As a consequence of my exposure to a very recent example of character assassination by a mob of Facebookers, wholly unequipped to make the assertions made I offer the following as a reminder to myself and anyone interested.
A note to the many who place no store in wisdom of religious origin - The concepts discussed here stand the test of human intellect and we need only turn to the truth within to confirm them.
The Holy Writ clearly requires that we guard our every action and we cannot do so without judging our actions.
We read in scripture that we should not judge and that by the same measure we judge we will be judge.
The truth about that scripture is that it actually refers to unrighteous judgement.
There is no truth to the idea that judgement is forbidden. Think about the purposes of the Gospel.
We are to examine ourselves and make judgments about our thoughts, words and actions with every thought, word and actions.
So what of judging others? The scriptures state that we should chose our associations carefully, that we will be known by the company we keep, that we follow the wise and prudent and shun the doings of the unjust.
We are to love the evil doer but not his doings. We are to exhort all to observe the dictates of their conscience and educate themselves in matters of decorum, civility, honesty, equality, mercy, tolerance and love. None of these things are possible without judgement.
If we do not recognise our own tendency to unrighteous judgement, simply consider the way we feel about a driver impinging on our comfort level by skipping the queue, changing into our lane right in front of us or failing to act in the way we expect and then compare that to the way we feel when we do those same things. An honest introspection should bring some clarity to what I am saying.
We should carefully note the occasions in our lives when we find our view radically altered by information presented after false judgments which would have been vastly different if the fuller picture was perceived at the outset.
With this in mind, we should never engage in social media character assassination, never clime on a bandwagon and add fuel to a fire instigated against an individual by an embittered blogger who has a perception (always incomplete as that is truly the only kind) very different from the other party.
The scriptures warn us that we are in danger of Hellfire if we call our 'brother' a fool. How much more if we make unrighteous judgments and share them with others.
What is righteous judgement ?
All of us have the right and obligation to judge ourselves. We also have the obligation to learn all we can about life so that we are better equipped to make correct judgments about ourselves.
We are also required to judge each other, but only inasmuch as it influences our future behavior in terms of whether we would do the same things, whether we might encourage another to act differently based on our feeling of obligation to be of assistance, and in that instance, to do it with respect and love and patience and the rest of the beatitudes, where we aught to defend a third party and need thus to express our opinion or perspective in the hope of righteous influence. You get the picture.
Then there is the right and responsibility of parents to judge their children's actions and to earnestly strive to gather all relevant information and inspiration possible and the make judgements in humble reverence for the sacred nature of the responsibility to nurture and positively influence, always through love and gentle persuasion, wherever possible.
Then there is the right and responsibility of a military officer in the execution of his duty, a political figure, a school teacher or principal, a correctional services of police officer etc.
The golden rule is, do not make judgements you are not called upon by appropriate authority to make and never usurp the authority of another, obligated to perform his or her duty and always make judgements filled with compassion, love and the desire to uplift all involved.
So rather than remaining confused about the seeming contradiction in the scriptures which call upon us to judge every moment of our lives and yet instruct us 'not to judge', let us seek inspiration through serious consideration and understand the implications of the many translations and interpretations which have been imposed by those whose have changed the original inspired words, let alone the specific application of said words to the circumstances being addressed.
Let wisdom guide us, education prepare us, diligence strengthen us and inspiration direct us to judge righteously.
Original work. Inspired by scripture.
Images from Pixabay and Google Images - Labeled for reuse
