Craig Stephen Rogers | Standing up to hypocrites and hypocrisy

Craig Stephen Rogers – Standing up to hypocrites and hypocrisy

Since my Senior year in High School I have been outspoken, brash, and even confrontational, especially when it came to speaking my mind in regard to hypocrites and hypocrisy. In the conclusion of 2010 I have rededicated myself to fighting hypocrisy, starting with the hypocrisy within myself. I can be the worst hypocrite and I have a long ways to go, and therefore the conclusion of 2010 I have rededicated myself to rooting out the hypocrisy.

Now, not that I am all that special, nor do I believe that I have all the answers (I have proven many times that I don’t have all the answers)…. yet, I am very outspoken and I expect to become even more vocal than ever before.   The truth is that I enjoy engaging hypocrites (allowing their own hypocrisy to make them looks foolish) in debates that expose their true intentions.  Since becoming an educated young adult (I had a very good education) I have enjoyed debate and confrontation.  Really, it boils down to the fact that I dislike (passionately dislike) intolerance and I have a calling to challenge intolerance.  As a true social conservative (meaning, I think we all need to be responsible as well as accountable for our own choices and behaviors, there are no victims, and at one point in our lives we must grow up and stop blaming mom and dad for all our problems) “ALL” liberals on the left have one thing in common.  This one thing bonds them together like layers of plywood.  They are “ALL” intolerant of anyone or anything that does not support their views.

Intolerant liberals cannot discuss, debate, or engage in rational disagreements.  They just can’t.  They are “ALL” victims.  Every last one of them.  Liberalism is intolerance and intolerance is liberalism.  As a social conservative we I believe strongly that all people should be allowed a voice and we all should have be heard.  Everyone should be able to engage in rational and civil debate.  Everyone should be respected and honored, given an opportunity to speak their will, especially those we don’t agree with.  The lack of tolerance from the liberal left in America is shameful.  They have only one intention and that is to impose their will, mind, and emotions on everyone.  The Liberal left embodies and personifies intolerance.

When it comes to  enjoy stirring up the hornets nest, mocking the intolerant people, I am one of the best.  Why?  Because I once was intolerance and I know all their tricks.  I am not bragging about this part of me, but I am being very honest.  It seems as though I just can’t help myself when it comes to provoking intolerant ignorant hypocrites who think they “know it all”.  I know this is not always right to engage the intolerant, and it tends to cause me a great deal of grief, but honestly I just love doing it.  The truth is that I have mellowed over the years, and now I pick my battles, only engaging with those that will positively effect others as I uproot and expose hypocrisy.  In other words, I am not as out spoken as I once was, but when I do speak up I can positively effect a good outcome for many.  I think God has placed me in the middle of the most intolerant people (shallow small town Latter-Day Saints Mormonism) so that I can confront and challenge the hypocrisy and expose the hypocrite, even if it He starts with me.

I am including myself in the group of “intolerant people”.  No one is perfect and in our opinionated self-righteousness we all reveal our biases, our intolerance’s, and our need to coerce others into adopting our version of “the way things should be”.  I am not ashamed to say that I have many faults, flaws, and “crap” to overcome (I have plenty of stinkin thinkin).  Trust me, I am my biggest critic and I can see at least half my hypocrisy (which makes me a full hypocrite).  I don’t have a problem admitting when I am wrong because I have had so much practice at being wrong (I should be a professional by now).  The good news is that I don’t care what other people think of me, and I am very forgiving.  The good news is that I can relate very well with hypocrites, and that is why I can expose them so easily.  I know how they think because I am one!  THAT IS WHY I DON’T CARE WHAT OTHERS THINK BECAUSE WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT.  AND, IF SOMEONE WANTS TO JUDGE ME, RIDICULE ME, OR LABOR OVER MY FAULTS AS IF THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY THEN SO BE IT, THEY ARE DOING ME A FAVOR… FIRST THEY ARE GIVING ME SOME FREE COUNSELING AND SECONDLY, IN THEIR JUDGMENT OF ME THEY ARE EXPOSING THEIR OWN HYPOCRISY! THAT MEANS I DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING TO MAKE THEM LOOK STUPID BECAUSE THEY ARE DOING IT ALL BY THEM SELVES.

The combination of not caring what people think, and being outspoken, can cause a great deal of ruckus and major discord.  It seems like I have always been a catalyst for “trouble”… meaning I can stir up some trouble pretty darned fast by provoking people who are intolerant, ignorant, insecure, and “hypocrtical”.  It is very easy and living in Kanab I don’t even have to try.  Although there are many awesome people in Kanab (mostly secure mature people of the LDS Faith) this place has the greatest pooling/gathering of hypocrites I have ever seen.  Mormonism is by definition “hypocrisy”.  Mormonism, to me, is not a faith or a denomination.  Mormonism is a culture of secrecy, cultish, and cover up. Mormonism is the white-washed tomb, presenting oneself to the world as being “clean” but on the inside (behind the scenes in the dark) being the complete opposite.  In Mormonism you find incest, abuse of every kind, pornography, addiction, and many other evil… but it is covered up and hidden.  Mormonism is not a faith, but it is a corrupted culture not unlike secularization of the people associated with a faith (Catholics, Jews, Christians, Muslims).

