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Religion
Christianity
Perceived Hypocrisy
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| A common criticism of Christianity is perceived hypocrisy of many "Christians" and in some cases the church (e.g. when the Church gets involved in political issues such as war.) There are several explanations for this:
Other Questions Why is the divorce rate for Christians no better than the average? % have been divorced
Note: There are several ways of measuring divorce rates. See Divorce Rate.
A fifteen denominational study, computed both present and "ever-divorced" rates of women and men Protestant clergy. Zikmund, Lummis, and Chang, Clergy Women: An Uphill Calling (Westminster/John Knox. 1998,) found that:.
Percent ever-divorced, of those ever-married, from a 1996 Presbyterian Panel (PCUSA) survey: See Also: Christian couples who pray together have a divorce rate of less than 1% at prayerguide.org.uk and Dennis Rainey at FamilyLife.org. Tom Whiteman, a Philadelphia psychologist and counselor, found that although the rate was about the same for Christians as others, the reasons for divorce were different. He found that the number one reason cited in divorce proceedings for the general population was incompatibility, but Christians rarely use that as grounds for a divorce. "In the Christian population, the reasons are adultery, abuse (including substance, physical and verbal abuse) and abandonment," Whiteman says. See John Mark Ministries at PastorNet.net.au In the Oct. 8, 2011 Wall Street Journal, Matt Ridley has an article titled "Hard-Wired Hypocrisy in Our Divided Minds " See: Matt Ridley on Self Deception and Evolution | Mind & Matter - WSJ.com He references the two books below. Mr. Kurzban ("Why everyone (Else) is a Hypocrite"), says the brain is modular and the modules will sometimes contradict each other. The hunger module will demand a cheeseburger, while the vanity module demands a diet.
Mr. Trivers takes further this idea of hiding potentially damaging information away in an unconscious bit of the brain where it cannot leak, arguing that we deceive ourselves the better to deceive others. Greed, Guilt and GloryI have this theory related to the modular brain (above).
Greed - A driver in some sense for capitalism. It is especially strong in the U.S. where there is a tendency to believe bigger and better is your measure of success. We want a better car, a better education for our kids, a better computer, ... Guilt - Deep down people feel guilty about this greed, so they grab on to Religion and other altruistic activities to compensate. Glory - Everyone wants to feel important or significant. This may be what drives many people to take extreme views whether it be on the right or left in politics or other areas such as denying human influence on climate change.
Books:
See Also: Return to Religion.
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