This is something that needs to be grappled with, because it’s such a fundamental thing. On a philosophical level, Christian conservatives in the US don’t recognize their double standards as hypocrisy.
I thought long and hard about this, and my best explanation is that it comes back to one of the defining elements of Christianity, something that sets it apart from other major religions: that people are to be judged based on their beliefs and not their actions. Yahweh’s grace is available to, “the vilest offender who truly believes,” as the old hymn goes.
This is why AOC is condemned as a harlot for dancing to music in university, while Lauren Boebert is forgiven for going to second base with her date in public. AOC doesn’t believe the same things the Christian conservatives do, while Boebert (presumably) does.
It seems this view, that belief informs morality, is so ingrained in the politics of the USA (and probably other places) that it even affects non-Christian strata.
This is something that needs to be grappled with, because it’s such a fundamental thing. On a philosophical level, Christian conservatives in the US don’t recognize their double standards as hypocrisy.
I thought long and hard about this, and my best explanation is that it comes back to one of the defining elements of Christianity, something that sets it apart from other major religions: that people are to be judged based on their beliefs and not their actions. Yahweh’s grace is available to, “the vilest offender who truly believes,” as the old hymn goes.
This is why AOC is condemned as a harlot for dancing to music in university, while Lauren Boebert is forgiven for going to second base with her date in public. AOC doesn’t believe the same things the Christian conservatives do, while Boebert (presumably) does.
It seems this view, that belief informs morality, is so ingrained in the politics of the USA (and probably other places) that it even affects non-Christian strata.
It is in-group/out-group pure and simple, just wearing a cross because the in-group eats it up