The Blind Eye Of Hypocrisy

“Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.” – Matthew 23:28

Hypocrisy has been around as long as man has occupied this planet. We all have this monster to contend with to some degree. Every once in a while this evil surfaces to excessive proportions that the hypocrite can’t begin to see his blatant hypocrisy, nor can those who are sympathetic to his cause. “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (Romans 1:32). I think the greatest example of this was manifest during 60 Minutes. The subject at hand was movie piracy. This is where people get their hands on a DVD before the movie hits the theaters. They are downloaded and sent out over the Internet, costing the movie industry millions. The guest on the show was the president of one of the major motion picture companies. He was irate over what he called out and out stealing. This was theft and no different than robbing a bank as far as he was concerned.

The interviewer, and I’m sure much of the listening audience, didn’t pick up on the hypocrisy. I literally wanted to climb through the set and ask this man a few questions of my own. I would like to have asked him if he believed in morality? He could have answered yes, but then he would have hung himself because what his industry is producing is anything but moral. He might on the other hand sensed where my question was trying to lead him, and thus he could have answered that morality is relative. To which I would have asked him if stealing falls into the category of relative morality. Since this discussion never took place, it is easy for me to answer questions for him, and I come out looking like the intellectual giant. But do we really need to talk to him? He plainly stated before millions of viewers that he disliked the theft that was siphoning off his profits. Which means, at that moment on national television, he openly admitted to the American public that he believes in at least 1/10 of the ten commandments – Thou shalt not steal.

Does his industry steal? Is there a promotion of lying and cheating in movies? Does he make money off robbing our youth of their virtue? If push comes to shove, he would say there is no proof movies cause young people to engage in premarital sex. The truth is that he and all of his industry know it does, but to admit such would be the death knell of the industry. When Hollywood picks your pocket, truth is relative. When you pick theirs, truth is absolute. Don’t expect too many in the entertainment industry to see this because hypocrisy is blinding. Truth and morality are relative when you’re the thief and absolute when you’re the victim. The depravity of man will fill his pockets with gold while denying the truth of “thou shalt not steal” and claim it as an ally when revenues are down, and that’s the way I see things.