One of the reasons many people do not embrace a life of faith, or a life lived in an organized faith community, is the problem of hypocrisy. I think the biggest issue is when a "leader" or authority figure teaches or proclaims one kind of behavior as proper, righteous, law-abiding and either fails herself to live that way or condones that sort of behavior in certain others. The "certain others" may be seen as "pets".
The word hypocrisy has in its root meaning the idea of play-acting. The hypocrite is acting a role that is not his or her authentic self. Think of the actor playing Romeo, a callow youth. But the actor may be older, happily married, and inclined to suicide at all. The actor is simply, in the best sense of the word, a hypocrite.
But think of the preacher or priest who vigorously denounces homosexuality but who indulges himself in homosexual relationships, or condones certain friends who practice homosexual behavior, often as predators. This preacher or priest is a hypocrite in the worst sense of the word.
Such people may be among the high priesthood of civil religion, acting as senators, representatives, generals, admirals and such. They presume to write laws constraining you and me in the name of righteousness and are arrested for drunk driving, caught in restrooms soliciting sexual encounters they publicly condemn and so forth.
Hypocrites such as these really turn people off. Well, they turn me off.
What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know.
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