More on Hypocrisy
This is a follow up to my blog I recently wrote about hypocrisy. I wanted to share a few examples of what hypocrisy is, at least how I see it. First of all I want to say that we are all hypocrites at one time or another and most of us are most of the time. When you hit a child for hitting, that is an obvious hypocrisy. However, hypocrisy can inhibit our actions on a deeper and more subtle level. When you criticize someone for being critical or when you judge someone for being judgmental you are being a hypocrite....and we all do that. Acts of hypocrisy often demonstrate our own inability and lack of awareness to understand who we are being at a certain moment. I have said before that we demonstrate who we are by what we do. When we criticize or judge, we are not making a statement about another person, rather we are defining ourselves as being critical and judgmental. Now here is where the whole concept of hypocrisy gets tricky. To label anybody a hypocrite is to make a judgment call as well as to criticize. So does that mean the person I am labeling as a hypocrite is a hypocrite? Not neccessarily....
We cannot exist in this world without judging and criticizing. The whole trick is to do it consciously and not maliciously. In my last blog I tried to define what I believe is the difference between conscious thinking and unconscious thinking or the egoic mind versus the conscious self or higher awareness. When you view a behavior from awareness you do not assign an emotional judgment to that person. When you view that same behavior from ego, you make a judgment based on your own inability to see those same traits within yourself.
All of that being said, here are a few of the common hypocrisies I see that are being played out on a national scale. They are dangerous to the direction our country is headed because the folks that are preaching these things are distorting the truth....they are confusing us....they are confusing me. So I'm just gonna call it like I see it.....
You are a hypocrite when....
You say you believe in less government intrusion into our personal lives and support things like the patriot act which allows government to intrude into our personal lives. Also when you support government inhibiting our personal freedoms based on religious moralities.
You say you are for fiscal spending and lower taxes while supporting our country going deeper into debt to the tune of trillions of dollars to keep our taxes down as well as spend frivolously on corporate profiteers just because the party in power that is doing this happens to be the party you voted for.
When you say your religion of choice, which is based on stories and personal beliefs with little to no scientific fact to back any of it up, is the one and only truth and that all other beliefs are false because they are simply based on stories and personal beliefs with little to no scientific fact to back up any of their beliefs.
When you say you are pro-life while you support the death penalty as well as pre-emptive wars that are responsible for killing thousands of innocent civilians.
When you say that God loves us as His children yet He would send us into eternal damnation for breaking one of His rules....that is not love....that is power gone mad!
When you call yourself patriotic and do not question the motives of those in power when their motives are suspicious to say the least.
When you call others unpatriotic because they dare to question those in power which is our most basic patriotic duty.
When you call yourself compassionate while supporting our government using torture....while ignoring the plight of the homeless....or while supporting the mass slaughter of millions of innocent animals everyday to feed your addiction to eating flesh.
When you say that we need more "science" or "facts" about global warming being man made and at the same time you so easily accept the distorted "science" and "facts" without question about why we were justified to go to war in Iraq.
When you say you support the troops while your meaning of the word "support" is to leave them in a war where they are now fighting officially for the "Islamic Army of Iraq".....when they are forced to go back year after year, to perform several tours of duty....when we no longer know what they are even fighting for.
When you have no problem with other kids dying in Iraq and yet would never allow your children to go there.
These are true hypocrites. These are people who are not being honest with themselves. These are people who dare to judge those who do not subscribe to their self delusions as being "wacky liberals". You know who you are.
Comments
Or, when one says that s/he is an environmentalist, supports the saving of the Amazon jungle, and wants to reduce global warming - but wants to increase the use of ethanol, which is destroying the Amazon rainforest, increasing global warming, and leaving third world countries (and soon to be our country) hungry because of higher food prices.
Or, teaching that people should be tolerant of different lifestyle choices and belief systems, unless the person doesn't want to vaccinate her kids or wants to school her kids at home.
Or, insisting on the separation of church and state and bring lawsuits against schools for issues of prayer and the exercising of personal freedoms, but then invite Tibetan monks to pray and bless a public university campus (with no lawsuits pending!)
The key, as you put it, is our inability to see those same traits within ourselves. When we can own the same traits within our self, then it becomes easier to admit that the “other side” does have a kernel of truth in it, and that helps tear down the defensiveness within us. We can disagree without hate.
I personally believe that there is "nothing new under the sun" - life is cyclical. Power always corrupts people - no matter what political party happens to be in the oval office at the time. So, I'm glad to know that you will not call me unpatriotic if I question Senator Clinton or Senator Obama for signing international treaties that usurp the constitution of the United States, and I fully support you questioning Senator McCain on why our troops are being used to fight a Muslim Holy War!
And that, as you say, is me calling it like I see it.
joe's reply....Thank you Tina, good points. I'm looking forward to reading your blog again....hint-hint
Posted by: Tina | April 4, 2008 03:32 PM
Could it also be considered hypocrisy say that you're against the patriot act, but turn around and support presidential candidates who voted for the patriot act? Hint - Hillary and Obama voted for the renewal of the Patriot act.
And how about those death penalty protestors who want to protect murderers from execution but have no problem allowing the abortions of innocent babies to legally continue? Are they not hypocrites as well?
Then you have the bay area types, berkeley and such, who protest against military recruiting stations. When war comes, will they start their own militias to protect their cities, or will they expect our brave soldiers to come to their rescue?
How about free speech supporters on the left who have no problem with Congress pushing laws to silence conservative talk radio?
Or how about Al Gore, who wags his green finger at the world while flying around in a gross-polluting private jet and living in a house that uses more energy in a month than most houses do in a year?
Are these good examples of hypocrisy as well?
Joe's reply....some of these are good examples....and some are not. I agree on your first point....if Hillary and Obama voted for the renewal of the Patriot act, that would be hypocritical. On your second point, about abortion, sure that would be hypocritical if abortion were deemed as out right killing. You still have that gray area where as the fetus is a part of a womans body and just when do you consider it a separate life from the woman. Personally, I feel that if there is a detectable heartbeat, that's when you would call it a separate life. As far as protesting military recruiters, these guys lie and deceive young people into enlisting. If they were honest and simply presented the opportunity to enlist, I don't have a problem with that. So no, it's not hypocrytical to protest their actions and still expect the military to protect you. On your 4th point, I agree 100%. I have said in past blogs that no voice should ever be silenced. On your Al Gore issue, you make a good point, however, he has an important message to get out. Is he supposed to use a row boat to cross the ocean? Sometimes you have to do something negative for the greater good of the whole. Case in point (and I don't agree with all of these)....Animal testing for product safety, innocent civilian casualties in war time, barrowing money to pay a bill, poisening your body with kimo therapy to kill cancer cells, etc. As far as his energy bill, he uses a lot in his own home, however, he offsets his very big carbon footprint by purchasing his energy thru his local Green Power Switch program which derives it's energy from natural sources and he has recently installed solar panels, therefore his actual carbon footprint is probably less than yours or mine. That being said, I don't see him making any substantial personal sacrifices.
Posted by: Dane Langston | April 8, 2008 10:20 AM