Hypocrisy

[Wysteria]

One of the threads has reminded me of a bit from a book...

From The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson:

"You know, when I was a young man, hypocrisy was deemed the worst of vices," Finkle-McGraw said. "It was all because of moral relativism. You see, in that sort of a climate, you are not allowed to criticise others - after all, if there is no absolute right and wrong, then what grounds is there for criticism?"

"Now, this led to a good deal of general frustration, for people are naturally censorious and love nothing better than to criticise others' shortcomings. And so it was that they seized on hypocrisy and elevated it from a ubiquitous pecadillo into the monarch of all vices. For, you see, even if there is no right and wrong, you can find grounds to criticise another person by contrasting what he has espoused with what he has actually done. In this case, you are not making any judgment whatsoever as to the correctness of his views or the morality of his behaviour - you are merely pointing out that he has said one thing and done another. Virtually all political discourse in the days of my youth was devoted to the ferreting out of hypocrisy."

"In the late twentieth century Weltanschauung, a hypocrite was someone who espoused high moral views as part of a planned campaign of deception - he never held these beliefs sincerely and routinely violated them in privacy. Of course, most hypocrites are not like that. Most of the time it's a spirit is willing, flesh-is-weak sort of thing."

So, hypocrisy: deadly sin or shortcoming? Is =everything= all right for you to do as long as you never said it wasn't (or pledged full endorsement to something that says it isn't)? If not, is a wrong thing worse if you've said it's wrong than if you haven't? If you espouse an anti-capitalistic, anti-fame-factory viewpoint but, say, sign with a major record label and become rich and famous, but then =use= your fame and fortune to help broadcast your ideas and create alternatives to the system you claim to despise, is that worse than never 'selling out' and never having anyone to preach to but the choir? Is the bible hypocritical for holding a major tenet of "Thou shalt not kill" but also prescribing death in all sorts of unpleasant ways for various offenses? Does the idea that only "he who is without sin" should "cast the first stone" ameliorate that any? And whatcha think of the quote?

 

[pabloback]

hypocrasy = perfectly natural
i am one
i reserve the right to be one

 

[OpposingBalance]

I do not believe there is a single adult existing in the world who has never indulged in a little hypocrisy.
This is normal. We all have values and morals and the like that we stive for, but do not live up to completely. Who could sustain such, every moment of our lives?

 

[pabloback]

hypocracy is a disgusting manifestation of liars and their inability to form an opinion and stick to it , if you have an opinion you should not change it ....ever!!!!!

 

[Nora]

I think that the line between "deadly sin" and "annoying shortcoming" is crossed when you apply your stated belief system to others without applying it to yourself.

Priests who molest children while preaching to their congregations on the sin of fornication. - deadly sin

Preachers who stand on the pulpit preaching fire and brimstone against the wages of fornication and greed while fucking prostitutes and paying them with the money they've bilked little old ladies out of. - deadly sin

Doctors who warn their patients of risk factors to their health and then turn around and operate while drunk or under the influence of drugs. - deadly sin

Nasty, vicious women who spread gossip about people in their community and cause dissention and pain wherever they go while claiming to be "good upstanding pillars of the righteous community". - deadly sin

People who just do one thing and say another without condemning others for doing the same thing are just annoying and make you roll your eyes.

 

[OpposingBalance]

hypocracy is a disgusting manifestation of liars and their inability to form an opinion and stick to it , if you have an opinion you should not change it ....ever!!!!!

Wow...
Are you saying that you have never reneged on something, even if it was a promise you made silently only to yourself with no one to overhear?

 

[pabloback]

Wow...
Are you saying that you have never reneged on something, even if it was a promise you made silently only to yourself with no one to overhear?

i am saying that you have a short attention span

 

[Kitte]

Im a hypocrite at times I admit it...I try not to be though, it is actually something I am actively working on... and Very funny Pablo

 

[pabloback]

Im a hypocrite at times I admit it...I try not to be though, it is actually something I am actively working on... and Very funny Pablo

nice to see some got the joke

 

[Calamity Jane]

PB, you're killin me.

Hypocrisy is normal, it's part of the human condition.

 

[pabloback]

hypocrasy is something you are born with
or aspire to
or something