Intertwined Forever

Hypocrisy and humanity sitting in a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love
Then comes marriage
Then comes a baby
In the baby carriage


I'm convinced, every human being is born a hypocrite. Hypocrisy is as natural as screwing, and almost as satisfying.

Don't you think?

I didn't have to teach my oldest boy to snitch on his brother. Nope, he worked that out all on his own. I asked him if he loved his brother, and he said "Yes, sometimes." When I asked why he doesn't love his brother all the time, he said, "Because sometimes he does mean stuff."

Now, I was puzzled. My oldest son is pushing three-years old and his brother just turned 1. I couldn't figure out how a one-year old could do "mean stuff" to a 3-year old. So, I asked my little boy what his brother does.

"He pushes me down. And he takes toys from me. He's mean."

You really would have to spend time in my house to truly appreciate that comment. All of the actions my oldest son attributed to his brother were in fact actions he does himself. My wife and I are constantly having to chastise him for roughly shoving his little brother out of the way, or knocking him down just to see him cry. But, in my little boy's mind, he's the victim, not his brother.

In fact, when I asked him if he was ever mean to his brother, he said "Yes." But, he followed that up by reiterating that his brother was the real problem.

My little boy is a hypocrite.

Sadly, he's not alone. If hypocrisy were hemorrhoids, nobody in the world could eat spicy food.

Why is that? What makes hypocrisy so appealing?

I read a book recently that said that the majority of parents cited "honesty" as the most important trait they wanted to instill in their children. How can that be true when we have so many lying, rationalizing hypocrites running around the world? If honesty is important to parents, then why are they failing to teach their children that hypocrisy is the anti-thesis of honesty.

Maybe they just don't know. Maybe most people don't realize they are hypocrites. Maybe they view their hypocrisies as perfectly logical viewpoints. When they hold other people to standards they don't even try to live up to themselves, maybe that makes sense in their minds.

It has to be ignorance because I struggle to believe that people enjoy wallowing in hypocrisy. How can they enjoy that sick feeling of shame and disgust that accompanies uncovering personal hypocrisy?

Perhaps they can enjoy it because they don't experience those emotions. Instead of shame, maybe most people feel disbelief or even pride. What I see as hypocrisy, they see as perfectly acceptable and logical behavior. What I deem reprehensible, they deem praiseworthy.

Maybe hypocrisy has tunneled so deep into the soul and psyche of humanity that for most people they don't know where they begin and the hypocrite ends. They can't imagine life without the little hypocrisies that comfort them, and thus anybody who tries to force feed them honesty is an enemy.

Maybe I just don't know.




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