What makes someone a hypocrite?

Question

People use the word HYPOCRITE a lot. Isn't this a person who is doing XYZ and telling people not to do it at the same time? There is a certain celebrity who is always telling people not to do what she USED to do. Isn't that just trying to warn others and keep them from getting hurt doing what she did? If I fell into a pit and I start running around telling everybody not to go down that road or else they will fall into that pit, that is not hyporisy, is it?

Answer 1

Hypocrites do one thing WHILE preaching something else. (i.e., Catholic priest telling people to value children while he coax them into sex.) The hypocrites see themselves different from all others and feel they are above the norm. So, they'll do what's convenient for them while judging others for doing the same thing.

Trying to preach your lesson to others in a hope that they learn from you, on the other hand, is teaching not being a hypocrite. You have nothing to worry about.

Answer 2

Right, if someone is telling people not to do something they USED to do, it's not hypocrisy, it's more of a "warning". Hypocrites are just people that tell others not to do something even when they do it themselves and think it's fine. Like if someone smokes, enjoys smoking, has no intention of quitting, etc and then goes around telling people that only idiots smoke and it's so dumb, then they would be a hypocrite. However, if they were struggling to quit and didn't like that they smoke and tell others not to start, that's NOT being a hypocrite. There's kind of a fine line between being a hypocrite and trying to help others not make the same mistakes, but it is different, and most people aren't entirely sure of the difference.

Nice noticing though! At least I'm not alone in wondering how many people know what a hypocrite REALLY is.

Answer 3

A hypocrite is a person tells other people not to do something but they are do it themselves. The case of the cerlebrity, it is not hypocrisy because it is something that he/she USED to do and they dont do it any more. The senario of the pit is also not hypocrisy because your not falling in the pit continuously. In those two senarios it is basically trying to help others by warning others of the repercussions of an action. An example of being a hypocrite is telling others not to smoke if you smoke yourself.

Answer 4

No one has the right to tell another person what to do or who like, etc. Not even God imposes that. Is the right of the person who for instance sells cigars on TV but then says in his private life that smoking is bad....well but how come he was selling what is bad on TV? This could be seen as someone with 2 moral standars or someone who is hypocrite, someone who may fake in sometimes some situations to protect himself maybe.

About the celebrity who tells people what to not to and she used to well I dont see a problem, she did learn from that experience and she thinks the right path is whats she is now, sometimes the problem is to be consistent or coherent on what we say and what we do....

Other´s will get the message or idea, if they want to follow that Celebrity as example of their lifes or they prefere to follow their own selfs, to be more sure about who and what they want in life.

Hypocrite can be confused with different aspects of personality, persona means mask, it was a term that Aristotle used to creat different scenarios or different roles in the same person, for instance, if one actor is crying but she doesnt feel but she has to cry because thats her job someone may say she is hypocrite because she is saying or doing something she doesnt want to or she doesnt feel.

To be honest is very important, not only to others but with our own selfs, to not lie, the human mind is so marvelous that someone can pretend to lie to himself or believe his own lies how, through repetition, when you repeat a lie doesnt mean that will become a reality or be true but at the least the person wants to believe it.

I think the best way to be honest is through actions, words have a deep value for the Soul and Mind, but if we as society dont act in honest ways well then we may assume people are being hypocrite with themlsellves and other´s.

Answer 5

Hypocrite is one who hasn't gotten the log out of their own eye before they criticize another for the speck in another's eye. I'm paraphrazing Jesus.

You don't have to be perfect to avoid being a hypocrite. You can mess up badly, and still set limits with others without being a hypocrite. It's not being a hypocrite to tell your kids about the dangers of smoking pot, and setting limits, and consequences even if you did it as a child. It is being a hypocrite if you are oblivious to your own moral blind spots, and are eager to point out the imperfections of others.

Answer 6

Most hypocrites do not have a clue that they are one. They believe they know what is right and have no problem telling you. They believe that they are practicing the correct behavior, all the while excusing what they themselves are doing. We must all realize that we all do what we know until we know better. That is why we should not set in judgement of one another, because none of us knows what the other knows. It takes time to get to know each other and our own ways.

Answer 7

Being a hypocrite dosen't mean you do something bad, then tell people not to do it. It's like if someone lectured you not to smoke, then walked off, turned the corner and lit up. The oerson who smoked, got sick, quit, THEN told you how bad it was isn't a hypocrite.

Answer 8

Hypocrites are basically mean minded people, wanting everything in their strides. They also are weak hearted, cowards, scared of losing,which makes them stop others from doing things they want to.

Answer 9

Hypocrisy is trying to be beyond what you are. Means an inflated life. What that celebrity is doing is not hypocrisy. Rather, she is faithful to the society that what happened in her life should not happen to others.

Answer 10

The first is a hypocrite.