the hypocrisy of religion

One of the things I don’t like about the church, along with any kind of organized religious group or gathering, is the pretense. Hypocrisy. It abounds in such environments. It can’t be helped. It is integral. Chronic. Hypocrisy, like religion, professes one thing and does another. Hypocrisy is the heart of religion.

This is why: Generally speaking, religious* people want to be good. When they inevitably disappoint themselves, then the default response is to deny it, ignore it, or conceal it. Hypocrisy is almost never intentional. It is a defense mechanism to protect oneself against the accusation. The indictment is above all to be avoided. Of course this happens across the board in every sector of society. But this impulse is stronger in religious contexts because being good is precisely the project of religion.

Although at times he seemed to, Jesus didn’t challenge the system directly. He went for the heart. He challenged our hypocrisy by pointing out how our actions do not line up with our words. This exposes the pretense of religion.

*When I write “religious”, I do not necessarily use this term pejoratively.

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