Hypocrisy in Religion, are Atheists & Agnostics just as Bad?


Reply
 
Topic Tools Search this Thread
BenThruItAll is offline BenThruItAll Post #1  May 13,2009, 11:30am
BenThruItAll's Avatar

is looking forward to Spring in New England (if we have one!)

Quick Study

Joined: Feb 2009

New England

Posts: 143

See profile

The recent "news" (I have a hard time calling it real news) about Miss California's nude pictures got me thinking about hypocrisy in religion. First it was her comments about gay marriage that gave us the image that she was a "moral, upstanding Christian girl", now there are nude pictures floating around of her! This only compounds my ideas of hypocrisy from the moral right in politics who have gotten caught in all kinds of alarming situations.

My feeling is that atheists and agnostics are not as hypocritical, we don't hold others to such a high standard. What do you think? Do we just do it in other ways?
 
  Reply With Quote
awol71 is offline awol71 Post #2  May 13,2009, 3:30pm
awol71's Avatar

Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 618

See profile

I think that depends mostly on the individual. As far as hypocrisy is concerned, I think it is spread around pretty much equally.

Then again, generally speaking, many religious groups have beliefs that seem unjustified to outsiders (I mean, things like odd restrictions on food or drink that seem to have nothing to do with current knowledge of health standards, etc.) These rules are perhaps easier to break. I can readily see how one might be tempted to stray if one's only reason not to is "because god said so".

I hold people around me to high standards (but probably not the kind you were thinking of). I think I do a pretty good job of sticking to those standards myself. I think what helps me here is that I try to ground my decisions rationally as best I can. And I only accept the moral rules that I can ground rationally.

But the folks I know who are religious and have a rational approach to religion have pretty much the same moral standards that I have, and hold them pretty much for the same reasons. And are equally effective at putting them in practice.
 
  Reply With Quote
rix is offline rix Post #3  May 13,2009, 4:52pm
rix's Avatar

Happy 1st Anniversary, babe!

Veteran

Joined: Mar 2008

Cascadia

Posts: 1,388

See profile

I think we all as homo sapiens are guilty of varying shades of hypocrisy. It may be that hypocrisy appears in different forms. And true, if you build up a system of man-made observances and petty legalisms, you construct a plateau from which you have further to fall, and come off as appearing to be the greater hypocrite.

Hypocrisy, or maybe just plain ignorance, can be observed in this particular microcosm. You have people claiming to be "Christian" and "conservative," yet they are very modern in their outlook and sexual mores. And like the "fine upstanding contestant" it turns to be a facade and is easily shattered (But then again, when it comes to narcissistic pageant contestants, the waters do not run very deep. There is not much below the surface).

But admittedly, the one issue that keeps me personally vascillating between skepticism and the Judeo-Christian tradition is the issue of human fallibility. After all, the problem of evil is real, it is not an illusion or construct of the mind. And even those who believe that morals are the result of human or societal construction, will still feel wronged or violated if someone commits an infraction against their person or property.
 
  Reply With Quote
awol71 is offline awol71 Post #4  May 15,2009, 7:10pm
awol71's Avatar

Enthusiast

Joined: Mar 2009

Posts: 618

See profile

Apparently, there is not enough disagreement here to keep the posts flowing. So here are some random thoughts that will, hopefully, elicit a few comments.

rix wrote :
And even those who believe that morals are the result of human or societal construction, will still feel wronged or violated if someone commits an infraction against their person or property. But admittedly, the one issue that keeps me personally vascillating between skepticism and the Judeo-Christian tradition is the issue of human fallibility. After all, the problem of evil is real, it is not an illusion or construct of the mind.
Hypocrisy has so many faces. We make fun of others, and yet feel wronged when we're the butt of the joke. We insult, and feel wronged when insulted. We misunderstand, and don't realize when we are misunderstood. And so on.

It is so easy to be fallible. And sometimes so hard to accept that others can be, too. Knowledge can be an antidote. Surely, the more we learn, the fewer mistakes we make. But is it really scientific knowledge we need here?

Knowing how fast the Earth is moving, or how to make bigger bombs, or how many genes we share with a macaque... all this hasn't exactly helped us get along better all that much. What are a few more years of life, if all you can do with them is waste more water, burn more oil and tick more people off?

Is the "Principia Mathematica" more useful than "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" ? Is "E=mc2" so much more important than "Freude, schöner Götterfunken" ? Is planting a flag on the moon a more impressive achievement than Wikipedia (however imperfect it may be) ?
 
