The Seven Woes of Hypocrisy

A Modern Day Warning to Politicians and the Religious Right, or more aptly the Religious Wrong.

Today the seven woes of hypocrisy are every day occurrences in those that profess the name of Christ, as Christians, which means a follower of Christ.  Jesus taught not that hate and abuse should rule, but that love and a true, humble devotion to God should rule those that profess to follow Him.

Having been a Southern Baptist Preacher, I have personally witnessed the loving, caring, and gentle nature of those that indeed are true Christians, as they are the very ones that carry the message of Christ in their hearts and live their lives accordingly.  I've also seen an increasing level of hypocrisy, especially among the religious zealots of our day, who seek not to love or honor God, but rather seek to serve their own personal desires, beliefs and for self-gain, all through hate, not love.

Politics and Government are not the avenues to promote one religious belief or system over another; however, such is becoming common place here in the United States as our government has been led by hypocrites favoring an extremist view of Christianity.  When a minority seeks to govern the majority, they implore underhanded tactics to force their views upon the populace completely ignoring what is right, fair and just; not to mention, ignoring the very principles of a religion they profess.

Thus, I say unto all of those today who seek to be the overlords and not the servants, "Woe unto you, Republicans and Christians, hypocrites!  You will receive greater condemnation. You are witnesses against yourselves.  Thus, beware that you do not continue upon a false path of righteousness."

The Seven Woes of Hypocrisy

Jesus present these seven woes or warnings in the Gospel of Matthew 23:1-39.  Matthew precedes the woes with a discussion of the Great Commandment (or two greatest commandments), the first of two commandments cited by Jesus in Matthew 22:35–40.  These two commandments are taken from the Law of Moses in the Old Testament and should be the basis of Christian ethics.  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

The woes are warnings of hypocrisy and illustrate the differences between inner and outer moral states.

The seven woes of hypocrisy are:
1. They taught about God but did not love God — they did not enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, nor did they let others enter. (Matt 23:13-14)

2. They preached God but converted people to dead religion, thus making those converts twice as much sons of hell as they themselves were. (Matt 23:15)

3. They taught that an oath sworn by the temple or altar was not binding, but that if sworn by the gold ornamentation of the temple, or by a sacrificial gift on the altar, it was binding.  (Mat 23:16-22)

4. They taught the law but did not practice some of the most important parts of the law — justice, mercy, faithfulness to God. They obeyed the minutiae of the law such as titheing spices but not the real meat of the law. (Matt 23:23-24)

5. They presented an appearance of being 'clean' (self-restrained, not involved in carnal matters), yet they were dirty inside: they seethed with hidden worldly desires, carnality. They were full of greed and self-indulgence. (Matt 23:25-26)

6. They exhibited themselves as righteous on account of being scrupulous keepers of the law, but were in fact not righteous: their mask of righteousness hid a secret inner world of ungodly thoughts and feelings. They were full of wickedness. They were like whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, but full of dead men's bones. (Matt 23:27-28)

7. They professed a high regard for the dead prophets of old, and claimed that they would never have persecuted and murdered prophets, when in fact they were cut from the same cloth as the persecutors and murderers: they too had murderous blood in their veins. (Matt 23:29-36)

The term “morality” can be used either
1 - descriptively to refer to some codes of conduct put forward by a society or,
some other group, such as a religion, or
accepted by an individual for her own behavior or
2 - normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

Definition of HYPOCRISY
1 - a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially  the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion

Why did I write this?  The answer should be clear.  A false christianity has taken over our government and it is time such is removed before those with such false christianity are allowed to condemn our country and everyone based upon their false ideals.

• It is my firm belief that the time has long past and religion should be restrained and removed from all forms of politics and government.
• It is time to pass legislation to ensure that no elected or appointed official is allowed to express a particular religious view, nor allowed to present legislation or rules that would force a particular religious view upon the populace.
• It is time that churches are no longer provided tax exempt status.
• It is time that all people be allowed to live knowing that they are free to worship as they please, to be free from other's religious persecution, and to be supported by their government in their right to such freedoms.
• It is time that politics and government focused on providing for the general welfare of all of the people.
• It is time for revolution, not through the taking up of arms, but rather through peaceful acts of retaking our government for the purpose of removing the current religious hypocrites that are damning themselves and our country.

Love; The true Gift of Christmas!

Christmas isn't a holiday I've actively celebrated for many years now.  Perhaps it is because of the over commercialization of the holiday or the pain from years of watching others not truly understand what this holiday is about.  As a child I was taught that this was Jesus' birthday, then I grew up and learned this day was actually an old Pagan celebration called Saturnalia that the early church decided to take over to convert the Pagans to Christianity.

No one knows the actual date of the mythical Jesus (yes, I said mythical, as there is no record to acknowledge his physical presence upon this earth), so the real reason for the season isn't to celebrate Jesus' birthday.  It's to celebrate a Pagan celebration, another attempt by the Christians to control everyone and everything without any regard to the value of age old traditions, cultures, or even humanity.

Yes, I grew up in the Christian church, learned the teachings of the Bible, and even became a Southern Baptist Preacher.  I used to love Christmas and the decorating and gift giving, but now there is no reason for the season for me as I have watched with dismay for many years the very negative affect that Christians have upon the world.  Let me say that in all of my 49 years, I have only met a few people that I would actually say were Christ Like (which is what is meant by the term Christian).  Those people have all had a profound affect upon my life and will always be remembered for their actions through love, even when they may not understand or approve, but their love guided them, not hate.

Thank you Martha Meda Taylor, thank you Ellen Rose Synder, and thank you to those whose names I can no longer remember, but your actions I still do.  You all showed me what it meant to be a Christian in a world where so many do not live the life of Christ, yet call themselves follows of Him.

If only all of those that call themselves Christians would live their lives as He did, then our world would indeed be a better place, yet sadly, they do not and instead choose to act as the Sagacies and Pharicees in the stories of Jesus that he condemned.  Jesus showed and taught love, acceptance, and more importantly he taught living a life of love through your actions, not through your words.  Oh, if only these modern day Christians would know what it is they are doing to the name of Christ through all the hate they spread, through building monuments to themselves when they should be giving to the poor and needy.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees by saying,

"you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness"

(The book of Matthew 23:28)

This year I chose to honor my beloved grandmother, Vera B. Lee, this Christmas and instead of a tree there is a beautiful Christmas Cactus and some red Poinsettias.  She lived her life through love and encouraged me through her acts of love to do the same.  This year, for the first year in ages, I sent out cards and I received some thoughtful gifts - two of them.  I've been invited to join the celebrations at other friend's homes, but today is a day I shall spend with myself, accompanied with my two lovely canine companions.



Perhaps there is little love in my heart, perhaps the pain and anger have taken it all away, but yet there are those that ever remind me that love is the key.  Yes, I do believe there is a Santa Clause, Virginia.  Because Santa also teaches love, isn't that what Christmas is all about - Love?