Hypocrisy and Christianity Essay

Hypocrisy of the Puritans “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward (New American Bible Matthew 6:16).” The Puritans that settled into Massachusetts in the seventeenth century were some of the most religious people to be seen throughout History. Prior to landing in America they had already abandoned two countries in order to “purify,” their Puritan…

portrayed superstition as morally superior to Christianity through instances of Christian hypocrisy and that the actions of superstitious characters, including Huck and Jim, tend to be the ‘correct’ ones. In doing so, it demonstrates the religious hypocrisy, as well as general behaviors, of southern society. According to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Christians are prone to religious hypocrisy. There are instances throughout the novel where religious hypocrisy can be easily found. For example, in chapter…

Christianity Humans love to think of themselves as fundamentally selfless, conscience-driven individuals, while, in Robert Wright's eyes, "we are all self-promoters and social climbers" (Wright 313). Wright explains all altruistic behaviors as a part of a "shameless ploy" by our genes to ensure the perpetuation of the invaluable genetic code (212). His assertion that human altruism is really fundamentally self-serving in nature is intriguing in light of many of the hallowed conceptions we…

a stone at her.” (John 8:7) The play, Hamlet, illustrates the hypocrisy of revenge. In this play, the prince Hamlet has just lost his father. While everyone thinks the death was accidental, Hamlet's dead father appears to him and tells him that his brother, Hamlet's uncle, murdered him. He commands Hamlet to avenge his death, yet not to harm his mother, because God and her conscience will punish her. Already, there is hypocrisy shown here - the dead king trusts God to take care of punishing…

software programs such as Turnitin is a way to deter and, possibly, catch students if they plagiarized Conversely, Turnitin is a major contradiction itself. In Bill Walsh’s article, “Expect, but Respect, Original Work by Students,” he points out the hypocrisy of Turnitin lies in what it is presumably trying to prevent and teach. He states that Turnitin, “is actually infringing on the students’ intellectual property, making money from it, and violating the very copyright laws Turnitin is supposed to be…

Looking-Glass for the White Man" both disagree with the form of Christianity practiced and preached by their white oppressors. Although Douglass and Apess are from different cultural backgrounds, both men's works share the theme of the white mans perversion of the Christian religion. In his work, Frederick Douglass speaks of two kinds of Christianity: the "Christianity of the land" and the "Christianity of Christ" (2093). The `Christianity of the land' is the religion that the southern slave holders…

Religious leaders ought to be the epitome of goodness and morality and are supposed to live lives worthy of emulation. Yet, in Voltaire’s Candide and Goethe’s Faust, the church is infested with hypocrisy what with religious leaders being hypocritical characters that are corrupt, greedy and immoral. These are seen in so many instances in both texts as will be discussed below. High–ranking church officials, according to Voltaire, are deeply engrossed in promiscuity as depicted in the lines, “I am…

The Hypocrisy of Religion in Moby Dick Stubb decides to give Old Fleece a lecture on religion after waking him to complain about his overcooked whale steak. Not only does Stubb ask Fleece to "preach" to the sharks who are making a considerable din eating the dead whale chained to the ship, but he compares Fleece's inability to "correctly" cook a whale steak to Fleece's un-Christian ways. This passage is an excellent example of the theme of the hypocrisy of religion in Moby Dick. Before…

Moliere's Tartuffe and the Religious Hypocrisy Moliere's Tartuffe is a satire based on religious hypocrisy. Every character is essential in Tartuffe. All of the characters play an important role, but it is easy to say that Tartuffe and Orgon are the main characters. First, we must know the definition of satire. According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, satire is defined as "literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn" ("satire"). In other words, a satire is defined…

HYPOCRISY IN THE SCARLET LETTER: “The Scarlet Letter” mainly revolves around sin and hypocrisy. Every character in some way, shape or form is considered a hypocrite to some level/degree. To start from the top and work our way downward, the officials. The officials in this book have such horrid views of Hester. You'd think that they have some sense of compassion or show remorse for Hester but that was never the case. Overtime, it all dulled down – her sin wasn't a big deal as opposed to when it…