This story by the legendary Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem sheds some insight into the thinking process of the Maskilim of Russia and how they viewed religious Jews. Namely, neither with complete disdain nor with complete admiration but rather something of a mixture of both. From Chayyim Nachman Bialik's famous 'The Masmid' (where he fondly recreates his Yeshiva days) to our story here, we see the almost schizophrenic approach of the Maskilim to contemporary religious Jewish life.

It's a story about a young man who travels from his in-laws house in Zavil to Radimishli in order to get his legal papers. A fateful nightime stopover at an inn changes his life forever. The inkeeper and his little children surround the body of their dead wife and mother on the floor with no money or means to bring her to burial. Our protagonist volunteers -out of the goodness of his heart- to transport the poor innkeeper's dead wife to the nearest Jewish town. But his reception in said town is far from welcoming. Read all of it here (note: it's in Yiddish).

What struck me was what the protagonist in the story had to say (could it be SA himself speaking through his fictional character?):

_{From that point on I developed a hatred for frummy people, you know the ones who daven loud shake allot by Shemonei Esra, and supposedly do everything leshem shomayim, but when it comes to helping another Jew..... So you will tell me that the 'enlightened ones' (i.e. the maskilim) are no better at that, you’re right! But at least we aren't hypocrites , we don't talk about God all the time.}

Any thoughts?

Aleichem Sholom.

This was basically the view of Rabbi Yisrael Salanter - he stressed that we must be no less vigilant in bein adam la-chavayro than we are bein adam la-Makom.

Chazal already preceded him. It's the (additional) meaning behind 'derech eretz kodma latorah'.

I don't think that means that.

Why not?

Not to discount the accusation, but this is a standard excuse used by people who are emotionally lazy, or for other reasons unwilling to think clearly.
He feels a need to justify his lack in practice. He feels guilty, and such an excuse helps him dull his consciousness.

As for his reason itself, what does my practicing or not practicing a religion have to do with someone else's quality of practice?