By Joe Pisani
I recently learned about a popular trend in America called “virtue signaling,” which is described as “the habit of indicating that one is virtuous merely by expressing disgust or favor for certain political ideas. It is acting morally superior and claiming the moral high ground.”
Virtue signaling is everywhere. People go to marches and protests and political events and take selfie photos to share with their friends on social media. “Hey, everybody, look at me! I’m morally superior to you. I’m pointing out your bad behavior!”
If I had a selfie stick, I’d probably do the same thing. “Hi, guys! It’s me, in the third row, the bald fellow with the mask on! Love ya! Let’s get a group shot!”
Some family members and friends are always posting photos of themselves on Instagram at the latest rally for the latest cause. Or they’re telling everybody on Facebook about their latest contribution and why you’re a no-good louse if you don’t contribute too.
To my thinking, it’s never wise to define your moral principles by political causes. Actually, this world would be a better place if our political causes were defined by morality.
Jesus was pretty stern when it came to virtue signaling. The term may be new, but the practice goes back a long, long way. The Pharisees were big-time virtue signalers who acted as if they were so much better than everyone else. Remember the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable about the two men in the Temple?
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”
As Jesus put it, “Everything they do is done for people to see.” That’s a perfect example of virtue signaling.
Virtue signalers are eager to point out the imperfections in everyone except themselves. Celebrities are compulsive virtue signalers, except that they’re usually hypocrites. We’re always reading about actors and comedians, who delight in telling everyone else how they should live … until someone finds a photo that shows they were in blackface a few years ago or made racist comments that were conveniently forgotten.
Virtue signalers generally do a lot of preaching, along with what was once known as “finger pointing.” Over the years, I’ve had the misfortune of knowing many “finger pointers,” and it’s never a pleasant experience. Finger pointers are people who are shake their fingers at someone else, calling them out for some contrived injustice. They point their fingers at everyone except themselves. They cast blame and tell others how to live even though they don’t take their own advice.
They also enjoy preaching. When we were growing up, there was a popular phrase: “Practice what you preach.” Preaching is easy to do. Anyone can talk the talk. But not everyone can walk the walk.
I’m convinced we’re witnessing the rise of a new generation of Pharisees, who make a practice of telling others how to live their lives or condemning them because they’re not living according to the rule book they devised. Remember that line about the splinter in your brother’s eye and the plank in your own?
They have a saying in Alcoholics Anonymous, which more people, even those who aren’t in recovery, should take to heart: “Take your own inventory.” It’s especially appropriate in our time because there’s a pandemic of inventory-taking in America.
Jesus was pretty explicit about inventory-taking, too. When the woman caught in adultery was brought before him and all the virtue signalers were pointing fingers and about to stone her, he said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” That’s an enduring lesson for all of us, especially today.