rodyshusband,
If a Christian is not living a moral lifestyle, this would indeed be hypocritical.
Not quiet, as the '
moral lifestyle' itself needs to be observed as a goal and/or daily routine of
morality. By this method, a
Christian would think-before-acting against a
non-Christian individual. Ex: A
Christian family uses and enforces a
'moral lifestyle' on itself (via the parents of course) over a few things Paul says and refuses to hear something Jesus had said instead (Jesus said the law is forever,
until the heavens and Earth pass away, Paul said the law
ended with Jesus' sacrifice, Paul is the
hypocrite against Jesus, God, and the law). Too a certain point, they are no longer '
Christian' and the
'moral lifestyle' requires some obvious questioning. It's not so much a
hypocrisy, seeing as how Jesus takes on the role of predestining our existence. Rather, just another self-defeating/contradicting chain of events. What separates the
hypocrisy from the obvious contradiction, is that this family is fully aware of their opposition (
hypocritical nature) and they continue to fight over something else (the 'NT' verse) yet have stopped reading the bible altogether and this is contradicting a moderate Christian '
moral lifestyle'. This is the family that memorized some words only to
frighten people (
immoral), whereas the surrounding neighbors want to
comfort and assist to the best of their capabilities (
moral). They are not honest too themselves, with obsession over something Paul had stated years ago. It is a contradiction of '
Christianity' in itself, and the
hypocrisy can be directed at either party (this one family, or their neighbors) still. When this family meets a hardcore Atheist, and he refuses to convert over something Paul or Jesus says (biblical support not), they have a chance to reflect on their '
moral lifestyle' and have the chance to make a complete change by being aware of their neighbors and even interacting with them to correct themselves. The contradictions,
immorality, and hypocrisy ends where unity begins for the '
moral lifestyle' to be focused on the general neighborhood as a whole (cul-de-sac anyone?) and not just that one family, one house, one bible, and a KKK suspicion growing because of the husband doesn't agree fully with Paul, yet still insist on following his cherry-picked favorite verses (pro-slavery, anti-multiracial relationships and children, Anti-Semitic ignorance, etc.) He's just the extremist and head of the household. Verse references:
Rom.8:29-30, Rom.9:11-22, Eph.1:4-5, 2 Tim.1:9, Matt 8:12, 1 Corinth 11:3. The hypocrisy lies in denying common '
moral lifestyle', not in the following of someone Else's will (Paul, by extension of being a representative of Jesus even though they don't agree on several points). To conclude, it's: 'yes, but not absolutely 100%'. The thinking-before-acting comes into play
without hypocrisy from the
Christian family, and their '
moral lifestyle' would be accepted by fellow
Christians, Agnostics, and Atheists alike. The Atheist who refuses to convert is
not a hypocrite, unless he turned around and desired to convert the
Christian family too Atheism, which would be absurd considering Atheism isn't religious.
If an atheist/agnostic were living a moral lifestyle, that, too, would qualify as hypocritical.
How is that supposed to work? One person fails at a '
moral lifestyle' therefore so does the other?
The
atheist or
agnostic is
not being a hypocrite because he or she follows a '
moral lifestyle', just because a
Christian is not.
A
Christian sent too prison, does not make the
non-Christian's '
moral lifestyle' a threat or
hypocritical in any way.
The
non-Christian too would
only become a hypocrite after himself facing the same consequence for his actions (imprisonment),
not because he isn't a follower of Jesus or 'The Church'.
It is
hypocritical, by that 'logic' attempt to declare a well-mannered Atheist is
hypocritical for unknowingly following the advice of Jesus
whereas the
Christian is completely '
moral' and a
hypocrite for not reading yet still advertising the bible with things that cannot be supported
by either testament (such as, 'free will').
An
Agnostic is
not a hypocrite for living a '
moral lifestyle', just because a
Christian fails to do the same.
It would
only qualify as hypocritical if the
Atheist or
Agnostic abandoned their '
moral lifestyle', not because they continue with it.
That's like saying, even though I don't think I'm '
moral' (honestly), yet I set an acceptable example for
a '
moral lifestyle' I'm automatically a
hypocrite because you fail to accept or follow my example? NO.
It would be
the other way around, if I was advising you to follow my '
moral lifestyle' (I'm not, and
don't recommend it) yet I didn't practice what I preached about my '
moral lifestyle',
that would be hypocritical.
The
Atheist or
Agnostic has no bearing on
hypocrisy, just because a
Christian is being
hypocritical against them. Unless of course,
they follow that hypocritical pattern of the
Christian.
Which is A) unlikely, B) Only used for satirical '
entertainment'.~SC
