It is very interesting that a self-disciplined person is much less popular than a bad-person-turned-good person. The latter sets up a good example for ordinary people, who might be bad at one point of their lives. If that person has a religion, people who belive in that religion will also attribute the result to the power of the religion. On the other hand, a person with good self-control all his/her life is deemed as being hyprocrite, sadly. The best example is Gore vs. Bush.