Refers to the unjust application of different sets of principles for similar situations. It’s when one group is allowed more leniency or privilege, while another group is judged more harshly for the same behavior. This unequal treatment often arises from biases and can lead to unfair judgments and discrimination.

Some examples of double standards have been practiced for so long that society has on the one hand accepted them, although knowing that they are blatant, economically devastating, and has hurt generations of groups; more so than others. Even the constitution has helped.

The late R&B legend Betty Wright, 1968 stated one plainly, in Girls Can’t Do What the Guys Do:  

When you put your faith in one guy

Sometimes he’ll make you happy

Sometimes he’ll make you cry

But don’t lose your self-respect

Trying to get revenge

Cause no matter how you do it

Girls, you can’t do what the guys do, no

And still be a lady, no

The authors below, mention 15 examples of double standards, but I will only mention six:

Fathers’ vs Mothers: Fathers are praised for cooking dinner every now and then, while women are expected to do it all the time, without any praise.

Parenting: If women work outside the home while their children are growing up, they are sometimes seen as unfit mothers, as abandoning their “duties”. Men on the other hand, whether they work or not are praised for doing things that are simply expected of mothers.

Gendered Professions: A man who wants to be a nurse is ridiculed while a woman who wants to be a nurse is encouraged (and vice versa for other professions).

Sons’ vs Daughters: A father who allows his 16-year-old son to stay out until midnight but doesn’t let his daughter go out past 10 pm. Using the excuse of safety concerns.

Elites get away with it: A politician who conscripts working-class men to go to battle, but makes exceptions for the sons of the elites.

Assertive Women: Assertive women are seen as ‘bossy’ while assertiveness for men is often seen as a positive leadership trait.

Written by Dalia Yashinsky (MA, Phil) August 20, 2023   Reviewed by Chris Drew PhD).

According to Ecclesiastes (3: 1), to everything there is a season. The wise person understands that lives have their natural cycles, which include “a time to break down and a time to build up. “A time to laugh and a time to mourn, a time to get and a time to lose.”

According to the Book, all people must respect divine timing since life remains outside human control. The Teacher comforts us through his belief that everything has its proper season and heaven assigns its own time for all purposes (Ecclesiastes, 3:11).

Life’s meaning, combined with the pursuit of happiness and the constraints of human wisdom, stands as the Book’s central focus. The Book’s opening starts with someone identified as the Preacher, who says, ‘Vanity of vanities, all is vanity’ (1:2), indicating that human achievements are short-lived.

Happiness pursued through worldly means remains forever useless, according to Ecclesiastes. Throughout his search for meaning in wisdom, pleasure, and hard work, the Teacher discovers that ‘everything is ‘chasing after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). But he accumulated great wealth, sought entertainment, erected awesome structures, and was not contented.

This Book was written during ancient Israel’s reign, probably during a time of prosperity and intellectual growth, King Solomon’s reign. They valued wisdom literature that guided the Israelites to live righteous lives.

Today, many still chase glitter the stuff that money can buy, fame and luxury, and then feel empty. The Book says that true contentment is not in external accomplishments and the focus on them; rather, it lies in a life centered on God.

However, there is one difference between Ecclesiastes and other wisdom books: Ecclesiastes offers a skeptical view of human efforts, and there is meaning only ultimately from God. Since God has been left out of many individuals lives, who is left to turn too?

The Book of Ecclesiastes holds excellent importance in biblical records because it reveals the human desire for meaning and proves the necessity of having a relationship with God. We continue to receive hints to return but so far, the hints have been ignored. Perhaps next year.

The poetic segment mentions that human existence follows a cycle of birth and death, planting and harvesting, and mourning and dancing. According to the Book, all people must respect divine timing since life remains outside human control.

The Teacher comforts us through his belief that everything has its proper season and heaven assigns its own time for all purposes (Ecclesiastes, 3:11). Such truth should prompt believers to rest their lives in God’s divine rule instead of being consumed by uncertainties.

Is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong. It was originally recorded by the Temptations in 1971, re-recorded by the Undisputed Truth the same year. It reminds us that “smiling faces show no traces of the evil that lurks within.”

Paul Ekman (2003) identifies seven universal emotions (anger, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness, surprise, and contempt) that have distinct, recognizable facial expressions across cultures that can be used to differentiate between voluntary (deceptive) and involuntary (natural) facial expressions.

The natural smile, for example, uses around 20 muscles. Liars have problems managing all these and their expressions may seem somehow false. Natural expressions tend to be more symmetrical (balanced), while deliberate expressions are more asymmetrical (looks fake).

Very brief, fleeting expressions (or micro-expressions) are a strong giveaway. If it is hard for a liar to fake individual expressions, it is far harder to shape multiple simultaneous emotions. How-ever, if you watch while you listen, you might notice that some have perfected the art.  

Facial expressions have a ‘trajectory’ of gradually appearing, peaking and fading. In natural expressions this will be a smooth process. In deliberate expression, it will be more jagged or offset, with more sudden changes.

Although natural emotions can appear quickly, they take more time to cool down and fade. Lying is hard work! The liar has to think carefully about what to say as well as how to express it. There are scriptures that remind us that we should be aware of smiling faces.

Proverbs 26:24-26: Warns that a deceitful person may hide their true intentions behind a pleasant demeanor.

Jeremiah 9:4-5: Highlights that friends may deceive one another, showing that not all smiles are genuine.

Matthew 7:15: Advises to beware of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing, indicating hidden dangers behind a friendly facade.

Psalm 55:21: Describes how smooth words can mask a treacherous heart, emphasizing the contrast between appearance and reality.

Proverbs 29:5: States that a flattering person spreads a net for others, illustrating the danger of deceptive charm.

