HYPOCRISY is a kind of acting career. Trace the word origin:
from Greek, hupokrisis-- ‘acting of a theatrical part'.
What do we mean when we accuse somebody of being a hypocrite if not acting one way while essentially being a different sort of person inside?
Why do I ask? Well, follow along with me and decide.
________
The father of Islam was the prophet, Muhammed, who led his army in a war for 10 years.
This army was very successful.
At what, you ask?
Muhammed called it "defensive" actions against aggressors.
Really?
Raiding caravans is defensive? Okaaaay.
Conquering Mecca under the guise of a pilgrimage along with 700 men? Okaaaaay.
According to Muhammed, there were certain directives against Divinely specified peoples of his times (the polytheists and the Israelites and Nazarites of Arabia and some other Jews, Christians, et al.) as a form of Divine punishment.
Allah told him to do it. Okaaaay.
What does all of this have to do with hypocrisy?
Calling war defensive and striking first is "acting".
Calling your religion PEACE while using armies to destroy people who don't believe the way you believe is "acting."
Just saying the word PEACE doesn't make you peaceful unless you are an actor reciting your lines.
_____________
St. Augustine invented a very popular phrase which pervaded Christianity for fifteen hundred years: A JUST WAR.
What is a Just War?
Six conditions must be satisfied for a war to be considered just:
The war must be for a just cause.
The war must be lawfully declared by a lawful authority.
The intention behind the war must be good.
All other ways of resolving the problem should have been tried first.
There must be a reasonable chance of success.
The means used must be in proportion to the end that the war seeks to achieve.
___________
Is there any essential difference between WAR in which innocent people die and a JUST WAR in which innocent people die?
Is this more "ACTING"?
But wait--there's more!
How should a Just War be fought?
A war that starts as a Just War may stop being a Just War if the means used to wage it are inappropriate.
Innocent people and non-combatants should not be harmed.
Only appropriate force should be used.
This applies to both the sort of force, and how much force is used.
Internationally agreed conventions regulating war must be obeyed.
_____
Sounds fair, doesn't it? Except--can anybody give an example of such a war ever being fought?
I ASSERT, cannot prove, all of this posturing is hypocrisy disguised as a moralizing excuse to become an aggressor while considering yourself PEACEFUL.
Why else call it "war" at all, if it is simply Self-Defense?
