Hypocrisy

“Well this is just a little Peyton Place and you’re all Harper Valley Hypocrites.” 

With these song lyrics, written by Tom T. Hall and made famous by country singer Jeannie C. Riley, Mrs. Johnson “Socked it to the Harper Valley PTA.”  Although somewhat of a gimmick song, “Harper Valley PTA” nonetheless went on to win a Grammy in 1969 and the Academy of Country Music named it the song of the year.  Critics may cringe, but Country and many Pop fans liked it. The song  also resonated with all of us who can’t stand hypocrisy. 

Full disclosure: I, and I assume all of you reading this, have exhibited hypocrisy at some time in our lives.  I have no idea why, but it seems to be a part of human nature.  We often behave in ways that we at the same time deride.  

Politicians and celebrities are of course the worst examples and it seems the more autocratic or famous they are the greater the hypocrisy.  I’ll spare you my examples of political or celebrity hypocrisy as I am sure you each have more than enough examples of your own.  

For now I will be contemplating and focusing more on my own navel. 

Virtually all religions and philosophies condemn hypocrisy.  I could neither think of nor find an example of anyone supporting the practice of hypocrisy.  It seems that everyone sees it as a bad thing.  

And yet…we all are sometimes hypocrites.

Here are some personal examples of hypocrisy that I am not particularly proud of: 

Example 1 – I speak out about against an unfair system that allows people to go homeless and hungry, yet while on the street, I often look the other way when a panhandler asks for food or money, both of which I have the ability to provide to them.  

Example 2 – The climate is certainly changing and green house gasses clearly are accelerating this change.  Like many of you, I think that “we need to do something” and yet I travel by air cross-country, or at least I did until the pandemic, several times annually burning God only knows how much jet fuel.

Example 3 – Like many of you I also enjoy the ambiance of a good old-fashioned wood fire. Since we don’t have wood-burning fireplaces in either of our two homes, we use electric “fake” fireplaces pretending that the generation of electricity does not involve fossil fuels and at some point pollute our environment with green-house gases.

Example 4 – It’s very woke now to talk about reparations even though I, and all of you who are not Native American, live on land that at one time was stolen.  If you are white, you and I also have most likely had a leg up in educational opportunity and passed down family wealth, even if just a little.  And yet, I know nobody who is giving up their house or land because it was at one time stolen from native Americans, including myself.

Example 5 – This very blog is promoted as being  “Middle Ground” with openness to competing ideas.  It has been pointed out to me, however, that, like virtually all blogs or online opinions, I tend to cater to people who already think like me.  

Guilty as charged on all of the examples of hypocrisy. 

For each of these personal examples where I have been hypocritical there are of course quick and easy rationalizations:  

Rationalization 1 – “The panhandler will just use the money for drugs.” 

Rationalization 2 – “Travel by air allows us to visit other parts of the world and enhance our knowledge of other peoples and them of us thus helping to create world peace. At least I am only traveling within the U.S., not really polluting like those wealthy people who travel Internationally.” 

Rationalization 3 – “Electric stoves are at least better than wood stoves and even wood stoves are better than they used to be.  Fireplaces bring us back to a simpler time.” 

Rationalization 4 – “My family ancestors did not actually steal any land nor were they slave owners. They just worked hard, saved their money and left me a little. Others had the same opportunities as my ancestors.”  

Rationalization 5 – “My blog is directed only at family and friends therefore it is only natural that most readers agree with me.”

You get the point.  We can rationalize almost anything if we want to, even our own hypocrisy. 

Rationalization may make us feel better about ourselves.  It does not, however, change the reality that sometimes we act like hypocrites.

If you think you have never been hypocritical, I suggest you look deeper inside. 

If you have things you have been hypocritical about that you don’t mind sharing, I’d love to hear about it.  Click on Leave a comment below.