by Paul Schingle

Created on: August 26, 2010

A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and turns around and does the opposite.  We see examples of this every single day.  The cop who pulls an illegal U-turn; the teacher who uses bad grammar and, yes, the preacher (or other religious zealot) who acts like anything other than a Christian (or the fill-in-the-blank religion of his/her choice).  Hypocrisy abounds throughout the world and religion is no exception.  The most common and obvious hypocrites belong to two large-umbrella faiths-but other religions have examples as well.  The two religions most guilty of hypocrisy are those of Christianity and Islam.

These two religions have more in common than they have differences.  Both were borne out of Judaism.  Both have a human figure at the center of their belief system.  And, of course, both have voracious followers who convolute the meanings of their respective leaders' teachings, thus rendering them as hypocrites.

One major difference, though, is the role their human originators play in their modern day interpretations.  Muhammad, unlike Jesus, is not a deity.  The creed expected to be uttered by every Muslim is simply:  "Allah is our only God and Muhammad was his prophet."  But, as stated before, the two religions are more alike than different.  The teachings of Muhammad are clear:  we are here to serve God.  The Koran actually has passages encouraging giving women the right to vote.  Yet, often times in Muslim reality, women are second-class citizens.  Muhammad, like Jesus, preached of love and not hate.  Yet, how often do we hear of suicide bombings by Muslim extremists?  Not to burst anyone's bubble, but these people aren't extremists-they're outright hypocrites.  They aren't taking Islam to an extreme, They're manipulating the words of the Koran to invoke behaviors which are not encouraged by true Islam.

The same applies to Christianity.  While the major difference between the two religions is a serious one, the teachings of these two icons are very similar.  Modern Chrisitans have made a deity out of Jesus-that is, they believe that Jesus was God on earth-but if one forgets that for a second, and listens to the words Jesus preached, one can see the hypocrisy of the modern-day Christian.  The central theme to Jesus' teachings was love.  He also spoke of forgiveness of others, of refusing to pass judgment on others and of treating others as we'd like ot be treated.  Great sentiments, all.  But, what do modern Christians do?  Well, when someone commits a crime, they want blood.  When someone disagrees with them, they call the other a heretic or a pagan or a heathen.  All of these are very understandable, base, human emotions and reactions.  They're also very contrary to the teachings of Jesus.  If you ever want a living example of Christian hypocrisy, watch any one of these protestant evangelical preachers who sell God on TV.

So, what is a religious hypocrite?  Frankly, I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who claims to follow a particular religion, who isn't one. 

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