Writer soul
” Don’t you try to get rabbis who are already rabbis on their own merits?”
you certainly try…
“.. The title gives the person more respect in EVERY sphere, whether the bearer deserves it or not.”
That is true to an extent. Those more learned than a motivational speaker “Rabbi” don’t have respect for him simply because he calls himself “Rabbi” They know he is an ignoramus who may do some good through his fake “Rabbi” title.
“A person should have the title which befits his/her stature,”
That is a fair point, which is precisely what the OP said. This has nothing to do with men vs women.
“Nobody will call a nurse or PA “Doctor” in order to accord them more respect.”
This is not true at all. PA’s are often called Doctors and often even introduce themselves as Doctors. (though that doesn tmake it right, and isn’t really directly comparable to the Rabbi issue)
“As far as “rebbetzin”- it simply does not have the same significance. That is a fact. I understand that you disagree,”
I don’t disagree, though I don’t think that is a related to the title per se. Men and Women are not viewed as equal in our (i.e. Yeshiva/Right wing orthodoxy)
” if someone were to hear “Rebbetzin X said that we should do Y,” there would not be the same reaction as if it were “Rabbi X said…””
Depends on the rabbi and Rebbetzin, for the motivational speaker- rabbi most people would have the exact same reaction to the two believe it or not
” I see here that we disagree, though, so perhaps we should just agree to let it rest.”
sure.