James 3:14-16: Warns against bitter envy and selfish ambition, which can lead to disorder and falsehood, even among those who appear friendly.

Some Psychologists say the conscience is defined as that part of the human psyche that induces mental anguish and feelings of guilt when we violate it, and feelings of pleasure and well-being when our actions, thoughts and words are in conformity to our value systems.

Many people believe that the conscience was given to us to help us make decisions between right and wrong. A famous theologian says that is a false assumption! The conscience will only resist any deviation from the truth, or the right and the wrong, it knows.

The Greek word translated “conscience” in all New Testament Bible references is suneidēsis, meaning “moral awareness” or “moral consciousness.” The conscience reacts when one’s actions, thoughts, and words conform to, or are contrary to, a standard of right and wrong.

If you start to do something the Bible says is a sin, your conscience will rise up and tell you to stop. If, on the other hand, you have been raised to believe that there are no limits in life and you can do as you please, your conscience will not give you any problems.

Another reference to conscience in the New Testament is to a conscience that is “seared” or rendered insensitive as though it had been cauterized with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:1-2). Such a conscience is hardened and calloused, no longer feeling anything.

The Bible speaks of a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:2. The conscience is the God-given moral consciousness within each of us (Romans 2:15). If the conscience is “seared”—literally “cauterized”—then it has been rendered insensitive. Such a conscience does not work properly.

Paul identifies those who have a seared conscience in 1 Timothy 4:1–2: “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

I believe, some are of the mindset of the late Johnnie Taylor, in his hit song Running Out of Lies.  “When I try to go to sleep at night, I can hear my conscience say, I need to change, but I made a deal with my conscience, if my conscience doesn’t bother me, I won’t bother my conscience. “

A person with a seared conscience no longer listens to its promptings, and he or she can sin with abandon, delude him or herself into thinking all is well with her/his soul, and treat others insensitively and without compassion.

I also believe as a sane human being, especially if you call yourself a Christian, we are to keep our consciences clear by obeying God and keeping our relationship with Him in good standing. One might ask, “How do I do this with so many thoughts and experts telling me different thing?”

We do this by the application of His Word, renewing and softening our hearts continually.

Everyone forgets at times and might let someone down. But if we are constantly doing so, we need to check ourselves. It is important to have someone in our lives that we have given permission to be totally honest with us without recourse.   

Christians are to be speakers of truth, and to speak this truth with love (Ephesians 4:15). We are to “do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

But sometimes it is difficult to tell the difference between being wise about our trust and being overly self-protective out of past fear or hurt. If we find ourselves reluctant to trust anyone to any extent, we are wise to ask God to heal our wounded hearts.

The Bible gives advice about trusting others after we’ve been hurt. Trusting God is the first, important step. When we know that, no matter what men do to us, God will always be there, faithful and true, it is easier to handle betrayal or disappointments. Psalm 118:6 says, “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Reading God’s Word with attention to the ways He describes His own faithfulness and trustworthiness will be helpful to us. Prayer is vital. Particularly if we feel like God has betrayed our trust by allowing us to be hurt, we need to be reminded of His truth and comforted by His love.

If a person repeatedly betrays our trust unrepentantly, we do not have to continue to associate with her/him or her to make ourselves vulnerable to them. Yet we also should not harbor bitter ness or allow that person’s actions to hinder our relationships with other people (Hebrews 12:14–15).

Trusting others is not always natural or easy. We are wise to take time to get to know others and not readily give them our complete trust. Such trustworthiness has to be empowered by the Holy Spirit at work in the believer’s life (2 Corinthians 3:18).

As we learn to trust others, we should continually strive to be trustworthy ourselves. We should be a safe place for others (Proverbs 3:29) and keep confidences (Proverbs 11:13). We should be known for our honesty (Proverbs 12:22) and a willingness to suffer with a friend Proverbs 17:17).

The deadliest sins are not the headlining ones, but those quietly destroying the soul from the inside out. Proverbs 6 says that stirring up strife is something God hates. That is talk under the disguise as policies, gossip, drama, and dividing behavior that tears families, and communities apart.

Can you imagine what it must have been like during the Civil War, when a mother had sons with different ideologies, one being a pacifist, one for the North, and one for the South, each thinking that what they were doing was right? History is repeating itself.

From the serpent’s dishonesty in the Garden of Eden to Proverbs’ prohibitions, lying is described as something God abhors. Deceit shatters relationships and destroys community, whether it is a so-called little “white lie” or a deliberate lie.

The first commandment forbids other gods, but modern idolatry also disguises itself as career obsession, technological reliance, or even exaggerating relationships. As noted by some thinkers, “Nothing on this earth was designed to satisfy our hearts. Only God can fulfill “

It is not sinful to have good things, but to place them in an ultimate position is. To be re-centered by worship, Scripture, and prayer keeps God in His rightful place and channels blessings into thankfulness for His goodness.

These sins are not outdated rules they are reflections of the tendencies of the human heart. To know them is to start; to fight against them requires humility, faith, and daily reliance upon the grace of God.

The Bible’s warnings are surpassed by its promises: no matter the struggle, God has the power to win and the joy of living His way.

For Christians who desire to live out their faith, understanding these sins is not fear-mongering, it’s illumination. They all have spiritual weight that can lead someone away from God’s presence and plan. The better news: God’s Word gives not only warning, but clear, grace-filled means of resisting and overcoming them. 

Being a peacemaker means listening carefully, and taking intentional steps to heal broken fences. Togetherness should be the default state.  These aren’t relics of outdated morality; they’re living, breathing concerns that pop up in meetings, social media feeds, and even at the dinner table.

Looking forward, there should be a new paradigm. Admitting when in the wrong, engaging in truth-telling, and making honesty a fundamental aspect of one’s self restores trust and mirrors the God who describes Himself as “the Truth.”