HYPOCRITES

By Morris Heldt

8-16-02

For neither man nor angel can discern hypocrisy, the only evil that walks invisible, except to God alone.    John Milton 1608-1674

Can a country of hypocrites endure? What exactly is a hypocrite? The synonyms on my computer thesaurus reads as one who deceives, pretends, commits fraud, and is a swindler. And, my favorite, simply a rascal, (how non judgmental and benign). Nowhere did I find a self-absorbed liar who does not want to get off his horse. Like the Emperor, who rides into town, and then because of his stature and power over the crowd, tells them to admire his new tailored made clothes. However, in reality, he sits atop his horse naked. This can only happen when the throng of people are so self-involved, or in need of honest leadership, that they close their eyes to the bright sun and accept being told to envision a rainbow.

Hypocrites have been with us all our lives. We all knew them in school, and growing up. And, being a human being, with human frailties, I’m confident most all of us have been one at some point in our life. Who of us has not verbalized, or acted out, from one viewpoint, while knowing deep inside we thought, or believed, the opposite. Ideally, it happened when we were young, and it seemed simple to take advantage of the moment and project a different opinion, or image than we had, or felt.  However, hopefully, and more importantly, inherently, most of us knew we were going against our moral compass. As we grew older, we were supposed to come to understand the difference between deception and honesty. I was taught understanding this, is one of the rights of passages into adulthood.

Now I find myself questioning if our society has grown to accept hypocrisy as a national character trait. Is it possible that it is no longer expected that we distinguish between different perspectives, but to only rationalize our existence, as part of a balanced society with an emotional outburst of caring? As tragic, and despicable, as September 11, 2001 was how can we as an ethical, conscientious country, take the innocent deaths of the Twin Towers’ victims and project more of a moral outrage than an American Soldier who gives up their life for our country. I am questioning if it is not hypocrisy to give each victim's family of September 11^th close to one million dollars, or more, but yet as a country we barely take care of our fallen soldiers’ families, who gave their life for our continued freedom. As a nation have we become so militant in our own self-absorbed lives that it takes a group of "movie stars," begging for money, for us to express our gratitude for this great country of ours. If so, why have we gotten to this point?

Perhaps these times call for hypocrisy. After all, are we not deluged, day after day, with corporate agendas and individual’s opinions about their right of passage? Many of these goals are sought in the name of prosperity for all. Not unlike our congressmen, and senators, whether they are Republican or Democrat, giving us one flowery speech after another, telling us how bad the other side is. They tell us how we should fear our economy, and the leaders of the opposite party are taking money out of our pockets. Meanwhile, they quietly prepare to give themselves a pay raise, which translates to they are taking more of our hard-earned dollars. Hypocrisy?

At one time, our leaders campaigned for our trust, and expressed their deep concerns about our nation’s policies. They had strong convictions, and solid ideas, and expressed them. They wanted to represent us to make a change, and a difference in this nation’s governing. We listened, and if enough people agreed, the majority voted them into office. Now days, they campaign only for our vote, not their deep rooted opinion about national policies. No longer are our representatives working for us, but for themselves, to place themselves in a well paid career-oriented job. Again, is this not hypocrisy?

From Washington DC to the smallest town in this country. I sense that the spirit of this nation has become individualized. As a people, our passivity is only over shadowed by our personal quest for success. We will respond to a movie star’s request during time of tragedy, but will we respond to our country’s calling, and investigate the truth, when it invades our personal agenda? I suggest to you that the hypocrisy in this country better be dealt with. If we do not, I suspect that some Emperor will ride into our lives and tell us that it is okay to lie down and die. We deserve no more.

The Ultimate Battle April 12, 2002  by Morris Heldt