Alec Baldwin wants me to move on and not pay attention to the Mark Sanford fandango. I basically agree. But over the last couple of days I have been wondering why the Mark Sanford affair rankles me more than, say, the Elliot Spitzer affair. And it is, of course, because of Sanford's hypocracy.
Mark Sanford has made a career of moralizing against other people. The (until soon) Governor voted to impeach then President Bill Clinton for his moral illegitimacy and claims that marriage among gays and lesbians undermines the institution. On the other hand, Elliot Spitzer never threw stones against other adulterers knowing full well that the shards of glass of his own house might cut him. He also was a staunch supporter of gay marriage, perhaps because he was inspired by the determination of the gay community to be married in the face of all obstacles, when he could and did take his marriage for granted.
It is the bald hypocrisy of Sanford that makes me gloat over his downfall. But it begs the question of the font of his hypocrisy. Unfortunately, I think it may be faith. Sanford is constantly described as a man of deep faith. Instead of his faith giving him insight into the deep fallible nature of humans and fueling his compassion for others; his faith has been used as a moralizing bludgeon for attack and condemnation.
Now that it is his turn in the shame spotlight he will assuredly use his faith to promote a repentance and forgiveness scheme for himself like the Ted Haggards. But the damage he has done and his systematic judgment of others he used as the faithful ladder of his career has lost its power to elevate.
All that Sanford and the other hypocrites like him can hope for is that God will break them of their arrogance and make them new as people of compassion and acceptance.
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hypocrite
1 : a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion
2 : a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings
1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.
2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
Actually, I have a name. I don't always enter it in after I edit.
Your choice of the word "gloat" leaves me to believe, less compassion, and decernment was used in this article, than judgement.
Ellie Dee,
I think it is more a case of the righteous judging righteously.
Oh, right - I forgot - only fundacrites get to pass judgment on others.
In all seriousness, it is always the same game - whether, to name but a very select few - Vitter or Ensign or Sanford: First, we get the "Ah have sinned again' the Lawd, but He hath fuhgiven me, 'cause Ah'm a gen-u-whine Christin man.
Then we get: Mah wifey stands by me, come up onna stage dahlin', let them see yo' pretty face.
Next, the poor woman - who really wishes the earth would just open and swallow the jerk and his adultress du jour - has to say how much this has really strengthened their marriage.
Finally, conservative Christians pronounce it all "forgiven and forgotten and, anyway, BILL CLINTON was much worse...
The next one's just around the corner, no doubt we'll see the usual absurd theater played out once again before the summer is out.
OK, I can't wait to hear the conservative Christians defend him after today.
We should keep him as governor to demonstrate repentance to his four kids?
How many women was he sleeping with?
Heaven's above, at this point I so do not think we will need to fight over the question of his hypocrisy...just over his STD status...
Is the reason conservative Christians opposed gays having monogamous marriages simply this: Incapable of anything but adultery (serial adultery?), they see monogamy as a perversion?
Would explain alot....
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