Dear Journal: Judge Not

Dear Journal,

I’ve been once again descended upon by people who feel they can judge, in whatever form those judgements take. And I don’t mean judging me, but judging others around me. It happens at work, in social situations, and even just in random overheard conversation. They judge their family members, coworkers, and famous people in equal measure. Although the judging of famous people has become a fever pitch in recent weeks.

“I am not a role model.” ~Charles Barkley

I’m reminded of this quote anytime people start jumping on the “holier than thou” bandwagon, soapbox, or whatever you want to call it. He who is without sin cast the first stone. Right? But it seems like anyone with a twitter account feels self-righteous enough to talk about how they would discipline Miley if she were their kid, or how they would chemically castrate Ray Rice for knocking his fiance out in an elevator. And I’ve heard and read a lot worse, believe me. If there’s one thing all this celebrity judging reminds me is that everyone is human. Everyone has issues. So how do we — the masses — have a right to judge them, these people we don’t even know?

And it gets even uglier when talking about people we know, people we are supposed to at the least have a little tact about. But there seems to be a dearth of tact anymore, at least around here anyway. I honestly don’t even care if people feel a certain way about others, but the loud nature of the gossip surrounding them, and the depth of the judgements against others, it’s a bit frightening. Back in the day (I can’t believe I’m legitimately using this phrase), it was all about being nice and keeping quiet, but today it’s all about being loud and abrasive.

“Judge not that ye be not judged.”

Now me, I don’t believe in judging people at all, not in your mind and certainly not vocalizing that judgement, but I will admit I struggle with judging in my mind. It’s hard when others do things that I wouldn’t do, but that’s them, and not me. I can only judge my own motivations, not theirs. Human nature is to judge, which also makes it difficult. But fighting that nature is one of the best things you can do because there is so much good in life you can miss by not giving people the benefit of the doubt.

I mean, doesn’t it mean more if you fight that nature and discover more beauty in the world than you imagined possible? I think it is.

Sam