Representative Chris Lee resigns amid racy photo scandal

Lee, in addition to being a well liked politician, was also a successful businessman, he is married and has a child.  He could be seen as the poster child for conservative America -- a man who seemed to be straightforward and honest, successful, and a family man.  He supported continuing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," and opposed abortion.  After all, isn't that what conservative social values are about?  The Republican Party in the United States represents what many call the conservative values in our society.  The fundamentalist religious community generally supports the Republican Party.  And the Buffalo area generally seems to represent well the conservative attitudes of many Americans.

 

It is almost hilarious, when public officials, especially ones who supposedly stand for integrity, honesty, and conservative values, are caught in social scandals which shatter the veneer of their moral integrity.  How about the debacle of former Governor Elliot Spitzer?  Wasn't he supposed to be the knight in shining armor -- the sterling example of moral integrity.  No corruption could touch him -- except when it came to women.

 

But why do people in American society hold people up to such high standards?  Lee is only human.  Do American people really believe that there are truly perfect people out there -- especially when they themselves are not perfect?  They come from us.  If the guy on the street cheats on his wife, so will the congressman.

 

Sure, we want people who are halfway decent, that will represent the needs of the people in the community, but this examiner wonders if people hold politicians to too high a standard.

In Europe, if this same story broke, the community would yawn in amazement, and say, "So what else is new?  As long as he votes the way I want on issues important to me, I don't care what he does on his own time."

 

In Philadephia, Lucian Blackwell, a city councilman, once remarked, when a presidential candidate was caught in a minor indiscretion, "So what?  We're not electing God, we're electing the President of the United States."  He recognized an important fact; we are all fallible.

 

It is foolish that we should make these politician gods.  And religious conservatives are the worst offenders, and if they are caught in a scandal, they often fall the hardest.  Religion, especially the legalistic and moralistic types, often make people judgmental.  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam with their rules and regulations don't often come to grips with human frailty.  They often nitpick on issues that are actually irrelevant such as the length of the woman's hair, how short her skirt is, whether her face is properly covered, if the man is faithful to his wife, if a man or woman is involved in a homosexual relationship.  Religion thrives on hypocrisy and apparently so does American politics.  These scandals reflect the prurient interest of the public, the more sordid the better, and how hypocritical of a community we really are

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Anton Szandor LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, had an interesting observation on the subject of hypocrisy.