John Ensign’s admission yesterday that he had a long-running affair with a woman on his staff, the wife of one of his good friends, wouldn’t be a big deal except for the H-factor.<\/p>\n
H — as in — honesty. H — as in — hypocrisy. <\/p>\n
Ensign, a Nevada Republican, has been an outspoken social conservative, a member of the evangelical Promise Keepers, and a scold defending the “sanctity” of marriage.<\/p>\n
What does it mean that so many family-values conservatives have turned out to be a) gay, b) serial cheaters, or c) the patrons of prostitutes?<\/p>\n
From Roman Catholic priests to Republican politicians to evangelical preachers, the list of finger-waggers exposed as hypocrites is too long to ignore.<\/p>\n
Many traditionalists argue that the path of righteousness is just plain hard. The fact that people make human mistakes doesn’t discredit the ideal.<\/p>\n
But at the very least, this track record suggests the need for more compassion, more understanding of the frailties of the human heart — and far less moral grandstanding.<\/p>\n
In the end, honesty is a family value too. And hypocrisy — in my book — is one of the deadliest of sins…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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