Hypocrisy is a Christian Value

Throughout my adult life, and certainly in the past few years, I’ve noticed a trend where Christians will unabashedly proclaim certain values and morals to be the direct guidance from god, then turn around and act completely different.  These values and morals are not just written in a book for us to read, but actually INFUSED in our brains, they claim.  To act otherwise is to wish to sin.  Yet basically the majority of voting Christians in this country have acted completely opposite of the values they claim to possess.  They say one thing in church, and do a completely different thing in the voting booth.  Hypocrisy, you ask?  Most definitely.

Outside the voting booth, preachers and apologists willingly lie every day.  They’ve practiced it so much it’s become second nature.  Their flock is no better off.  The bible belt is also the divorce belt, gay porn belt and abortion belt.  This hardly seems like the Christianity they profess.

For fun, I went to a Christian website and found this list of “Christian Values.”

Grace – a subversive value! Giving people more than they deserve.
Hope – not a guarantee of immunity from harm but a conviction that God is always
present
Faith – the means to real depth in relationships of all kinds
Love – means to love the unlovely
Justice – for all (not ‘just-me’). A concept biased in favor of the disadvantaged.
Joy – impossible to legislate for this but an essential social value
Service – meaning is found in service rather than self-centredness
Peace– not just the absence of fighting but positive well-being

Let’s discuss.

Grace.  If I had to name a number of Christian-led policy initiatives that fight hard NOT to give people more than what they deserve (except punishment), it would be too easy.  Immigration, welfare, social security, disability, union wages, trade balances, and the homeless are all issues where the Christian lobby actively works to keep people from getting one cent more than they deserve.  Now, I’m not going to tell you how I personally stand on any of these issues, because this isn’t a political blog.  But if you profess to being a Christian, and you don’t support grace in the public discourse, then you’re a hypocrite.

Hope.  Christians will tell you all day long that they have hope that god is always present, but they don’t.  They’re being hypocrites.  How many Christians buckle their seat belt?  For that matter, how many Christians are deeply saddened when a loved one dies in a car wreck?  Why?  If they actually believed god was there, and heaven was real, then a seat belt is just a device to screw up gods plan.  Death is only an extended business trip.  If they really believe they will be joining them in the afterlife for eternity some day, then why all the pain and anguish?  Hypocrisy.

I just have to laugh my ass off at this website’s definition of “faith.”  “The means to real depth in relationships of all kinds”.  Ha!  As it turns out, faith is also the means to justify why a significant other beats you.  Faith is the means to being unaware or blindly ignoring when your significant other is cheating on you, depleting your savings, or is addicted to controlled substances.  No, faith is a stupid means to gain depth in a relationship.  I think they mean “trust”.  Obviously, they are confused.  Faith is blindly believing.  Trust is something you build up over time.  Trust comes when your partner acts in the best interest of the relationship again and again.  Trust comes when your partner pays attention to your needs.  Trust comes when your partner is able to handle matters responsibly on a routine basis.

But since they seem to think “faith” is the thing to do, how do they actually do with it?  Fundamentalist Christians get divorced at higher rates than anyone else in the U.S.  So we know that faith doesn’t really have anything to do with good relationships.  Do they have faith in their sky-daddy?  I’m going to call bullshit on this one as well.  I can’t provide any links or statistics (it would be very hard to study), but let me provide exhibit A: Christianmingle.com.  Just the very existence of this website, and the lack of anger from Christians on it’s existence, demonstrates their hypocrisy.  Hell, the tagline says it all!  “God has a plan for you, but sometimes he needs a little help.”  In other words, “have faith that god will take care of you, but since he never actually does that for anyone, here’s a real, actionable step you can take to find your partner.”  The list of ways Christians act like hypocrites like this can take many forms.  You can pray to find your keys, but here’s a beeper to help you find your keys.  You can pray disease away, but also go to the doctor.  You can pray for a safe flight, but the FAA better have their shit together.  They claim to have faith, but in every single aspect of their life, they are hedging their bets.  Just in case god doesn’t help.  Hypocrites.

Love- and love the unlovely.  Side bar, remember when Bible God yells at his people that any guy that has lost his balls or an eye because of an accident can’t come into the temple?  Good times.  Nothing like loving the unlovely.

Yeah, Christianity is SOOO not a religion of love that it’s almost synonymous with hatred in US politics.  If you’re a white Christian male, of course, you get love.  All sorts of love.  But if you’re Mexican, Muslim, Atheist, brown skinned, gay, transgender, homeless, and in many circumstances a woman, then you’re not getting any love.  Reminds me of this meme:

(*note:  The above meme is not mine, but it has been pointed out that a. The Quran specifies women be sexually submissive to their husbands, not men in general, and b. the satanic statement is not in the Satanic Bible, but in the 11 Satanic Statements which are separate.)

Seriously, the tenants of LaVeyan Satanism are more in line with modern morality than the bible, by a long shot.  And I’m sure some ass-hat apologist will tell you that it’s because we are sinning now and we need to get back to god.  But seriously.  What do they personally think about rape?  If you didn’t tell them which book it came from, they would reject the biblical morality and choose the satanic morality.  And I’m not saying they SHOULD follow the bible, quite the opposite.  But even when they act like pretty decent people, they still stand up for the bible, and even vote and legislate based on the bible.  Again, completely contradictory to the way they actually live.  Hypocrisy.

So what about justice, and being set up to favor the disadvantaged?  Hardly.  Tax breaks that benefit the rich.  Hell, a tax code that benefits the rich.  Jail time for minor drug offenses, but leisurely probation for those that embezzle millions or even billions of dollars, causing thousands of people to live in impoverish conditions.  A professional athlete tried to raise the issue of justice through a quiet, non-violent protest.  He stated specifically that he was raising awareness for injustice.  This should have been a banner for Christians.  Instead they called him every name in the book, slandered the very purpose of his protest, and cheered when a leader said he should be fired.  Hypocrites.

Joy?  I guess I’ll skip this one.  Not really something you can do.

Service.  Nothing makes me laugh more than when a Christian tells me about all the good works their church does.  Now, I’m sure that somewhere, somehow, there is a selfless act of service being performed by a Christian or even a church group.  But let’s be honest.  Most of these services provided by churches are just recruitment campaigns.  That’s about as self-serving as it gets.  “Oh, we’re helping his body AND his soul” they would reply.  Bullshit again.  If it really meant that much, it would be your main purpose.  No, it’s your sub-purpose, or hidden purpose.  It’s self-serving, and it’s hypocritical.

And finally, let’s discuss how the war-mongering Christians are doing on the subject of peace.  Oh, did that give it away?  Yes, Christians are all too happy to go to war if the opponent doesn’t seem more than willing to just give up completely and convert.  The war between Israel and Palestine is funded by legislation supported by the Christian lobby.  Why, you ask?  Because in their mind, the sooner those two heathen groups get around to killing each other, the sooner Jesus will come and the world will end.  Oh, after he kills lots more people.  They don’t want peace, they want the rapture.  Hypocrites.

For every divorced fundamentalist Christian, there is a hypocrite.  For every fundamentalist Christian dressing lavishly and driving expensive cars, you find a hypocrite.  For every Christian that wants to “build the wall”, hypocrites.  Every Christian that says they follow the bible is a hypocrite.  In so many ways and so many times, the Christians say one thing, but do another.  Hypocrisy is so entrenched in U.S. Christianity, they might as well add it to their list of values.

The Spartan Atheist