Hypocrisy and the Real World

There is a bargain implicit in a free and decent society.

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Nury Martinez. (Photo by Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images.)

Dear Reader,

“F— that guy. … He’s with the blacks.” 

That’s what Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez said in a secretly recorded conversation with two other Latino councilmembers that is blowing up L.A. politics. Indeed, all three of them said all sorts of terrible, racist garbage in the context of a very contentious fight about redistricting in Los Angeles. The White House has already weighed in, saying that they should all resign. Martinez stepped down as president on Monday, but that was not enough for the critics.

And I kind of think it’s great.

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  1. Avatar photo
    WKDawson

    I certainly agree that we are all hypocrites, full stop. So that fact that we carry around ignorant, selfish, absurd, ridiculous, wrong, and/or self-agrandizing ideas is a fact that probably no one can completely deny. Hence, there is a place for privacy to sort things out in ones head without being held to the high standards of public decorum.

    That said, the important thing is "to sort things out". We don't understand other people sometimes/often, so seeing them in a wrong light happens. Sometimes, that understanding can come from talking this out privately, as we really don't know everything. The goal of private discussion __should__ be to become better, not simply to affirm what we already are inclined to think. So I agree with you at some level, but there should be a direction that is still aimed at being _more_ true to who you are in both public and private. We should grant more of the above foibles to come out (and be worked out) in private than in public.

    What I see of the incident with Nury Martinez is her immaturity. I would bet that when she was called some words, she was deeply offended, yet when she hangs out with her buddies, they do exactly the same thing. The point of trials, even the one Job went through, is that everyone becomes better. Job's friends learn that they were not being friends, Job learns that he doesn't have a monopoly on what is going on in the heavenly realm, he doesn't know anything in fact. If the friends walk away affirming in their mind that bad things happen to bad people, or Job thinks he has some special privileges to understanding what happens, you have the Nury Martinezes of the world. She did not seek to grow and become better out of her trials, but to become more like the people who she suffered from. That people carry around these attitudes and think the world owes them a living is not a surprise, but that she shows such little understanding of the lessons of life is very unfortunate.

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  2. Ken Motamed

    I don't understand how "he's with the blacks" is racist. In the context of a power struggle, blacks are just another demographic. Then again, this is our current moment.

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    1. Avatar photo
      Narwhal

      That was not all that they said. I suggest going to the LA Times and reading about this in greater detail and listening to the audio for yourself.

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  3. Elderdxc

    I don't do double standards. Sin is sin - period. If I wouldn't do it to your face because it's wrong, I won't do it behind your back because it's wrong. If I wouldn't say it in public, because it's wrong, I won't say it in private because it's wrong. There are only 10 Commandments, and only two Great Commandments, not 10/2 for public behavior and 10/2 for private behavior. Jesus didn't say "repent of your public transgressions," He said, "Repent."

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    1. Davegarvie

      Bet you're fun at parties. You might want to re-read the article, or simply consider how many sinful individuals you have voted for/worked for/read/watched/befriended/married/etc/ad nauseam, and how many of them you'd prefer to see ostracized from civil society.

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      1. Elderdxc

        Why should any of them be ostracized from society? The Christian response to sinners is not isolation, it's a call to repentance. Do you understand the difference?
        Regarding parties, unless you're talking about picnics, my kids' birthdays, or Super Bowls, I don't go to parties all that much. I have no particular interest in club hopping since I have a wife. I don't enjoy drinking to excess so I don't hang out at the local tavern.
        I just don't believe that you should live your life as if you are free to be as wicked as you want to be just because no one will see you. There is an old saying: "What you do in the dark will come to the light." I'd rather be consistent; that way I don't have to remember which lie I told to which person.
        Do you understand what I am saying to you? (1) The Christian response to a person committing a sin or transgression is not to ostracize them, it's to call that person to repentance. That only changes to ostracism if the person refuses to repent, but attempts to justify his/her sin even when the community confronts him/her. that is no different from what we now have in the criminal justice system with "three-strike laws." At some point, you have to hold people accountable for patterns of behavior. (2) I strive for consistency, and when I fall short, I admit, repent, and make it right as much as possible. I don't try to justify my wrongdoing. Maybe if we had THAT as a default policy instead of this seeming carte blanche to hypocrisy, we wouldn't have such low levels of trust in society.

