Dear Bunglehorn,

Senator Larry Craig’s resignation following his arrest for cruising an undercover policeman in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport restroom presents a golden opportunity to win points through hypocrisy. He’s been pummeled in the media during a week’s worth of news cycles, so his guilt in the public arena is assured. Let’s accept his impropriety as fact and not concern ourselves with anything less, since your patient will surely join the catcalls of late night comedians.

So we begin: Senator Craig is a hypocrite. Today, hypocrisy is the most foul state of a man, to profess one thing and do another. It’s quite natural for a person to be angry when a hypocrite preaches morality, then fails to live morally. Such a man should know better, yet he fails.

Oh you must incite this anger and disgust in your patient! You’ll find that it shades his own faults from his eyes. Is your patient not a repentant sinner too? Does he not feel remorse for doing things he knows he shouldn’t? Does he not feel guilty for not doing things he knows he should? Yes, of course, a little self-examination by honest men reveals they are all hypocrites. And this awareness is an early catalyst in their desire to sin no more, to be better people, to turn around and face their Creator with humility and beg forgiveness. Therefore, illustrate for him the shortcomings of others so that he’ll conclude that he’s not as bad as them.

If you get this far, congratulations are in order. You’ve devalued the actual immoral behavior and elevated a lesser charge of hypocrisy. You’ve also caused your patient to judge the salvation of others. This is key, because he not only presumes to withhold the Enemy’s infinite grace from his fellow man, but he presumes that he is worthy of infinite grace. In other words, he makes his Creator in his own image, his own false idol, and thereby breaks the first commandment. Kudos and huzzah!

And yet, I challenge you to do more. It’s easy to recognize hypocrisy, but can you convince him that there is no need for moral standards? Don’t hold back, Bunglehorn, this is easier than you think.

I submit to you from recent memory, the case of Jim McGreevey, the former Governor of New Jersey, a husband and father, who resigned when an aide threatened to expose their homosexual relationship. Contrary to Senator Craig, McGreevey’s indiscretions were immediately forgiven. The MSM lionized him because he had the courage to put himself in front of others at the risk of losing everything. He enjoyed a book deal, the accolades of Oprah and scores of favorable articles. He is contemplating a call to the Episcopalian priesthood. Meanwhile, his family quietly suffered a fractured private life and the underlying matters of infidelity are disregarded.

Where are the defenders of homosexual rights for Senator Craig? Where is the “It’s just sex!” crowd that vehemently defended President Bill Clinton’s infidelities? They are in the back of the crowd, lobbing hypocrite bombs just as they did with Congressman Mark Foley last year. They stand with Larry Flint, publisher of Hustler magazine, hell-bent on exposing anyone espousing “family values,” and then failing to be a good husband and father. These people believe absolute morality does not exist. Morality is in the eye of the beholder. This is exactly the position we want your patient to adopt.

Warmest Regards,
Wigglebrick

3 Comments to “Hypocrisy: The Greatest Sin”

1. 1

   Some who up-play Craig’s hypocrisy do so because they don’t see him as a gay man. True, there is a difference between same-sex attraction and the gay lifestyle (it’s the difference between thinking/feeling and acting/doing). Having a feeling isn’t inherently sinful, but acting on it may be. By focusing on hypocrisy, the underlying behavior is mitigated. It’s no longer important.

   Here’s an example. Dr. Laud Humphries, a former Episcopal priest and academician reported on the “Tearoom Trade” that Sen. Craig apparently engaged in. He conducted his studies, presumably as a participant in public bathroom trysts. Humphries’ biographer sees Sen. Craig as a hypocrite, not as a gay man.

   Deep Six
   September 4th, 2007 @ 9:12 AM

2. 2

   Gov McGreevy has come out in support of Sen. Craig via the Washington Post.

   Chugabug
   September 4th, 2007 @ 10:25 PM

3. 3

   My Dear Wigglebrick,

   How neatly you packaged our tempters’ duties in this matter! Bravo! Nothing like a little moral relativism mixed with hypocrisy to create a truly delightful draught.

   We should always remind our patients to “thank God they are not as other men.” Works every time.

   Warmest regards,

   Slickrake

   Slickrake
   September 6th, 2007 @ 8:38 AM

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