{"id":151,"date":"2009-08-05T09:07:28","date_gmt":"2009-08-05T09:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/08\/whats-in-a-name-power-respect-and-earning-your-title.html"},"modified":"2009-08-05T09:07:28","modified_gmt":"2009-08-05T09:07:28","slug":"whats-in-a-name-power-respect-and-earning-your-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/flirtingwithfaith\/2009\/08\/whats-in-a-name-power-respect-and-earning-your-title.html","title":{"rendered":"What’s In a Name?: Power, Respect and Earning Your Title"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Came across a
\nblog post this morning that got me thinking. The topic was the use of titles –
\nin this case whether or not pastors should be referred to as, well…pastor. The
\nauthor, Mike Foster of Deadly Viper<\/a>, states:<\/span><\/p>\n

“My
\nbasic point is that I think this whole title thing is stupid. And set up
\nunhealthy situations. In many ways titles can feed a culture of ego, celebrity,
\nand power. I also think it promotes a system that sets a leader above others.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many
\nwill say calling someone pastor\/doctor\/etc. it is a term of respect. But we
\nlive in a world where respect is earned, not simply given because you have a
\ncertain position or title.”<\/span><\/p>\n

As I thought
\nabout this post (less the question of pastor-or-no-pastor and more about titles
\nand respect) I was particularly struck by the statement that “we live in world
\nwhere respect is earned, not simply given because you have a certain position
\nor title.”<\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/div>\n
Mike’s statement (I do not know him, but assume from his post that I can call him Mike) hits on a key ongoing shift in American culture in the\u00a0extent to which followers perceive the distance between themselves and their leaders. This phenomenon, also known as\u00a0power distance<\/a>, can have serious implications for\u00a0how we communicate with and understand (or fail to communicate and understand) one another across generations and across continents.<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
The important thing to remember is that there is no single “right” power distance. There are just the perceptions of followers and leaders and how they interact with one another. Do high distance cultures – where followers perceive a large distance between themselves and their leaders – create dangers of dictatorships and abuse? Absolutely. But excess in the other direction – say the parent who says nothing when their teen curses at them – has potentially negative societal implications as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
So what do you think? Should the press corps call the president Barack? Should my undergraduate students call me Joan? Should I call my students Mr. Smith or Miss Jones? Do adults need to earn the respect of children before expecting them to listen? What about the police?<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n

<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Came across a blog post this morning that got me thinking. The topic was the use of titles – in this case whether or not pastors should be referred to as, well…pastor. The author, Mike Foster of Deadly Viper, states: “My basic point is that I think this whole title thing is stupid. 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