PUBLIC
HYPOCRYSIES
by Timothy Rollins, Editor and Columnist
February 11, 2010
While
public hypocrisy makes the news almost daily, this column specifically targets
Delilah (right), the radio personality
who offers relationship advice to the lovelorn concerning remarks she made around
Christmas time when she pulled her children out of the Crosspoint Academy, claiming
the school was teaching 'veiled Mormonism.' The real story is that Crosspoint's
new curriculum was implementing some of Steven Covey's time-proven successful
methods for increased personal effectiveness, and has nothing to do with Mormonism.
While Delilah is free to school her children wherever she wishes, she cannot make remarks such as these when they will offend large numbers of the very people she depends on for her livelihood. In this case, Delilah offended not only Mormons, but also those listeners who are friends of either individual Mormons or of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution. This is especially so in light of the Church's extensive humanitarian work, as well as for other endeavors for which the Church has been appropriately recognized.
Delilah's public bigotry however, begs the larger question: Do these people really mean what they blurt out of their mouths? I would say without hesitation, the answer is a resounding YES. Here's why: I spent two years on a domestic violence task force where we taught abusers how to redirect their behaviors and replace bad habits with good ones. In most cases, these offenders did not really want to be there; but became immediately receptive when it was either the class or jail.
One of the principles we taught was that the first thing out of a person's mouth is almost always the unvarnished truth. It is candor and more often than not, an honest expression of feeling. So when people like Delilah lash out against Mormons and then offer half-baked apologies, you know they really don't mean it.
In the interests of full disclosure, let me state that I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known to many as the Mormons. While I and others of my faith have been ridiculed and marginalized for decades, the underlying principle remains that Delilah and others like her are ideological hypocrites who actively practice a double standard, and perfect it while simmering in the juices of their bigotry, ignorance and seething hypocrisy.
When people like Delilah run off with their mouths like she did, they do their individual causes far more harm than good. It is thinking like Delilah's that magnifies the intolerance of the Religious Right and it was this mindset that ceded the 2008 presidential election to a man even less qualified than Jimmy Carter.
One of the glaring problems with those in the public arena is that they frequently find themselves backpedaling from statements they make. The scenario goes like this:
a. A high-profile person's offhand remark goes online, embarrassing the author.
b. The media or some demographic gets in an uproar over such a remark.
c. The offender makes an insincere apology solely to mollify the offended.
The problem with these lame half-hearted 'apologies' is that the offenders commit a personal fraud while ducking for public cover. When Delilah sought to apologize over the flap she stirred in her swipe at the Mormons, her later statement that she claims to 'respect and admire the Mormon faith' is proof positive that she can lie with the best of them. If she did respect the Mormon faith to begin with - as she describes it - she never would have made that remark. In what can only be described as "CYA 101", the insincerity over said apology only makes it all the more suspect.
What Delilah and others in the public eye need to remember is that while the rest of us may not necessarily have either their specific skill sets or other abilities that put us in the public eye, neither are we fools with 20-second attention spans. We DO remember your verbal gaffes as an expression of your honest feelings, and we don't forget them. If an elected official makes a sufficiently serious gaffe, people will vote them out of office. If a 'celebrity' or 'entertainment personality' make such a remark, then consumers are entitled to retaliate by ceasing to patronize their goods and services.
So in a nutshell Delilah, here's the bottom line: Abusive remarks of this nature will affect your bottom line and therefore, your ratings. If John Tesh's ratings go up over this while yours go down, remember, you only have yourself to blame. ***
© 2010 Timothy Rollins
Delilah responds
to 'Mormon Media Observer'
A veteran freelance writer, Timothy Rollins
brings a wealth of political and military experience dating back more than three
decades. He is a freelance writer and policy analyst living in Oklahoma who
has been featured both on television and radio. He has appeared both in online
publications as well as in print newspapers in the United States such as the
Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel, USA TODAY, the
Deseret News in Salt Lake City, and
also in Canada, where he has appeared in The
Toronto SUN and the Daily Herald in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His television
appearances include The Michael Coren
Show in Canada and KWTV 9 NEWS in Oklahoma
City. The views expressed here by Mr. Rollins are his own and do not represent
the official views of any organization or entity with which he may otherwise
be affiliated. As such, Mr. Rollins alone takes full responsibility for them.
He can be reached by e-mail at rollins@american-partisan.com.
***
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© 2010 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN
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