In Act 1, despite his daughter's apparent illness, Parris is unwilling to consider that witchcraft could be at fault (even though he saw the girls dancing in the woods) for her strange behavior because he is afraid of what the community will think of him if it gets out. He says to Mr. Putnam, "I pray you, leap not to witchcraft. i know that you -- you least of all Thomas, would ever wish so disastrous a charge laid upon me. We cannot leap to witchcraft. They will howl me out of Salem for such corruption in my house." He cares more for his position and reputation than he does about the health of his congregation, his town, and even his own daughter.
Later, in Act 3, when John Proctor brings Mary Warren, her deposition, and a petition signed by many people in the town who speak to the good names of a number of the accused, Parris immediately tries to incite the judges against him. He shouts, "He's come to overthrow this court, Your Honor!" Further, he says that "All innocent and Christian people are happy for the courts in Salem! These people are gloomy for it. And I think you will want to know, from each and every one of them, what discontents them with you!" He tries to convince Judge Danforth -- who is a stranger to these people -- that Proctor and his friends hate the courts and do not want to see justice served. He hopes to put Danforth on the offensive by convincing him that these men do not respect him or the courts and would overthrow them if they could because he enjoys the power he's acquired as a result of the court's proceedings.
Moreover, Parris withheld from the court the fact that he had found the girls dancing in the forest. If he really believed there were evil spirits in Salem and wanted to root them out, he would have offered this information immediately as it would have been considered crucial to the proceedings. Instead, he keeps this information to himself until Proctor reveals it to Danforth (in Act 3) who forces Parris to answer his questions.
Even in the end, in Act 4, Parris cares more about his own safety and fortune than any evil that might be loose in the town. When he relates the news that Abigail has robbed him and vanished, he cries, "I am penniless," and sobs into his hands. Never mind that his niece has vanished. Never mind that her lack of credibility now calls into question the entire proceedings. He then begins to express his concerns about the possibility of riots based on the discontent he's seen spreading in the town, but it soon becomes obvious that he is mostly just concerned about himself when he reveals that he has been threatened. "Tonight, when I open my door to leave my house -- a dagger clattered to the ground [....]. You cannot hang this sort. There is danger for me. I dare not step outside at night!" Against, if his true concern were the town's well-being, his personal safety wouldn't be foremost in his mind. If he believed that the people sentenced to hang that day were truly guilty, he would want them to die regardless of the unpopularity of the decision.
In the end, Parris is not a godly man. He is selfish and petty and power-hungry and greedy. Furthermore, had he taken his niece and daughter in hand early on, the entire tragedy of this play could likely have been avoided.
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