Adults often apply double standards, demanding that children strictly adhere to certain behavioral norms—even when they themselves do not follow these requirements in their daily lives or during religious rituals.

Double Standards in Religious Life

Adults often apply double standards, demanding that children strictly adhere to certain behavioral norms—even when they themselves do not follow these requirements in their daily lives or during religious rituals. This behavior is evident when adults in leadership or spiritual roles make personal compromises, a tendency especially noticeable in temples.

For example, one source clearly states that adults allow situations where even priests hold administrative or construction roles simultaneously, thereby diverting their focus from prayer:
"Yes, lectures, interacting with people (instead of with God), theater, and books distract from prayer.

And what doesn’t distract?

… Why is it never mentioned that building the temple distracts from prayer? It does, if you’re a priest who also acts as a foreman, worrying about where to obtain quality bricks and how to ensure that the workers on your site neither drink nor use foul language. You, too, are not praying at that moment. So then—could building the temple be considered a sinful act?" (source: link txt)

This example suggests that criticism is often aimed at external factors rather than personal accountability, creating an impression of hypocrisy. At the same time, another source offers an example from a worship service where, during a sacrament, adults allow themselves to deviate from the sacred rhythm, which adversely affects children’s perception of the celebration:
"An example of double standards in religious practice: … Then children see that there is no real service, no true worship of God, but just some incomprehensible ritual: where is the service if people are running around, flashes are blinking, and cameras are clicking? It’s a disaster, like some kind of invasion… 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but we have turned it into theatrical stages, transforming the worship service into a kind of performance." (source: link txt)

Thus, adults create double standards because they themselves do not always meet the high expectations they impose on children. This situation not only undermines trust in religious practices but also contributes to a general erosion of sincerity in worship. Double standards become a clear manifestation of personal selfishness and an unwillingness to strictly adhere to the norms considered essential for the chosen representatives of church life.