Comments on: Religion and hypocrisy

By: ssgsteveh

ssgsteveh — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 15:24:02 +0000

To the Poster, I totally agree with your assesment of hypocrisy. I myself is a practicing Agnostic. I look at people around me who party thru the week and on Sunday praise God with all their heart, and it disgusts me. How can you profess to love God and Jesus and follow their teachings, but do all kinds of “dirt” that most christians would call sinning? How can you ask any reasonable and thinking person to follow and accept that belief in your heart. I feel I am a good person who treats others with respect. I try to do whats right, but in the “Eyes” of religion, not so good. I refuse to profess to be perfect. I am what I am, nothing more, nothing less. In short, I believe most religions are a joke, and I refuse to follow a joke no matter how funny it is.

By: Not so religious

Not so religious — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 16:57:18 +0000

I am looking to find some readings or something that can help me understand people who pray alot but are very selfish in their relationships, thus endagering same.

By: A Second Hand Conjecture » Thanks Aslam, but what about Taqiyya?

A Second Hand Conjecture » Thanks Aslam, but what about Taqiyya? — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 19:45:54 +0000

[...] Related Posts: Al Jazeera and the Washington Post…, Approaching Islam, The Washington Post CAIRS, Religion and Hypocrisy [...]

By: The Poet Omar

The Poet Omar — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 20:15:52 +0000

Exactly, Lance. The people I mentioned built their careers around being paragons of their particular moral order (the three I gave were essentially religious, although I daresay secular examples could be found relatively easily). Foley presented the idea of a champion of sexual virtue and protector of innocent youths. Reed presented himself as the walking embodiment of Evangelical doctrine. OBL believes himself to be the champion of worldwide Islam. They are all compromised by the very things that their public identities were sworn to oppose. This level of hypocrisy does compromise the message.

By: Lance

Lance — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 17:30:47 +0000

Don,

That is a very good point, though I agree with Omar’s post for the most part. Hypocrisy to some extent is necessary. If we are all fallible then the best amongst us are hypocrites. While those who reject any moral order but pointing out hypocrisy and avoiding it get off free.

I don’t think Omar is saying that hypocrisy is the defining evil, but that at some point on matters of faith one is not just an imperfect follower but one who does not believe. In your example it is tantamount to not believing the advice is even good that you are giving.

By: Don

Don — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 16:50:04 +0000

I’m inclined to view hypocracy charges as almost an ad hominim attack; rather than concentrating on the message, we are debating if the messanger actually follows the message.

If I smoke pot secretly and teach my kids not to do drugs, I’m a hypocrit, but what I teach my kids is still correct. Now, I understand that when my kids find out about my secret activities, I’m undercutting my advice. But the real value of my advice remains.

I guess what bothers me is the “do whatever feels good” ideology has an inherent advantage when hypocracy becomes the defining evil. It is easy to not be a hypocrit by having no values.