Are there any current authority figures you respect?

Well?

Note that I said "current", so your fourth-grade teacher from thirty years ago does not count except as an "honorable mention".

Likewise with your father, if you respect him for the job he did raising you in the past but now he's old and, through no fault of his own, gotten too senile and mind-wandery to be trusted on anything beyond how he's feeling today .

Oh, and let's exclude those who exert authority only over others besides yourself, like your child's current fourth-grade teacher or soccer coach.

So, to sum up: Are there any current authority figures--parents, mentors, bosses, politicians, whatever--who are currently in a position to exert authority over you whom you actively respect?

I respect my own authority. Nobody else exerts authority over me that I respect. It's many years since I've come across anyone worthy of the respect needed to blindly defer to another's authority. I guess times are changing.

Nope.

Elwood.

My father, and my father-in-law and my wife's grandfather.

Paris Hilton

I fight Authority.

Authority always wins.

^ Do you respect them for it?

I respect very many such people - in spite of their positions, not because of them.

I have always had respect for the queen.

I respect people who speak to power and fight for the common man. That's my guide for whether respect should be given.