Even though I don’t care about how people view me, or what people think of me, I am always sorry for the people who have been hurt by my outspoken nature.  Mainly the people that love me unconditionally, the one’s who stand by me in think and in thin. I am truly sorrowful for the things that I have said that has brought hurt, shame, or abuse to those close to me, those who love me, and those who have stood by me.  I could care less about those who are the authentic targets of my outspokenness.  If people are going to be hypocritical, judging others as if they are without sin, then I have every right to point out the hypocrisy, starting with my own.

Unfortunately, hate and violence come with the territory of being outspoken.  Small-minded people do small-minded things.  People gossip, murmur, and whisper behind the scenes.  Some act out in hatred and invoke violence or other forms of abuse.  There are officers within the Kane County Sheriff’s Department and the Kanab City Police Department who use their granted authority to abuse those they oppose.  In other words there are officers within the ranks of the local law enforcement agencies who see their civil authority as a tool to inflict pain or retribution upon those that oppose their abusive manner.  Although there are many incredible men and women representing the Kane County Sheriffi’s Department and the Kanab City Police Department, there are a few true hypocrites that are not worthy of their granted authority.  As a matter of fact, they are totally unworthy of the color of authority the citizens have given them to protect.

Scott Curley, in a cowardly act, killed an innocent man when he unjustly gunned down a Kane County Sheriff’s Deputy (a great man in every respect).  Scott Curly had no right to take the life of this great man, and certainly this deputy’s story is that of a true American Hero (I withhold his name in honor of his legacy).  However, it is also true that Scott Curley was pushed to his limit, but not by the man he killed.  A truly troubled young man, an alcoholic, tormented in many ways, the fact is that Scott Curley was harassed and provoked by a few bad apples (officers of the Sheriff’s Department and Kanab City Police Department).  Scott Curley told family and friends shortly before he murdered an innocent man, “I am not going to take the abuse any more!”  In the long and short of it we have learned the hard way that there is a consequence to the outrageous acts of the men who wear the badge.  Unfortunately, I believe that Scott Curley acted out against law enforcement “in general” because no one in law enforcement challenged or confronted the outrageous abuse perpetrated by a few within their ranks.  This senseless death is a tragedy that could have been prevented had law enforcement of Kane County and Kanab City took care of their own.  You can’t expect to mistreat or harass a tortured man like Scott Curley and not expect the ticking time bomb to eventually go off.

I really do carry sorrow for those innocent people around me that are mistreated due to my outspokenness.  They don’t deserve the “retribution” that is unleashed upon them, retribution that should be funneled toward me and is a result of what I have said, written, or done. But someone has to stand up to the abuse perpetrated by the corruption within the law enforcement agencies here in Kane County and the City of Kanab.  Someone has to speak up for those that are abused by the color of authority (we can’t keep pretending that the abuse is not there… we must hold our law enforcement personnel to the very highest of standards because they carry the power of life and death on their hip… they carry the power to take away liberty and freedom…. they must be of the highest level of integrity or our entire system of justice will crumble beneath us).  Someone has to point out the consequences of the injustice coming from the people underneath the uniform.  Chief Tom Cram and Sheriff Lamont Smith can pretend that they have no idea what I am talking about, or they can take responsibility for the acts of their officers.  They can begin to expect greatness from each and every one of them (they are worthy to be greatly expected). Expecting those who wear the badge and carry the gun to be honest men and women of character, trustworthy, treating all people as people [respecting them as someone's son, someone's father, someone's husband.... someone that counts, someone who is cherished by our Heavenly Father]. There is no room or excuse for inadequacies, and we should allow no tolerance for character flaws within the ranks of our justice system, even if we are just a small town in the middle of no where.

Most people don’t speak directly to me about what I have said or written, and I think they are intimidated and frightened by me.  I don’t know why, there is no reason to be frightened.  I am a flawed man with many imperfections to overcome.  Only by the grace of God do I walk this earth.  I think that they hypocritical won’t come near me because they know I will point out their hypocrisy as I point out my own.  We all are in the same boat.  If I am the one pointing out (and admitting to) my own flaws and imperfections then no one has to do it for me.  Its called being accountable.  “We have all sinned, and we have all fallen short… let me worry about the the log in my own eye before I get too concerned about the spec in yours….”  I think that the law enforcement agents of this town are cowards when they speak about me in the shadows… when they harass people that love me… when they use their positions of granted authority to inflict retribution upon others when they are really trying to upset me.  Here I am… you don’t have to pick on the innocent, come and face me…. I have nothing to hide, and I am nothing to fear.  Tell me directly what you think of me, and stop whispering like school girls in the hallway.  Tell it like you mean it to the one that you are referring to.  No need to murmur or gossip, or to tell tall tales… you know where to find me and I am a civil person who believes fights with his convictions and not with weapons.  I am a passive non-violent person who stands on the Constitution of the United States, exercising the Freedom of Speech.  What about you?

But it really doesn’t matter what I think… not really. I am just one man, simple in my ways, flawed and imperfect, a man in need of a Savior. I am willing to stand up for others, and I plan to continue to advocate for the oppressed, and speak out against the oppressors.  I will continue to stand up for others, and myself, through passive means, speaking my mind and challenging the hypocrisy of the hypocrites, starting with my own.

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