I posted not long ago on a young football player who demonstrated so much skill that the rules were changed to prohibit him from scoring too much, a classic illustration of how excellence angers rather than inspires. That was a question of physical excellence, but it is moral excellence that will truly cause people to hate you.
A person of moral excellence is a walking, talking rebuke to all those who are immoral or lack morals (amoral). The mere fact of his existence inflames, since the contrast between him and everyone else is too stark to ignore and cannot be forgiven. A standard reaction is to mock, berate, or otherwise tear down the paragon of virtue in order to prove that nobody is better than anyone else, making the lowest common denominator feel good and even superior for being free of priggish pretensions.
Witness the rage at Tim Tebow for being a man of faith who walks the walk rather than just talks. Witness any number of movies or television shows that portray the morally upright as naïve, repressed, disturbed, or even malevolent. Witness the modern love affair with sarcasm, which is insincerity most often aimed at a human target perceived as too big for his britches.
I recently heard a story about a young woman in high school whose friends mercilessly mocked her for staying a virgin until married. One day she sat them all down and asked that they cut it out, reminding them of the following: at any time I can choose to be like you, but you can never again choose to be like me. Amen, sister.
A person of moral excellence is a walking, talking rebuke to all those who are immoral or lack morals (amoral). The mere fact of his existence inflames, since the contrast between him and everyone else is too stark to ignore and cannot be forgiven. A standard reaction is to mock, berate, or otherwise tear down the paragon of virtue in order to prove that nobody is better than anyone else, making the lowest common denominator feel good and even superior for being free of priggish pretensions.
Witness the rage at Tim Tebow for being a man of faith who walks the walk rather than just talks. Witness any number of movies or television shows that portray the morally upright as naïve, repressed, disturbed, or even malevolent. Witness the modern love affair with sarcasm, which is insincerity most often aimed at a human target perceived as too big for his britches.
I recently heard a story about a young woman in high school whose friends mercilessly mocked her for staying a virgin until married. One day she sat them all down and asked that they cut it out, reminding them of the following: at any time I can choose to be like you, but you can never again choose to be like me. Amen, sister.
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