Timothy Lee
Professor Woodard
English 110-08
3/9/2014
The Dangers of Religious Hypocrisy Merriam-Webster’s defines the word hypocrite as “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue and religion, and a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” Although many have fallen into the category of being a hypocrite, adding a religious aspect can make that person into a dangerous and distrustful figure. Religious hypocrisy is dangerous because it can and has led to distrust in friendships, poor parenting, and even wars hurting both the hypocrite and the religion. One dangerous aspect of religious hypocrisy is that it can destroy friendships. For example, a friend, who continues to commit adultery and is seen at their religious establishment condemning those who commit the same offense, hurts both the religious establishment and the friend’s reputation. His or her words, although right in the religion’s eyes, would be less righteous in the congregation’s eyes. His or her words to convince someone not to commit adultery are significantly weakened because that very person speaking those words commits adultery themselves. Another example is a friend who constantly steals yet denies it, preaching that his or her beliefs are against stealing. This person is hurting his or her beliefs by making themselves a thief and his or her religion by making their religions a shield for thieves. Another dangerous aspect of religious hypocrisy is that it can dangerously affect a child’s moral upbringing. For example, a parent’s religious belief could be that lying is wrong. However, the parent continues to lie to the child every day. This could lead the child to distrust their parent or accept that lying is not wrong. Another example could be that even though a parent’s religious belief is to be kind to others, he or she constantly attacks