[mrnoodle]

The truth takes away excuses, it doesn't provide them. I'm with you on many many points that you've made about hypocrisy, etc. But like xoB said, when one (or several) people fail to live up to their own standards, their personal hypocrisy is to blame. It's not an indictment of the belief system. It's the individual's failure to live up to the tenets of the belief system that is the whole problem. The Truth(tm) is what it is. That's why it's so obvious when someone's not living up to it.

How many times have you seen someone with the little Jesus fish thingie on their car drive like a maniac and put someone in danger? The first thought that crosses my mind is, "Oh yeah, real Christian, that." I imagine the non-Christian's reaction is similar. Why? Because somewhere inside you, you are aware of what The Truth(tm) is supposed to mean, and you are seeing it being trampled on by someone displaying a public advertisement for it.