  Reply With Quote
WeDesignOurLives is offline WeDesignOurLives Post #5  May 16,2009, 9:36am
WeDesignOurLi…'s Avatar

is 20% off this week only!

Virtuoso

Joined: Dec 2007

Philly

Posts: 2,958

See profile

BenThruItAll wrote :
First it was her comments about gay marriage that gave us the image that she was a "moral, upstanding Christian girl", now there are nude pictures floating around of her! This only compounds my ideas of hypocrisy from the moral right in politics who have gotten caught in all kinds of alarming situations.

My feeling is that atheists and agnostics are not as hypocritical, we don't hold others to such a high standard. What do you think? Do we just do it in other ways?
I don't think you're being fair at all..is that being part of hypocrasy of pursuing truth?

She never made any claims about her moral standards. She made a single claim about a single issue. And certainly her choice in the past to pose nude doesn't have to have any bearing on her present moral commitment.

Then you bundle in 'high standard' with hypocrasy but how are they related? (they seem to not be.)

But the very fact that atheists and such (secular) DON'T (strongly) seek to have mankind follow a higher moral standard does make guilty of NOT seeking a high standard for all mankind. (They seem to want to just claim they CAN be moral and have good reason to be but there's no organized movement to bring people to the secular side because there's a higher moral standard.)

And lastly (yes, finally), I certainly think most atheists are hypocrits in the regard that they are most often actually 'anti-theists' and not a-theists. (I rarely ever tell people I am an atheist if I don't know them....they typically think I am a religion hater when actually I just don't believe in god.)

Thanks for your time.
 
  Reply With Quote
DennisWisconsin is offline DennisWisconsin Post #6  May 17,2009, 5:10pm
DennisWiscons…'s Avatar

Milwaukee

Power Poster

Joined: Jun 2008

Milwaukee

Posts: 5,720

See profile

I thought you were one of our token Christians.all this time...
 
  Reply With Quote
Reply


« Do Atheists Enjoy More Freedom and Less Guilt? | Atheists, Humorists, and Science | Energy Solutions For the Future »
Topic Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new topics
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are Off

Looking for a Great Relationship?

Get started now. Fill out this form and take the questionnaire to receive your matches.

First Name:

I'm a:
seeking

Postal Code:

Country:

Email:

Confirm Email:

Password:


How did you hear about us?


Latest on our Dating Advice Discussion Boards

“He broke up...The best way to stay hung-up is to keep dwelling,wishing, hoping, reminiscing....Like staring at an empty bottle of booze when you are trying to quit drinking. Rather than focus on a ... ” –  Wiseman2

Join the “Can I wait and move on at the same time?” discussion

“Oh how annoying - I had typed a HUGE post prompted by TheThinker's query as to why I would think it a good idea to wait 5-10 years to date/or until children are out of the house. I am too annoyed to ... ” –  picklesNcream

Join the “Transition from dating to relationship” discussion

“This is very true. If someone has a truly old /outdated account since the questionnaire was altered then it's a decent solution. It's become an urban legend on eHA that this is a good idea. Mostly ... ” –  Wiseman2

Join the “Different Strategy” discussion

“Shared interests and ones who are laddetts for mine.” –  ian80au

Join the “Green Flags in Profiles” discussion

“Completely cancel /delete your existing account. That will also cancel /delete all long-dead, geographically irrelevant matches. Since you are in a new area it's silly to use an old /outdated ... ” –  Wiseman2

Join the “Removing old matches - there has to be a better way” discussion

“I'm very sorry for your loss, Suzanne. It's not surprising you're feeling confused and making some memory errors. That happened to me too when my mother died. Life just isn't normal for awhile. ... ” –  Sassafras54

Join the “Photo Review” discussion

“I am closing this thread since the Original Poster (OP) was asking about the eHarmony of 2-1/2 years ago -- the thread is old (see date in the upper right of the first post). Some responses will no ... ” –  Sassafras54

Join the “What about a "PET BOX" ?? again this sounds simple or??” discussion

“Thanks for your advice guys, really helps out. I guess everything is a matter of balance, which isn't something that I can work out right now. I think I will focus on school for the remaining 3 years ... ” –  jrw93

Join the “Should I ever date in college?” discussion



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 3:26am.

Discussion Boards Archive

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Search Engine Friendly URLs by vBSEO 3.6.0