Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Mollie Hemingway, Ed. ·
Jun 2, 2011 at 7:08am
My day job involves analyzing media coverage for how well it handles religion news. Last night, I was shocked to hear CNN anchor Jessica Yellin (above) assert that only social conservatives can be guilty of hypocrisy. I'm already annoyed by how the media use the term "hypocrisy" to describe people who have merely failed to be moral. But now they're further muddying the term.
Have our standards for liberals gotten so low that we now no longer expect them even to stay faithful to their wives? Talk about the soft bigotry of low expectations. Lying, shifting blame, disrespecting one's wife, disrespecting other women -- you don't get a free pass on these things simply because you have a 100% NARAL rating, do you?
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Comments :
Aug '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Being faithful to Huma Abedin wasn't part of the terms package when Weiner married her under the watchful eyes of Hillary and Bill.
Oct '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
This is simply an attempt to brand "hypocrisy" as something worse than any and all underlying crimes/misdeeds. This way Democrats are NEVER as bad as Republicans. They try to frame the argument into a lose-lose situation for Republicans no matter what the circumstances.
Mar '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Pat Moynihan warned of the dangers of “defining deviancy down.” He was, in this regard, prophetic.
But I disagree with your suggestion that all it takes is support of abortion to make a politician immune to the consequences of sexual peccadilloes. Bob Packwood, who was a consistent supporter of abortion rights, was drummed out of the Senate just for stealing a kiss from one of his workers while Bill Clinton got a pass on a credible allegation of rape and numerous lesser offenses.
Mollie, what I think you meant to say was that a NARAL endorsement gets Democrats a free pass.
Apr '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Liberals have always held that it is better to stand for nothing, or even to stand for depravity, than try to uphold virtue and fall short. Of course this is hardly a principled stand they take. But again for the Left and their media enablers, there is never simply mistake or poor judgement on the part of the Republican or Evangelist who fails a moral test. The failure is always proof that the person is really an insidious creature, who never believed in all that moral boilerplate in the first place. Hence their manipulation of the word hypocrisy. Our own Andrew Klavan made this excellent point on the Ricochet podcast a couple months back.
Jan '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
The resulting argument is that if you don't assert anything to be right or wrong, you can't be accused of hypocrisy, and can therefore do anything you want. That would be a stupid person's interpretation of the warning, "judge not lest ye be judged." It isn't a get-out-of-jail-free card. It doesn't mean to stop considering anything right or wrong.
This is one of those passages from the bible that requires common sense. It's not a blanket prohibition of making value judgments. Instead, it urges you to pay attention to your own behavior. Make sure you aren't as guilty of the same offense that you're accusing of others. And, knowing how sinful we all are, don't be too quick to point at others' sinfulness.
A 12 year old interprets this passage as a way to avoid being condemned for doing something wrong. That's apparently the level Jessica Yellin is working on.
May '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
It's sad proof that any telegenic ninny with a pretty face who's been to university can get on television and tell us what to think...
Jun '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
KC -- What a great and succinct explanation of this often misunderstood passage.
Nov '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
This is why I follow KC....
Apr '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
KC- More than just common sense it simply requires a complete reading of the scripture.
“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
We are not called to ignore each other's faults, but rather to live righteously so that we can judge righteously. The world likes to take this half-sentence from a complete thought and use it as a two-way shield. I am safe from judgement and also freed from the higher standard we are called to in order to facilitate righteous judgement.
Feb '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Part of the etymology of hypocrisy is "play-acting" or "playing the part"- Rep. Weiner has been playing the part of the victim and saying that he didn't send the photo.
In my opinion, pretension is a key to hypocrisy, whether it is the pretension of the unfaithful preacher claiming to be holy (the left's favorite) or the pretension of the perpetrator to claim be a a victim. Weiner is saying one thing, that he is a victim and if is shown that he is in fact something else, the perpetrator, that would give him fairly good qualification for being a hypocrite. It is not so much the act that makes him a hypocrite, we all fall short, but the false claims of innocence.
Jun '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
That's true. He stayed within the Left's standard of conduct. He didn't break the law, or more accurately, whatever he did is not prosecutable. So he can still hold his head high.
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Other Conor: Part of the etymology of hypocrisy is "play-acting" or "playing the part"- Rep. Weiner has been playing the part of the victim and saying that he didn't send the photo.
In my opinion, pretension is a key to hypocrisy, whether it is the pretension of the unfaithful preacher claiming to be holy (the left's favorite) or the pretension of the perpetrator to claim be a a victim. Weiner is saying one thing, that he is a victim and if is shown that he is in fact something else, the perpetrator, that would give him fairly good qualification for being a hypocrite. It is not so much the act that makes him a hypocrite, we all fall short, but the false claims of innocence. · Jun 2 at 8:52am
In other words, Rep. Weiner might be the perfect example of a hypocrite.
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
There will always be a double standard regarding personal behavior, with those who talk most about morality apt to take the most heat if they transgress. That doesn't strike me as unfair, because irony makes for a good story. However, the idea that hypocrisy trumps morality is ludicrous, though that appears where we're headed.
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
"Hypocrisy," wrote La Rochefoucauld in the 17th century, "is the tribute that vice pays to virtue." The only human beings that fully escape hypocrisy are those unashamed of vice. CNN's Jessica Yellin would appear to think that this is what liberalism has come to. And perhaps it has.
Feb '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Darn, beat me to the quote. Since liberalism is morally bankrupt, it cannot afford to pay tribute. An inability to be a hypocrite is evidence of an absence of morality, not adherence to a higher moral standard.
Apr '11
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
At the end of the day, all of this is just an excuse, any excuse, to get the heat off of a left leaning pol. Tim Geitner certainly wasn't crucified by the press for evading taxes even though the left's mantra is "rich should pay their fair share". Does anyone truly believe a GOP nominee for a cabinet position would get a similar pass for tax evasion even if the nominee didn't believe in taxes?
Sep '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
Your day job is to watch media to see how they handle religion news? Sorry.
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
It's fun, actually. And there are some great reporters on the beat, too. You can check out what we do over at GetReligion.org.
Aug '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
And that CNN presents it ? Too perfect, eh .
Oct '10
Re: Only Social Conservatives Can Be Hypocrites?
I agree that you get rough treatment if you've publicly taken stands based on moral grounds that you wouldn't otherwise get. Whenever I hear people appeal to the verse about not judging I get suspicious of how biblically literate they are. By the way, Jesus said to judge rightly when you judge, and if we weren't supposed to make judgments how would we know if any word or deed was right or wrong. But I think in a way the response is about guilt. I think the glee with which the media takes down 'moralizers' is a lashing out. I've seen this in individuals who are flaming atheists and flamboyant about their opposition to religion. They're usually the ones who are quite soft underneath the rough exterior. I think in a way it's a kind of admission that there is a moral framework and we have some inherent, intractable flaws.