If your rank is lower, respect those above you and respect those who are under you so that they will also respect you.

RESPECT IS EARNED. 

If you respect someone simply because they are higher ranked than you, no respect was earned.

Ah Bricktop I did not mean that in the way you took it so I will explain , now of course Godfathers deserve more respect but what I meant by it is as you said everyone deserves respect and someone should not think they are above someone no matter what rank they are. Should they be more respect , hell yes but they shouldn't be going around and disrespecting people like this person who sent that mail about being in the Godfather crew.

I'm in a Godfather's crew and I'm at the top of the sixty seconds list. Does this mean I get double respect? 

As far as I am concerned, outside of the crew leads/godparents/ and hands, respect depends entirely on how you comport yourself.

If any person, as a made member of a crew leaders family, act with dignity and respect too all members of all crews, respecting made men, and being at least polite to associates, then I will respect them in kind.

However if anyone, as a made member of a godfathers family, lords it over everyone, being disrespectful to other made men, and being rude to associates, then i'm sorry, but I do not respect you. I may be proper and polite, but I do not hold that respect unless you do the same.

A crewleader gains respect by doing the things a good leader does, making connections, handling delicate matters, generally taking care of his people. A godfather does the same, on a larger scale. A hand is someone that the CL trusts beyond all else, someone who has proven to be worth their salt, and worth their respect. Every time i've talked directly to godfathers and crew leaders,and they have responded, the leaders have been true gentlemen and women. courteous, polite. always making sure that they heard me out before answering, and even if they were telling me how i was wrong, doing so in a way to make me glad i had talked to them. That, earns my respect. failure to do that, does not earn my respect. simple as that.

When i first started i did not know much about the ranks, only that you had to EARN the trust of your family leader. Trust that is not easily given. I worked hard to get there and personally it does not matter if your boss is godfather or not. A common gangster can be just as helpful as a made man if s/he worked at it.

As far as the respect issue, it should be a given that respect should be given to everyone regardless, lest you wind up at the bottom of the river right?

TokyoZombi my understanding is that topping the list of sixty means you have won the game. (Life.) Unlike your lowly gangster ancestor you should totally be allowed to say words.

Respect is not given, it is earned. Your "title" is nothing more than letters and your CL, even if a GF, is no more than a regular person if you decide to conduct yourself rudely and are always disrespectful to those around you. 

I can think of people currently playing with ranks from wise guy to capos that I personally have more respect for than some of the dozens and dozens of dons running around our streets. Why? Their ancestors earned it. Some of my ancestors owe their ancestors their lives, and vice-versa. They've proven beyond any sort of reasonable doubt what type of person they are, honorable. 

Through their hard work, dedication, handling of sensitive issues and most importantly the respect each and every one of them has shown me, their ancestors will forever have my respect.

GF is an earned title, to an extent. At the heart of it all this world we all live in is a numbers game. Master those numbers or strategies to maximize your time and you can "look" impressive with a high rank #. It still however takes the trust of those already in power to empower you with your own crew. Like respect, trust isn't given its earned.

If you want trust and respect, GF crew or not, earn it.

That's my 1/50th of $1.00.