maklelan wrote:harmony wrote:maklelan wrote:harmony wrote:By definition, every member of the LDS church is a hypocrit. We claim to have the truth, the whole truth, yet every single one of us sin every day. Thus we know what we should do, and we do not do it... we are hypocrites. When much is given, much is expected, and we do not live up to expectations.
Actually, the definition of a hypocrite is quite different. None of us claims to be perfect, so sinning in no way brands anyone as a hypocrite.
What is your definition of a hypocrite?
Well, it comes from the Greek
hypokrites, which means "actor," and refers to someone who pretends to be something they are not. Your statement in no way satisfies that definition. You said we claim to have the truth and yet we sin every day, so every last one of us is a hypocrite. Claiming to have the truth is not a claim to
be anything, it's just a claim to possess something, so hypocrisy doesn't really fit there. Your statement that sinning brands us hypocrites would only be accurate if we claimed not to sin, which no one that I'm aware of does, and certainly not "every member of the LDS church." To know we must do something and not do it has nothing at all to do with hypocrisy unless we claim that we do everything that we know we have to do, which none of us does.
Thank you. Good definition. I think you give most members of the LDS church a free pass, though. You especially give our leaders a free pass.
We claim to be God's true church, yet we spend God's money on shopping malls. Humanitarian aid and service are at the bottom of our list, instead of at the top.
We claim to be God's own children, yet we have earned our reputation as arrogant elitists.
We claim to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet our largest concentration of members has a reputation for materialistic excess, self-righteousness, intolerance, and making unsubstantiated claims of persecution.
Hypocrites, at the highest level and throughout the ranks. Yes, there are many LDS members who are the salt of the earth, humble, gentle souls trying to do the right thing. However, that is neither our general reputation nor is it the norm. We treasure those souls, but they are not a representative sample of who and what we are.