Hypocrisy # end

The current furore surrounding Jimmy Savile and the sexual harassment issues regarding allegations of paedophilia whilst he was retained at the BBC is another example of our culture going through some realistic 'soul searching'. Whilst the issues of the abuse perpetrated by Jimmy Savile and possibly others retained within the BBC are in themselves diabolical, the process of examining the foundations of our institutions is in itself very healthy, mature and ultimately a significant healing process.

 

Parliamentary expenses; priests engaged in paedophilia; banking scandals; phone tapping within the media and the Leveson enquiry. All of these issues are not only recent, but are in themselves challenging and focussing our expectations on what is right and wrong within a mature democracy and what we expect from our institutions and citizens.

 

This is about our collective morality and the hypocrisy within our society which destroys the harmony of our agreed values.

 

It is human beings who govern the world. Now you and I may, or may not agree on who governs human beings, but it is the responsibility of us all to make our planet a better place. Human rights should be aligned with human responsibility. Jimmy Savile raised millions for charity whilst apparently abusing hundreds of children. He was without doubt a hypocrite.

 

He was not the person everybody thought he was.

 

Hypocrisy is in the human heart and by definition impacts on every sphere of life and is a challenge for us all. I am hypocritical and it is only my faith and thus my 'world view' which inspires me to 'work on my character defects' and try and be on the outside, what I am on the inside and vice versa. This inner journey of faith, in my experience, does eventually lead to real freedom as we ask God for His power to heal our characters.

 

Sometimes we are so 'nice in the church,' (and there is nothing wrong with being nice), but we often struggle to be honest about what is going on within the 'community of faith'. As somebody said, if you find a perfect church don't join it because you'll ruin it. The church is a community of which the great Catholic writer Henri Nouwen said "the Christian faith community are in themselves 'wounded healers'."

 

In the love of God, all I've got to give my fellow man is hope that there is healing and there is freedom in God. If my story and communication to others isn't honest then I am hypocritical. People respond well to honesty. They can smell its authenticity.

 

A good definition of hypocrisy is "...the state of promoting or administering virtues, morals or religious beliefs, principles etc. that one does not actually have or is also guilty of violating. Hypocrisy often involves the deception of others and thus can be considered as a kind of lie."

 

In Jimmy Savile's case that hypocrisy led to a life which was a lie, and which seriously abused people and damaged them. I believe Jimmy Savile has to give an account for his life and actions because justice demands it. Whatever the decisions of our judicial system regarding Savile, whatever the outcomes of the work done by those responsible for trying to right the wrongs done to people who were abused, I firmly believe that God will be perfect in His Judgements, and offers healing and hope to those who are hurting and in despair.