In 1965 Otis Redding wrote R.E.S.P.E.C.T and in 1967 Aretha Franklin made it famous when she sang it. She changed the words a bit to make it a woman telling a man she demands respect. I don’t know a woman who doesn’t like Aretha’s rendition. Fifty plus years later it is still played at bridal showers and other women gatherings. It is a simple concept; we all like respect.
When I grew up respect was a quality that was taught at home and at school. Being rude was a trait that no one wanted attached to their children. We stood for the Pledge with our right hand over our heart. We respected our teachers, law enforcement, politicians, members of the military, neighbors and everyone else we had contact with during the day. Respect is a quality that can make life run smoother just as crass behavior makes life stressful.
What has happened to respect? Where did it go? I believe it started to disappear in the 1960’s when the “If it feels good do it.” mentality took root. This is also the time when Madelyn O’Hare fought and won to get prayer removed from public schools. Where were the Christians at this time? This is the time when students began to demand rights in school including the right to speak to teachers as though they were their equals. The really sad part of this is that a lot of parents agreed and backed their children’s demands.
Politics were far more civil. People campaigned but it was done politely. No one mentioned the physical characteristics of their opponent. No one mentioned family members on any level. When President Kennedy was assassinated all American’s mourned the death of their elected President. When President Reagan was shot the country again mourned. No one said that they hoped he would die. No station made jokes or said that it was to be expected because of how he was running the country.
When Roe v Wade was passed by the Supreme Court you did not see Christians or reputable members of the Republican Party protesting in front of the Justices homes or following them to dinner so they could try to force them out of the restaurant. Yes, there were some people tormenting and harassing women who went to an abortion clinic. They were wrong to do that.
If some one was elected you did not see the other side chasing every member of their campaign or staff members to their homes and restaurants and screaming at them. There was not a Maxine Waters screaming to follow any one connected to the other side every where they went and let them know they are not welcome anywhere.
We did not have a President, like Joe Biden, standing on foreign soil denigrating the Supreme Court because he didn’t agree with a decision that they made. We didn’t have politicians coming right out and saying that we should all ignore the decision of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is a co-equal branch of our government and it is being treated like the “red headed stepchild” of government.
We didn’t have Mayors like Mayor Lightfoot of Chicago using the F word when talking about not just the Supreme Court but using that word to define a specific Justice. The F word and other profanities were not heard from the lips of anyone in the public sphere. At least not in public.
We didn’t have a President that would have allowed the Justice Department to ignore the federal law regarding intimidating or threatening Federal Judges and allow the harassment of the Justices even after one Justice had an assassination attempt. There was basic respect for people even if you disagreed with them.
In 1937 when FDR wanted to “pack the court” so that he would have justices that would back his endeavors his own party told him it was not a good idea.
We had presidents that respected the military and that understood that the military is a fighting force and not a social experiment. Today the concern from the White House is whether the right pronouns are used by the military and not whether they have the best training and most effective weapons. Anyone with even half a brain knows that decisions like this make us the laughing stock of the world.
We have an administration that is ignoring the attacks on our religious institutions. The head of this administration, Joe Biden, claims to be a good Roman Catholic and yet he has no problem with abortion up until the day the child would be born! I haven’t heard a word out of Biden regarding the attacks on churches and pregnancy crisis centers since Roe v Wade was over turned. The utter lack of respect for the unborn is heartbreaking.
We were taught respect for our bodies and other people’s bodies too. We didn’t have teachers and members of numerous Boards of Education trying to teach graphic sexual concepts to children. There was respect for parents and the vital role they play in their children’s lives. Now, we have the CDC actually promoting a website that teaches young people all about the weird gender nonsense that is now being espoused. As a Christian I consider a lot of it to be perversion. It also promotes aspects of the occult. The cherry on the top of this website is that it shows the young person how they can hide the website from their parents. Again, zero respect for the parents.
Matthew 18:6 talks about putting a millstone around your neck and jumping into the deepest sea if you are going to lead a child to sin. Our “good Christian” President as well as numerous of our public officials, who claim to be Christians, need to read the Bible. They seem to have forgotten that this country was built on Judeo/Christian Principles.
No country, even one as incredible as ours, can prosper with out respect being a vital part of our daily interactions. Maybe we need a singer to change the words again and then we can all start singing; R.E.S.P.E.C.T
