Respect needs to be earned. One should not be honoring anyone outside of parents (it is a mitzvah) or anyone else for whom the Torah is specific in the obligation to honor. Otherwise, the individual must deserve it. The president, in the opinion of many (including me), has not earned anything but awards for being the opposite of what deserves respect. We might engage in some political debate, and perhaps should. But unless I recognize that he is honorable, I have zero obligation to offer him a drop of kavod. I would not do disrespectful things to him, more out of fear of consequences. But why must I accept the trashy things he has done, in my opinion, to the Constitution, to foreign policy, to his acceptance of radical Islamic terror, etc.? Respect? Tell me why?
Menu