A faith perspective on current events. By: Fr. Steven Foppiano
“Straw Man” Hypocrisy Charged by Real Hypocrites
Idaho Senator Crain is rethinking his decision to resign. This may or may not be a good thing for him, his party, or the country and I am certainly not going to defend him if the accusations of his behavior turn out to be true, but he has certainly been the victim of a double standard in Washington and the press that is deplorable and unjust. I would love it if his accusations would cast a shadow over a highly esteemed Senate but the fact is that his actions are minor compared to those of others who have been readily excused for their behavior and supported by their fellow senators without blowback from the press.
Senator Barney Frank once had a gay prostitution ring working out of his house. I would imagine that his defense of not knowing what his boyfriend was doing ring with the same or less credibility than the denials of Senator Craig. He was never asked to resign and suffered no Senate action or even investigation for his involvement. William Jefferson is under investigation and was found with $600,000 in cash stashed in a refrigerator. He is still not only serving in the Senate but has not had to give up any of his leadership posts. Other Senators say that they will with hold judgment until all the facts are in. The evidence of $600,000 in cash seems to bring forward no doubts. Censored Congressman Gerry Studds made no apologies for having sex with male pages, turned his back to the Congress during censor and continued to serve in Congress for many years. Of course, there is the admitted engagement of sex with pages in the Oval Office. The President was impeached for lying but no action was taken for the acts themselves. His denial that oral sex was sex as all may well be the source of a prolifiration of such acts engaged in by teens.
Why then is there such a cry over Senator Crain’s offense and call for his ouster? When others get a pass or an understanding pat on the back, Senator Crain is ostracized and abandoned by his party and many call for his resignation. The headlines typically read something about him being an “anti gay” politician caught in an act of hypocrisy. The same is true for former Congressman Mark Foley and others who got caught in immoral acts and happen to be conservative. It is assumed that by being conservative they are anti gay or at the least, hypocrites for their actions in light of their political positions. It seems that it is okay to be dishonest and immoral as long as you hold no public values.
The problem of course is that the press and opponents have set up what is termed a ‘straw man”, one that is set up to be destroyed but does not reflect the reality. Just because someone is against gay marriage does not mean that the person is anti gay. My own Church is against gay marriage but is anything other than anti gay. I know many disagree with this because for them it is an all or nothing proposition. If you do not accept the full political agenda of the liberal gay political movement, you are labeled homophobic, unjust, or anti gay. Nothing could be further from the truth. Having a great respect for marriage and seeing it as a special institution important to society to uphold heterosexual unions for the sake of strong families, does not mean you are against gays and lesbians. You may disagree with the premise of the argument and bring out all the arguments about divorce, etc, and on this debate can occur, but it does not make those in opposition to gay unions anti gay. Many are for some sort of legal protection for such unions but want it kept separate from an institution they see as preserving something very important.
The charge of hypocrisy is brought up whenever someone conservative or religious gets themselves into trouble. How can they support family values when they cheat on their spouse? How can they not support gay legislation when they engage in homosexual acts? How could they uphold accountability laws when they are caught stealing? How can they preach against sin when they are sinners? This single cry seems to justify labeling an entire class or group of people in negative terms and marginalizing them as hypocrites and radicals. There is a margin of truth to the charge but that margin is morphed to overshadow and diminish the values professed.
The fact is that few of these people ever held them selves up as perfect examples. Craig may have been against gay marriage and have put forth legislation to uphold family values, but he did not stand up and say, “I do this because I am the perfect example of a husband and father.” Christians are often accused of hypocrisy but it is a false accusation because we fully realize that we too are sinners. Because we stand for morality and against sin, does not mean we put ourselves above those who find themselves still caught in sin. In simply means that we strive for what is right and true and call others to join in that struggle. When we point out the sin of society, we do not excuse ourselves from being sinners. In my Church, before receiving Communion, we pray, “Lord, look not upon our sins but upon our faith.” In this we acknowledge that while we condemn sin and calls sinners to repentance, we do not exclude ourselves from that what we preach.
The charge seems to be that if you point out immoral behavior, you have to be completely clean of sin yourself. If you support family values, you can never go against those values in your own life. If you fail to support the entire gay political agenda, you can never have a stray sexual thought or non-heterosexual action. The charge is false and sets up the proponents of these values for easy knock down by attributing to them a righteousness they never claim for themselves. The fact is that despite the failings and weaknesses of human nature, the values professed remain true and good in themselves. You can argue against these values but to do so by destroying those who proclaim them is akin to the chosen people who persecuted the prophets for speaking the Word of God. It is a false charge of hypocrisy made by those who have become blind to the truth or merit of the proclamations and see only opposition and the need to win.
If we are held up to this standard of purity, then there will be no constraints on behavior at all. How many of us have never ever stolen anything, not even a pen from work or a cookie when temptation hit? Does our being guilty of these offenses mean that we can no longer condemn theft as a whole? If someone fights in a war and kills a person, does he or she loose all rights to condemn killing? If we ever have a stray thought towards sex outside of marriage, does that prohibit us from ever upholding family values? If we are all tempted to sin, can we ever speak out to fight against such temptation?
The fact is that we proclaim the purity of the Truth long before we are able to live it. We condemn immoral behavior when we are still guilty of some immoral acts. We condemn theft when many slip little things out from the office for use at home. We berate speeders because they go further over the speed limit than we are willing to risk when we speed. We are a sinful people fighting not only the sin around us but also within us. We call the world to reform it's self, as we ourselves struggle with reform. But we cannot stop the proclamation. Someone must stand up for what is right, even if it is those who are themselves in the wrong. This is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is when we feel we are above the rules or think they only apply to others and we are excused our actions. This is simply speaking the truth even as we struggle to live it. We are not condemning others but are inviting them to join our struggle.
This does not mean that there should be no consequences for our actions. We need to be responsible and suffer the results of our sins. Outrageous behavior that victimizes others especially needs to be condemned and punished. What is upsetting is that so many get a free pass because they take no stance or are on the “politically correct” side of things, while those who try to better society are the only ones held to any standard. If Craig is guilty, I would love it if we had a Senate that could not tolerate such behavior and ousted him. Unfortunately, we have no such Senate and those asking for him to leave are guilty of far worse offenses. We need not list the actions of Ted Kennedy and others who treat the Senate and Congress like a private club for their own pleasures.
I do not defend Craig but do call for an even playing field. If we are serious about reforming a Senate and House that has grown largely disconnected and separate from the people they are supposed to serve, then let’s call them all to task and demand the same upright behavior from all. If we excuse some mistakes, then let’s keep that same standard across the board. The selective outrage shown based on a person’s political leanings is unfair and in itself is corrupt. It debases our political system and makes a mockery of all that is good. Let’s have high standards but let’s also hold all to the same measurement. Craig should be punished for his offense, not for it being a gay act or an act of hypocrisy.
As for the wider charge often filed against Christians that we are hypocrites because we remain sinners as we go to Church; I am not too worried. Life is a journey of continued reform. We seek perfection, fail, get up and seek it again. I like to tell these accusers that yes, if striving to be better than we are and seeking a goal we must struggle to achieve means we are hypocrites, then yes we are. Not to worry though, there is room in the Church for many more such hypocrites and they qualify well for membership.
Father Steven Foppiano