I will assume the reader knows
about the Seven Deadly Sins. What the
reader may not know, however, is that there is no actual Biblical reference to
the specific number (7) associated with the bundle of misdeeds we’ve come to
know today. Both the Old Testament and
the New Testament address the various wrongful acts and thoughts and principal
vices from different writings by the prophets and disciples but we will not
read anywhere that says, “Seven Deadly Sins”. The Ten Commandments, on the
other hand, are indubitably unambiguous about the number 10 and specificity of what
man is supposed to do and not do as written on those two stone tablets that
Moses brought down from Mt. Sinai, as depicted in the Old Testament.
Strictly speaking, if we must go
by the definition of principal vices, we should add more to the number today. After
all, modern civilization has brought additional behavioral burdens and moral
challenges to society not known to the prophets and religious leaders two to four
thousand years ago. There could be more, depending on how one
navigates through the new morality.
Evagrius Ponticus is credited
with coming up with an original list of 8 principal vices in the 4th
century that later inspired John Cassian to also write about them. Pope Gregory in the 6th century
reduced the number to 7 Cardinal Sins now presently delineated in Roman
Catholic Theology: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger, and Sloth. There is a debate though as to how deadly the
seven sins really are. Not literally
anyway as some would argue but in an allegorical sense perhaps – referring more
to the death of the spirit or of the soul.
If I were to add one - and just
one - cardinal sin to the existing list, I come up with hypocrisy. Granted, the
Pharisees and publicans had been chastised for that behavior in the New
Testament, it did not make the original list. Those criticized mostly for that behavior
were religious leaders, government officials and tax collectors. Is it something
acquired late in life? You see, mild
degrees of pride, greed, envy, over consumption, anger and tantrum, and
laziness are traits noticeable among teenagers and even young children but
hardly is hypocrisy discernible early in
youth. It is purely an adult malady
developed later in life, it seems.
The word hypocrisy has its
origins from the Greek language (hypokrisis) where it was regarded with
a somewhat neutral connotation. It was at first associated with Greek theater
where play acting on stage was what actors did.
As actors played different roles, their public performance were just
exactly that –character impersonation.
Hypocrites were stage actors who clearly were nothing more than role
players. When the Romans came to power,
actors were looked down upon for their “counterfeit persona”. It did not take long for the word associated
with acting – hypocrisy – to slide
into disrepute.
By the time the Bible was
translated into the King James Version, the word had lost its original
connection to role playing and acting but took on its current meaning, to wit, pretentiousness, or “the
practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own
behavior does not conform”. But yet again we see its meaning take another
pivot in the 21st century.
Self-righteousness was what the
Pharisees were associated with in the Book of Luke but the key was not so much
that of merely displaying piety publicly. It is of appearing to be pious in places of
worship or where they can be publicly noticed then go on to behave entirely
differently when they are by themselves or dealing with others. For example, some folks today can be devoutly
religious – regularly attending church and giving generously to it – but take
on a very uncharitable behavior when it comes to doing business or in social
settings not connected to places of worship.
From the movie “The Godfather”, a
metaphorical presentation of extreme hypocrisy
was depicted in the episode, “Baptism of Fire”, when Michael Corleone was
standing as godfather to his sister’s son at a church baptismal ceremony. As that was happening, the scenes cut away to
the killings of five or so other rival crime bosses that were sanctioned by Michael himself. That
was at near the movie’s denouement
actually – though let us not forget it was still just a movie - but we must
realize that history is filled with more horrific examples of man’s inhumanity
to man in the name of religion and other supposedly “just” causes.
We must mention these extreme
cases so that then we can move on to more subtle examples but no less
insidious. They can be just as deadly though
not noticeably detectable because the lines do get blurred where politics and
the news media are involved. Today, the consuming public is overwhelmed with a
daily barrage of information from the broadcast and newspaper media as never
before. Unfortunately the purveyors of
information no longer just report the news; instead, they now want to shape
public opinion or even blatantly align the coverage of the news to suit certain
political agenda, or worse they have become embroiled in pure partisanship. Many
and they’re from all different sides, are no longer unbiased disbursers of
information; alarmingly, some do not even pretend anymore. There is obviously a huge difference between
reporting and explaining on one hand and taking up positions on the other, as
to endorse certain policies from one political party while conscientiously
opposing those from the other.
And let us not forget proponents
of causes coming from luminaries in the social and entertainment world. When some are gripped by fear of global
warming or climate change due to excessive emission of carbon then they must
answer these first: (a) why trot the globe in the worst carbon-emitting mode of
transportation – private jets? At least,
commercial jetliners carry more people than a handful; (b) why choose to live
in a 10,000 square foot air-conditioned home occupied by two people? Often, if
they are out traveling in jets and yachts, the empty house remain climatically
controlled, consuming and wasting energy - another hypocritical dagger plunged into the environmental
cause; (c) why not carpool to this or that entertainment award ceremony instead
of individual limousines lining up for hours, spewing carbon while inching
their way in and out of the self-congratulatory venues espousing their concern
against climate change? These folks are no less hypocritical than the Pharisees
from over 2,000 years ago. Do these
folks even know what they’re talking about – clinging to the bumper sticker of
climate change without realizing that climate does change, no matter what?
We ask why a feminist
organization only endorses the views of women from their side of the
ideological divide but vigorously demean women who speak from a different point
of view. Why don’t they ask why women
are not allowed to drive, vote or be seen in public without a head covering in
many parts of the world? Why do they
have the right to speak on behalf of women wanting to terminate the life of the
unborn while doing everything to silence those who speak for that child?
This is why this 8th
deadly sin is truly more deadly than the other seven. Hypocrisy is not only pretentiousness, it is
a pretender – masked as representing a just cause, a moral value, a social
conscience by and for those who live and behave otherwise. When Marin County can continue to be exempt
from affordable housing laws in California because such dwellings could lower
property values of the multi-million dollar homes already there, then the
height of hypocrisy has been scaled. You see, it is in those very homes where
many of the elite live who in public speak out for the poor and the down
trodden but would prefer that their area remain immaculately pure. But they will speak for low-cost housing for
those who cut their yard, service their swimming pools, clean their homes for
as long as these service providers live from at least twenty miles away. Movie
actors and directors rail against the Second Amendment but have no qualms
making movies where shooting and killing take up more film footage than actual
conversation.
If enough of politicians and
world leaders believe in the hypocrisy, civilization will see itself spiraling into
an abyss of false moral values and social decay. That is why hypocrisy is indeed much deadlier
than the other seven
