If You're A Hypocrite and You Know It, Clap Your Hands

     Every single one of you, dear readers, has been a hypocrite at some time or another. It's inevitable, isn't it? We don't necessarily mean to be; hypocrisy isn't always a conscious action.

     An online dictionary recalls that the most common definition of hypocrisy is "a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs."

     An extreme hypocrite, in my radical opinion, is the Catholic Pope Benedict XVI, also known as Joseph Ratzinger (here is his website, if you would like to know more, and there he is to the left). What makes him, this great, mighty, religious pope, a hypocrite? One may perceive the fact that I put this out there is simply due to my agnostic beliefs, but this person would be wrong. Anyone with a brain could tell that he is a hypocrite. He preaches about religion, about forgiveness, about God, about saving yourself and those around you. He preaches to us, telling us who we need to be and how we need to act in order to be saved by God. He preaches to us about donating ourselves and our time to those in need. He preaches while holding a golden cross, while sitting in his golden chariot, and while wearing his expensive clothing and jewelry. He preaches while there are children dying of starvation every single day. Maybe those children could use the money that was spent on his golden throne (as seen above). How dare he tell us how to behave and who to donate our money to, when he wastes resources and money on that ridiculously eccentric golden throne?

       Another fine example of hypocrisy in our society is former vice president Dick Cheney (if I may add, I am not opposed to him because he is a republican, I am opposed to him because he is, as the title suggests, a hypocrite). Dick Cheney had the audacity to go along with former president George W. Bush's homophobic 2004 re-election campaign. (Side-note: homophobia is an unreasoning fear of or antipathy towards homosexuals and homosexuality. Synonyms for antipathy are disgust, abhorrence, detestation, hatred. Homophobia does not simply mean fear of gays). What makes this hypocritical, you may ask, is the fact that Cheney has a homosexual daughter. If he is pushing for the LGBTQ community to not have rights, is he pushing for his own daughter to be the exception? If not, how can you call yourself a father when you don't want your child to be treated equally?

    

      If you would like to see the final, prime example of hypocrisy, you need only look in the mirror. Studies have shown that subjects watched strangers make the same decision as they did, yet the subjects thought it was unjust. If you have ever:

• said "Everyone's beautiful," while starving to meet the expectation that society deems "attractive," you are a hypocrite.
• said "Don't worry about what everyone thinks," while thinking to yourself every day "What if they think I'm stupid," or "What if they don't like me," you are a hypocrite.
• said "I don't judge," while thinking in your own head "Wow, she looks gross today," or "Wow, that person is a moron," you are a hypocrite.
• said "I would stick up for someone being bullied," while you hear rude comments every day and not once speak up, you are a hypocrite.

But then again, I'm not really one to talk, am I? I am a hypocrite for simply lecturing about hypocrisy. I am a hypocrite for:

• saying I don't like labels, yet I label myself every single day.
• saying I don't judge, yet I judge within my own mind.
• saying I believe it is bad to harm yourself and worse to kill yourself, yet I still struggle with cutting every day of my life, I question my own existence every day of my life, and my first suicide attempt was April 24th, 2009.
• acting like I am overly-confident, yet I question my self-worth more often than anything.
• acting like I cannot stand certain bands due to their lack of voice, yet I sometimes listen to NSYNC (and let's face it, they're the 90's version of One Direction).

      I am not yet proud enough to be unable to proclaim that I fall right under the list of people I despise. I understand certain hypocrisy. As Caroline Coleman stated, "How can we possibly save ourselves from ... hypocrisy if we are all blind to our own faults..."

How can we avoid hypocrisy, truly? Is it as easy as simply not contradicting your words with your actions, or is that too much to ask?

      I believe avoiding hypocrisy may just be that simple. If we would just stand by what we believe, hypocrisy wouldn't exist. If we would just be outright with what we believe, rather than standing behind a facade, hypocrisy wouldn't exist. If we would just be honest with ourselves, hypocrisy wouldn't exist. Do not act as if you believe something if you do not. Do not tell yourself lies anymore. If you judge someone, do not be afraid to admit it to yourself. If you oppose a belief, do not go along with it.

Our beliefs are all we have, so stand by them.

My name is Miranda Crouton, and I am a hypocrite.

Are you?