I guess somewhere along the line, most of us have been hypocrites. I certainly don’t intend to, but I have gone that way before.
There is my continued conundrum with eating meat. I’ve talked about it countless times before. While I don’t eat much, I still eat meat and completely enjoy it. On the flip side of that, I believe animals have just as much right to be on the planet, living their peaceful lives, as we do. So, which is it?
That’s the whole thing about being a hypocrite, so often. People want it both ways. “You, my friend, should be THIS way! But don’t expect ME to be that way.”
Like good church-going Joe, who is certain that gays will burn in hell because it says so in the bible. But it is all fine and good that Joe cuts his lawn on Sundays.
Hypocrisy, in so many words, is the practice of claiming to have moral standards, but believing one’s own behavior doesn’t have to comply.
Another personal example is doing what is right and good for the planet earth. I support environmental activism, and try to do things to support the health of our planet, like recycling, and such. However, I haven’t chosen the most energy-efficient car on the market. While it isn’t bad, it isn’t great either. So. Give me an H.
We don’t have to look far in any direction to see hypocrisy.
We all know by now of the terrible flooding in Michigan. Torrential rains, dams breaking, as a result, all hell breaking loose.
The authorities have ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate immediately. They ordered them to evacuate for their safety. Strangely enough, I did not see any people with assault weapons on the Courthouse steps, protesting this order which clearly violates their rights.
I mean, both orders — the “Stay at Home” order, and the “Evacuate” order — came as a direct result of the danger to people’s lives. But who has the right to order them around? A gun-toting-protest should have been in order by their own standards of demanding their rights. Give them an H, too.
Basically, as a people, we aren’t 100% rational or consistent. And when you think about it, aren’t value judgments typically subjective rather than objective? It seems that the seriousness of our hypocritical ways is often all in the eye of the beholder.
There’s a lot that goes on with this, I think. We tend to have a higher opinion of ourselves than is justified. And a lot of us can be self-serving. I imagine both of these things feed into the whole hypocrisy scheme.
And then there is the scientific rule, that “path of least resistance.” Humans are prone to this practice of “least effort.” We take the shortest path, we do the least work, we try to find the easiest way. I mean, levers and fulcrums for crying out loud.
Hypocrisy allows us to appear principled. It may not be our intention, but that is one of the outcomes.
When I look back on all of this, all I’ve written about our errant ways, it reminds me, that while we are flawed, we humans can be incredibly good, too. Spectacular, in fact. We can be full of light, full of love, and certainly full of peace. But I think the biggest thing we can be when it comes to hypocrisy — in ourselves — is compassionate.
I think if the world had more compassion, most of hypocrisy would all but fade away.
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“It’s discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.”
― Noël Coward, Blithe Spirit
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“For the powerful, crimes are those that others commit.”
― Noam Chomsky, Imperial Ambitions
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“I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.”
― Abraham Lincoln
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