Most basically, it is a method of accusing. It makes the statement that the other person is doing something wrong, or else he wouldn't be hated. Of course, no specifics are included, which is what gives it so much mileage. Sin is irrational in that it functions on a stimulus-response basis in conflict with objective reality. It's irrationality is often used as a denial mechanism, because supposedly a person would have no reason to sin.
Power is the positive reinforcement which creates corruption.
One might assume that the abstract nature of power would make it a weak reinforcement. But the opposite is true. It is a pervasive reinforcement, which causes it to permeate a large amount of reality and to produce a very significant cumulative effect over time. Another important fact is that since it is abstract, its corruptive influences easily escape awareness of the unwary. Once it escapes awareness, it does its destructive things to the mind without the corrective effects of awareness.