Many people like to repeat part of the instructions passed down from ancient sources; to not judge other people.
Ironically, a person often judges another while giving instructions not to judge. For example, someone who says “stop judging me” while accusing a fellow human of incorrect behavior. I have heard relatives, friends, and random people repeat fragments of ancient instructions not to judge.
But why should we not judge? Few people bother to explain why and assume all humans in society should understand and comply with the idea that judging another fellow human is inherently wrong. Where did these ideas come from, do any people have valid authority to command society not to judge, and are these ancient ideas of any value?
Where did ideas associated with not judging fellow humans come from? Western society was built on the back of Christian philosophy. The language this topic was addressed in was English. English culture and institutions were developed under leaders who overwhelmingly justified their actions, correctly - or otherwise - in the name of Jesus Christ for at least 800 years.
Jesus Christ and the God who sent Him are the source of ultimate truth, whether people who repeat fragments of their instructions acknowledge this or not. Jesus did condemn hypocrites and instructed His followers to cast the beam out of our own eye before attempting to remove a small particle from a neighbor’s eye. He also told His followers to love and forgive those who hurt and despitefully use them.
Does contemporary Western society expect Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, and other groups to comply with Christ’s teachings not to judge the lifestyle choices of people who choose to disregard His other teachings and mock His divine authority? If God or divine writings are the authority modern society invokes to instruct us not to judge, are we compelled to obey a hypocritical, conflicted, self-appointed master? Christians who would tell us not to judge may be forgetting other divine instructions repeated through Christian scripture --- to choose good over evil. This requires judging.
God and Satan will likely never appear in person each day to present clear choices of good and evil. Masses of humans professing or attempting to follow Christ’s teachings are left to judge between attitudes and actions displayed by fellow humans. If agnostic reasoning is somehow the authority for commands not to judge fellow humans, who has the right to tell us when we are judging someone and that we should stop? This topic is rarely addressed by any leader who would attempt to tell us not to judge outside the support structure of a Christian environment because there is likely no valid explanation.
Are ideas of not judging of any value? No real social, political, or other progress was ever made without judging. The pilgrims left England after judging the English government, church and Western society as corrupt. They tried to correct the wrongs they saw and avoid hypocrisy. The American colonists judged the English government as corrupt and tyrannical then threw off the shackles being quietly placed on their wrists. The new American society and government had many problems, but they made leaps in freedom and equality, more so than was available on such a scale anywhere in the world. Americans in the 1860s judged slavery as wrong. Abolitionists were told to quietly comply, obey the law of the land and perceived natural laws, and not judge their neighbors. Abolitionists argued against these ideas for decades until physical violence broke out and they sacrificed their lives in an attempt to free fellow humans. Segments of Western society judged fascism, communism, and genocide as wrong and immoral. A new generation of humans sacrificed in an attempt to turn the tides of history after judging these ideas and actions motivated by these philosophies as evil.
Judging seems to be necessary - and good. It seems cowards hide behind fragments of the command “not to judge,” to excuse inaction in the face of evil. Authoritarian magicians and con artists fear judging masses of people.
Why would we be commanded not to judge by a loving and omniscient God? We were not. Judging is inevitable. The nature of our existence ensures each of us will make judgments. We are in this life precisely to judge and to act. We are used to simply hearing the command not to judge, and miss the rest.
So what is the rest? We are commanded to judge wisely. Why? Because each of us will be judged with the same judgment we extend to others.
(You are welcome to judge these ideas presented to you and see if they are of any value. But remember to be wise.)
-Anonymous
