I believe that Russell Conwell must be smiling at these displays of callousness, masking as righteousness, and at the craven quest for money and the role it has come to play in our politics.
He commands in the Holy Qur'an; "...... Help you one another in Al-Birr (virtue, righteousness) and At-Taqwa (piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression.
Perhaps speaking incessantly about sexual morals allows some to assert a position of moral superiority, thereby promoting both their own brand of righteousness at the expense of someone else's.
He correctly notes that "in today's politically poisoned climate, righteousness is at a premium and historical reality at a discount," which in turns helps "explain why love of country has become a double-edged sword, dividing us when it might unite".
"Look at yourself in your righteousness, what you've become," he says.
The reaction to the auction and its contents has run the gamut from doomsday end-of-civilization laments and serves-you-right righteousness directed at the art world, to the crowning of Mr. Hirst as superartist and speaker of deep truths (mostly in the essays in Sotheby's lavish three-volume catalog), to complete indifference, feigned or otherwise, on the part of many dealers.
His righteousness, merely annoying at first, became increasingly repellant as the series progressed and his hypocrisies mounted.
But partnerships with grubby firms risk turning off its million-odd individual donors.Campaigning NGOs, which rely on a reputation for righteousness, are particularly at risk.
There is a blackness at the heart of her righteousness, just as there is a life force in the Don's malice.
But an equivalent attitude in art would have set Ligon at odds with the judgmental righteousness of his social-critical peers.
