a laugh. I didn’t like it when Mr. Clinton was president and I haven’t liked it during Mr. Bush’s administration. Speaking derisively of the political leader of our country opens the door for authority to be disdained on all levels.

Americans have the right to dissent, but the protestations of some have reached a level of disrespect and dishonor that is shameful, even reprehensible.

In the grand scheme of things I suppose that disrespect for authority is nothing new. In fact, in the first pages of the Bible we find that Satan entered the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve by challenging what God had said. The first sin was not a matter of whether the action was right or wrong; it was a matter of whether or not authority should be respected.

Satan led Adam and Eve to believe that God was an inadequate authority trying to hide power from them and lying to them about the outcome of their choices. He convinced them to reach around God, due to His “inadequacy,” and reach for godhood on their own. Obviously, this same tendency follows us today. We have an enormous problem with authority and have been searching for a way to get authority for ourselves since Eden.

Any time we disrespect the authority that is over us, it is a blatant attempt to reach around the authority God has established. People who fail to honor the authorities God has placed over them may ultimately get the leadership they deserve.