The standard definition of hypocrisy is:
1. The act of pretending to have a character or beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not possess.
2. Pretense of virtue or piety; false goodness. syn. see deceit" (The American College Dictionary. Random House, 1956).
Webster's Third New International Dictionary (2002) carries this definition both further and deeper: "... pretending to be what one is not; the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion."
Many of our elected leaders lay claim to being upholders of moral virtue and the last great champions of the Christian religion. So let us deal with that most difficult and demanding of all the Christian tenets, that one uppermost in its list of moral commandments: "Thou shalt not kill."
Those most adamantly in the pro-life camp stand foursquare upon this commandment in support of their position. Yet many of them are most vociferous in their support of the death penalty, fighting any attempts to abolish it. Is this hypocrisy?
Some who claim to be pro-life are nevertheless fervent supporters, even passionate champions of sending our sons and daughters to fight in America's illegitimate interventionist foreign vanity wars, some of which were promulgated on lies (Vietnam, Iraq). These same pro-lifers condone the bombing of innocent civilians as one of the "unavoidable tragedies" of war. They justified the use of atomic weapons on civilian populations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki as "necessary evils." Is this hypocrisy?
Furthermore, many of our elected leaders are actively working to abolish the Affordable Care Act (ACA), an act of mercy and compassion which makes it possible for millions of poor and middle-class Americans, many with pre-existing medical conditions, to have access to life-saving health care.
If they manage to do away with the ACA, it is believed that the insurance companies, the most immediate beneficiaries, would list as one of the exemptions to enrollment the pre-existing extended health traumas caused by covid-19, such as long-term lung and organ damage.
Those who so viciously and vocally opposed the confirmation of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, claiming it was nine months before the presidential election and the people must be allowed to decide who the nominee would be, now less than a month before the election, plan to ram through a nominee whose selection will almost certainly doom the ACA. Is this hypocrisy?
I do not exclude myself from the list of hypocrites. "People who live by their hearts, however, if they disagree with the government, are able to act in ways that demonstrate their own sense of integrity" ("Just This 365," by Lee Lozowick, Hohm Press, 2018).
Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country, to face our hypocrisies honestly, and to stand alongside the better angel which resides in all of us, whose nature is non-judgmental love, compassion, forgiveness, kindness and generosity.
The coming election will decide who represents our America to the rest of the world; it will decide what we stand for in the world community; it will decide who speaks for America; it will decide if America is willing to struggle with all of our hearts and souls to finally begin to live up to the principles, ideals, and beliefs upon which this America was founded. It will decide if we elect men and women who seek to live by honor, decency, and integrity, to model for our children what it takes to make America great--not again, but presently.
In the forthcoming election, we Americans will be asked to assert or negate our own inherent honor and dignity. The result will compel the rest of the world to ask, "Is this American legitimacy, or is this hypocrisy?"
Dr. Robert Moore is Emeritus Professor of English, University of Arkansas at Monticello.