I keep hearing from people I respect that we shouldn’t “judge” others. However, many people misunderstand the notion of our judgment and critical reasoning abilities and how they should be used.
We shouldn’t “judge” others in an unfairly negative way. If Bob refuses to give money to a panhandler, we can’t jump to the conclusion that Bob is a tightwad or mean. Perhaps that particular panhandler has done something in the past (e.g. buy alcohol with Bob’s money) that disinclines Bob from giving him/her anything else. When we judge people in this way, it is clearly wrong.
However, God gave us the ability to reason and make critical judgment decisions. For example, we know that the virtues are learned together. If someone is deficient in one of the virtues, we can infer that they are deficient in the others as well. If we are aware that someone steals regularly, we can assume they are generally untrustworthy. These types of judgments are necessary to function properly in society. We give trust, respect, and honor where it belongs, not just to anyone in order to avoid “judging” them.
Sorry for the short rant, but it’s quickly becoming a personal pet peeve.
Jay
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