[sam_paine]

Two directions are options for one's moral character: Improve or Degenerate.

You can acknowlege the imperfections in yourself and others, but promote an idealized goal.

Or you can decide that since perfect is not an option, I'm going to get reaaaal dirty.

The former is called a hypocrit these days. The latter, a considerate liberal.

[Gunrunner2]

>>You can acknowlege the imperfections in yourself and others, but promote an idealized goal. <<

Not hypocrisy but idealism. Strive for the best but acknowledge you have feet of clay.

[arnoldfwilliams]

Two directions are options for one's moral character: Improve or Degenerate. You can acknowlege the imperfections in yourself and others, but promote an idealized goal. Or you can decide that since perfect is not an option, I'm going to get reaaaal dirty. The former is called a hypocrit these days. The latter, a considerate liberal.

Thanks for a good, concise summary. Being lectured on sin by someone who does not recognize the sinfulness of the deed is a little galling: all he recognizes is the vice of hypocrisy. What's worse, of course, is that hypocrisy is a social virtue: upholding the right standard even though you can't fully comply with it yourself for the encouragement of others to do so is a good thing to do. It doesn't negate the problems you have, but it does try to prevent them from spreading.