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    2. Ken Motamed

      And what was the "sin" in this case?

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      1. Elderdxc

        "“F— that guy. … He’s with the blacks.”

        That’s what Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez said in a secretly recorded conversation with two other Latino councilmembers that is blowing up L.A. politics. Indeed, all three of them said all sorts of terrible, racist garbage in the context of a very contentious fight about redistricting in Los Angeles..."
        " The conversation segues into outright bigotry—imported from Mexico—about Oaxacans being “short” and “ugly” peasants."
        Now what was the specific sin?
        Luther's Small Catechism, Article I, Paragraphs 15-16
        [15] The Eighth [Commandment]

        You are not to bear false witness against your neighbor.
        [16] What is this?
        Answer:
        We are to fear and love God, so that we do not tell lies about our neighbors, betray or slander them, or destroy their reputations. Instead we are to come to their defense, speak well of them, and interpret everything they do in the best possible light.

        Robert Kolb, Timothy J. Wengert, and Charles P. Arand, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 353.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Narwhal

    The way President of the Los Angeles City Council Nury Martinez talks about the then situation Councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas, who has since been indicted on federal corruption charges, is very telling of her and the others in that conversation with her, and obviously not in a good way.

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/mark-ridley-thomas-charged-along-former-university-dean-federal-grand-jury-indictment

    https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-09/city-council-leaked-audio-nury-martinez-kevin-de-leon-gil-cedillo

    I get that the bigotry and racism are drawing the most attention from many at present. But, don’t sleep on their comfort level with corruption.

    The Feds aren’t without their own bad apples, crimes, and scandals, but things like this just reinforce my conviction about the necessity and utility of federal law enforcement in general.

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  5. Avatar photo
    Honest Ape

    I wouldn't mind this being read from the pulpit as this Sunday's sermon.

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  6. Jisrael1

    Exactly! ANd every night on CNN John King takes out the election map and prattles on about the "white suburban woman" vote, and the "black vote," etc...It's just funny at this point that it is acceptable in those forums, and not in a back room. It's really about the language that they used, not the ideas.

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  7. Genny

    There's public behavior, private behavior, and then there's social media, which I don't want to talk about except to say, "Enter at your own risk." Public behavior standards are there to grease the wheels because we are all so diverse that misunderstandings can happen easily, so we write to Miss Manners to try and prevent that. But it's tricky. I grew up in a culture where showing interest in others showed caring. I now live in a culture where showing interest in others is being intrusive and nosy and rude. It's so bad that they have classes that will teach you how to be a Good Neighbor, starting with teaching people not to be afraid to knock on a neighbor's door and then introduce themselves. You can work up to being taught how to do nice things for your neighbors. You could even win a certificate for performing neighborly deeds well. You get your name in the local newspaper's weekly Good Neighbor section if you win a certificate. I guess we're so bad as a society at these things that we need these classes to teach the rules of civil interaction.

    But I don't think that explains the fear that permeates so many people when they encounter people different from them that causes them to instantly dislike them and call them not-nice names. Did they grow up in an environment where their parents didn't create a sense of safety? In public, I might show some kindly concern for these people and their unreasonable fears. In the bosom of my family I would vocally wonder what's wrong with these weirdos.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Michael Dan Martin

    Norm McDonald had a great take on hypocrisy.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ljaP2etvDc4

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    1. Saulton

      That is precisely where my mind went as I read this and I came here to post this very clip.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Kevin C. Smith

    So I guess newsletters won’t get posted to the home page? I was used to viewing them on the site—not by email. This is annoying.

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      BloggerBarbie

      Me, too. I checked, because it seemed like it was time for a G-file, but it would be more useful on the front page.

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    Rdpulfer

    "The LORD detests differing weights, and dishonest scales do not please him." Proverbs 20:23

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