I am a hypocrite, which I hate in myself and in others. I return to a theme that often what we hate in others is the fact that we see our faults more clearly in them.
HYPOCTRITE – from Greek for actor; a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion; a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.
There are the obvious hypocrites: the evangelists who fervently preach the gospel, but live in palatial homes, drive luxury automobiles and fly private jets: The Gospel of Reward Me While on Earth Because I Believe. Now where was that in Jesus’ teaching??? I don’t seem to recall that. Nor in the Buddha, nor in any truly spiritual teacher.
Some years ago there was extreme outrage over the abuse of the bodies of slain American soldiers in the streets of Somalia. The mistreatment rightly called for outrage. Yet, at almost the same time the History Channel repeatedly aired footage of our Iraqi invasion, including flaming Iraqi tanks and vehicles. The footage played like a video game, rather than the real life destruction of human life that it was.
We have many adamant pro-life advocates. Understandable, but many of those same people seem unaware and uncaring of the plight of children and the poor. Birth, but then you are on your own.
America is a nation of hypocrites. We claim to be built upon freedom of expression and tolerance, yet stifle opposing views. We claim to be a nation of immigrants, but are suspicious and intolerant of those who are different. Our self-perception is one of education and knowledge, but we glean our news from shallow sources and rumor. We seek to reinforce our views rather than challenge them. We claim to be peace-loving, but have been at war virtually my entire life. Eisenhower, a most respected general, seems to have been our most diligent president in recognizing the threat of war and the power of the military-industrial complex. How many of our leaders since him have been flag lapel wearing, stand at attention for the anthem hypocrites who avoided military service but are all to quick to send young men off to war. And what of other nations? We have meddled in the affairs of others, often because of our “economic interests”. Translate that phrase to our greed and avarice for a lion’s share of the world’s resources.
While other nations seek accords to lessen man’s impact on the environment our nation seeks its own direction of “America First.” If that is who we are as a county, so be it, but let’s not pretend to be a world leader, respectful of others and a friend to all.
Are other countries better than us? No. But America is not better than every country. And there are those from whom we could learn. One example is Bhutan where Gross National Happiness is the national measure rather than Gross Domestic Product, where its people do seem happier than many Americans.
So many of us are self-centered, egotistical, narrow-minded, and have high opinions of ourselves, believing we are better than we are. I don’t hold myself as better than others. I recently read an article asking the question of whether Trump may be the president we deserve. I think as abhorrent as he is, the answer to that question may be ‘yes’.