Welcome back to my little corner of the Interwebs! I’m so happy to see you! So, as I was staring at a blank screen a minute ago trying to decide what to write, Mr. Husband noticed the blank look on my face to match the blank screen facing me as he drifted by on the way to the kitchen. When he asked me what the matter was, I replied that I couldn’t think of anything to write about. And that’s when he reminded me of my handy dandy phone notes where I’ll jot down blog ideas.
And by golly, when I checked said notes, I found my note about the fact that hypocrites make my teeth itch. Oh gosh, do they. And something FIERCE. So in this essay, I will…
Ha ha ha. Been wanting to make THAT joke for awhile. But today, I want to talk about hypocrites. Especially RELIGIOUS hypocrites. What do I mean?
Let me give you an example.
So recently on Twitter a video depicting a Costco employee rightfully throwing a member out of the store for disregarding policy and not wearing a mask went viral. The guy who got thrown out then complained on camera to his whole three thousand IG followers about how masks are a GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY and that WE ARE BEING CONTROLLED and a bunch of other nauseating, unfounded, right wing propaganda.
Personally, I thought the Mister Three Thousand was revolting and couldn’t watch more than about 7 seconds of him spewing vitriol about being thrown out of Costco for not wearing a mask. If you haven’t seen either video, and you have the stomach for ol’ boy’s rebuttal to the Costco video, you can check out the whole thing on TMZ here.
Ugh.
So in support of Costco and wearing masks in general, I tweeted this:
First of all, may I say I was floored at the response to this tweet. Secondly, many of the comments were supportive and in agreement, which I thought was pretty awesome. But, as when an opinion is flung into the world, there are going to be those that disagree. Which is fine. I got called a sheep a couple of times. Well, if wearing a mask makes him, me or anyone else a sheep because not only do we want to live, but we also care about other people’s safety, then…
And that’s fine and dandy. I’m not losing sleep over some internet stranger calling me or my husband a sheep. I WILL say that some of the responses to my tweet were downright disgusting, and THOSE creeps were blocked and reported. But what concerned me the most, believe it or not, was the snarky response from a woman proclaiming in her bio to “love Jesus”.
So…let me get this straight. You claim to love Jesus, but act pointedly ugly to your fellow humans. Aren’t you then MISSING THE ENTIRE POINT OF ALL OF HIS TEACHINGS? Jesus spoke of mercy. Love. Kindness. Forgiveness. So isn’t to act in such a manner while claiming to love Jesus the height of hypocrisy? I believe so. So to those who claim to love Jesus but act completely in violation of His teachings I say to you:
So yes, while I abhor hypocrisy as a rule, what REALLY makes my teeth itch is a religious hypocrite. Religious hypocrisy is the biggest reason I left the Catholic Church – but that’s another blog for another day. I won’t say I’m not religious; I am. To a degree. Am I perfect? Not even close. But do I do my best to NOT be a hypocrite and do my DARNDEST to follow the Golden Rule and treat other people the way I would like to be treated? Yes. Absolutely. And of course I lose my temper from time to time and can be a big ol’ butthole as much as the next person.
I believe this is called being a human being. NOBODY is perfect.
However, I do NOT publicly claim to be a disciple of Jesus or proponent of ANY kind of Christianity and then act like a hateful jackass to strangers. THAT makes my teeth itch AND my hind end want to take a pinch of snuff!
Matter of fact, I don’t claim to be “Christian” at all, because ninety-nine percent of those who loudly and proudly claim to “love Jesus” and “be a good Christian” are running around doing exactly the opposite. I believe the term is “street angel and house devil” and quite frankly, I don’t care to be associated with anyone like that. As to how I believe? Well, that’s a bit complicated, and generally these days I keep my religious views to myself.
But, what immediately comes to mind when I start to think about my own beliefs is this quote by Mahatma Gandhi:
And this is why I have disassociated myself with them.
Also? I REALLY dislike itchy teeth.
At any rate, please wear your masks when you go out in public until the curve is flattened. Don’t be like Mr. Three Thousand. Do your part, and we’ll get through this hopefully sooner than later.
Thanks for reading,
Meredith Silverman