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There are people that always stand by Laining and people that always sit. Among those that sit there are those that stand at certain points, such as the Aseres HaDibros or the Shira, etc. Is it proper to accord special honor to specific parts of the Torah over others?

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If I understand him correctly, Igros Moshe (OC4 22, IIRC) says that one may stand during the dibros so as to accord them honor and must do so if the rest of the congregation is doing so but that if he is concerned that that makes it seem like they're the only important part of the tora then he should stand also during the rest of the reading that day. As always, CYLOR for a practical ruling.

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See here: http://www.mesora.org/StandingDibros.html

The Rambam was opposed to it. yet this is near universal custom.

R' Soloveitchik and R' Moshe explain why it is not a problem.

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How near? (My experience with the universe is relatively limited, so I'm just curious.) –  WAF Jan 21 '11 at 16:57
i don't know. i've always seen standing. but i was just paraphrasing the article: "takes up the contradiction between the near universal practice of standing..." –  josh waxman Jan 21 '11 at 18:59
Josh, spend some time with Aheinu B'nei Sferad V'Eidot HaMizrah. They do not stand for any Kriat HaTorah and definitely do not stand just for certain parts (at least according to the Minhag Yerushalmi and Hacham Ovadiya Yosef Shlit"a. –  Yahu Jan 23 '11 at 7:15

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