Do as I say not as I do - hypocrisy at its best. The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behaviour does not conform, writes Ruta Mave.

It involves pretending to be virtuous or pious while acting in a way that contradicts those claims. Essentially it involves putting on a facade of virtue morality or religious piety that is not genuine; a discrepancy of behaviour of essential moral or ethical principles.

It is something that pops into my mind when I read and hear from a bishop of a church promoting and supporting with scripture the mining of our seabed minerals for money. If it was his true belief that God wanted us to have them then bishop Tutae Pere could preach it from the pulpit but instead, he is the chairperson of the board for the very company wanting to mine God’s great hidden gifts.

It also begs the question if God wanted us to have them, why else did he put them down in the deepest ocean farthest away from our greedy hands? It reminds me of my nana saying if God meant us to fly, he would have given us wings.

Inconsistency is a key element in the contradiction between one's words and actions. This could be advocating for a certain behaviour while not practising it oneself.

The motivation behind hypocrisy can vary but it often involves seeking social approval avoiding criticism or gaining some other personal benefit by appearing to hold certain beliefs.

Someone who encourages others to buy local products but then buys a foreign car is also being hypocritical. Or in our government's case they buy 1.7 million dollars of electric cars but can’t give them away and don’t drive them themselves.

The double hypocrisy is it was a vulgar display and waste of money to supposedly show our commitment to alternate fuel and reduce climate change effects but all our electricity is diesel generated. It is to be noted that no solar lights have been installed for the roads around Rarotonga; a general delay in fixing the solar panels in the outer islands for months now and no allowance for residents to install solar panels and feed into the grid to work towards self-sustainability.

Hypocrisy is generally seen as a negative trait often associated with insincerity deceit and a lack of integrity. The term can also be applied to situations where someone claims to believe something but their actions indicate otherwise.

The word hypocrisy entered the English language in c1200 with the meaning “the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness” Today often refers to advocating behaviours that one does not practice.

We may be able to apply this to the latest pollution and ocean summit in France where our Prime Minister stands at the lecture gaslighting other countries into believing we are sinking into the abyss due to climate change and hence we should be getting more funding. When the reality is albeit in smaller numbers we contribute per head of capita more pollution than India and our markers are increasing while theirs are decreasing.

He also speaks of our great Marae Moana, which was the creation and hard work of a small and dedicated team led by Jacqui Evans who after being recognised on the world stage for her fantastic work was fired by the government because she wanted a moratorium to pause and study seabed mineral mining for another 10 years.

Hypocrites often claim to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case. It is often not beyond them to impersonate the actions of others to elevate their status. At the same forum where Mark skites about our Marae Moana, he fails to mention that he is allowing the plundering of it with purse-seine fishing boats for very little return for the people. He goes on to announce a highway for migrating whales free from any hunting, which was earlier announced by the head of the house of Ariki. But go ahead Mark and take all the credit while actually doing little to protect anything residing in our waters, including us.

A bishop who preaches making money is holy and God's word is often following the prosperity gospel or the health and wealth gospel. It is a controversial teaching within Christianity. It suggests that God rewards faithful Christians with wealth and prosperity when they support a ministry financially. Many non-mainstream denomination religions do this.

Bishop Pere sits on the religious advisory council who have only formally approved the CICC, Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventists and Latter-day saints. They have a collection on Sundays to fund the minister of the church. Interestingly, Bishop Pere is the full-time pastor of the Apostolic Church, not approved by his regulatory board. 

Note: An email was sent to Bishop Pere yesterday afternoon regarding the opinion piece. His response will be published this week if he chooses to reply to the writer.