Being an atheist in a household of Catholics, my in-laws, especially my FIL, see me as lacking ‘morality’. Yet these people (my extended family on Ms. D_Odds side) who pray every night and regularly attend worship services will lie and scam on their taxes, insurance, cable, etc, and brag about it to the rest of the family. When I point out that they are stealing, and teaching their children that stealing is acceptable, I’m scoffed at. Now, they just don’t tell their stories around me, as I’m the party pooper, pointing out that young children are not mature enough to realize it’s “ok” to steal from GEICO but “not ok” to steal from the candy store.
Much less occurs on my side of the family. Both of my grandmothers* were very ethical people who wouldn’t cheat anyone out of anything, and the trait has been passed down. That’s not to say that everyone is straight and clean, just that we don’t get together and try to outdo one another by our stories of theft of services.
*My paternal grandmother also prayed daily and regularly attended mass. My maternal grandmother was very spiritual, but not overtly religious. My first paragraph is not an indictment against Catholicism or religion. I’m just pointing out the hypocracy
Pace , we share a joint peeve on this. Many people seem to feel that if they aren’t caught, then it is OK to do something that they would not be able to advocate as ethical behaviour. I have noticed that people tend to do this when they know they cannot get their way any other way and what they are doing harms a ‘faceless’ entity (the government in the case of cheating on taxes, big business in the case of scamming stores or businesses, etc.). I think this helps them assuage their conscience that what they are doing is not so bad.
Sometimes people have ethical systems not entirely compatible with yours to the point where it seems like somebody is being a hypocrite or inconsistent, but actually their ethics system is incompatible.
For example, I firmly believe that shoplifting is much more unethical behavior then returning an item off the store shelf that you didn’t buy with a fake receipt for example. To a lot of people that seems inconsistent.
Another example, I’ll respect the right to be anonymous over the right to life, i.e. if one does not wish their identity to be disclosed in a given situation, and the only way to accomplish that is to use deadly force, such use is justified. Of course the law, and the majority of people, will never agree with me.
Some will call me inconsistent, majority will call me batshit insane or a psycopath. I just grew up differently. I formed my own opinions, and I have some pretty staunch ideas that I’m apprehensive about disclosing in a public forum, that I’m yet to find anybody who would agree with me.
This isn’t the pit, but it’s sometimes difficult to face the world with the realization that if my core ideals were made into a political party, I’d have millions of times less supporters than the Nazis or the Communists.