I’m pretty sick of hearing the “No Judgement “catch phrase being flung around at the moment. To me it’s the equivalent of the pervading PC Narrative that is getting people, schools and countries into hot water – but that’s another story.
To tell someone that they “shouldn’t Judge” to me is silly and unrealistic.
The word judgement can have other legal interpretations; however it really is simply the formation of an opinion on something which carries no other connotations. We should all be aware of the phrase “A good Judge of character” and if you aren’t aware….perhaps you should endeavour to become so.
Being able to judge another’s character is a valuable life skill. There are numerous examples I can give you whereby to form an opinion of someone else’s moral standards and behaviour is not only valid but necessary. For example choosing and finding your life partner. How about selecting an employee to hire. More importantly……..who you trust with your personal safety. What if one night you are walking along an empty street alone and a couple of young guys in hoodies are heading towards you. You feel uneasy as they look suspicious for no obvious reason other than perhaps their odd behavior. Do you make a judgment call to cross the road or perhaps head towards an open shop ………or continue straight towards them ?
It’s also something we should be teaching our children. If we don’t instill this basic survival mechanism of identifying when a person could be of questionable character into our children, what happens when one day your child is out playing on the front lawn and is approached by someone who intends to do them harm. Instinct will tell them something is not quite right….but they have a convincing story like the one I heard in a town just 20 minutes away from me last week. A man approached a 5 year old in the front yard, asked him to come and help with his car which he said had broken down. Now luckily that child felt wary and didn’t head over to the car parked on the nature strip out the front of his house…..and his sister came out….and the man went away. What would have happened though if the child had been taught never to judge. To put aside odd feelings and believe everyone should be trusted and loved? I shudder to think.
We need to be able to judge if someone is telling us the truth or lying.
We need to be able to judge the distance from here to there while driving.
We have to be able to judge if something is morally right or wrong.
We must be able to form opinions on things so that we can choose the appropriate actions to take henceforth.
Perhaps I am oversimplifying things….but I’m pretty sure this topic is not actually that complicated. The lefties and the wanna-be Mother Theresa’s and Ghandi’s complicate it by turning decision making into some awful process of putting other people down. If someone is a violent offender, then I judge that person unfit to be around and sometimes people do need to be put down so to speak.
What really get’s on my nerve is this type of rubbish which I’ve actually heard. (Pls say this in your best whiny voice and place an inflection at the end of every sentence for full effect).
“Sooo the other day while I was working out, this overweight woman walked into the gym and I really admired her and there was like no judgement or like anything”……….Zzzzzzzipp……stop. Back up. You called her overweight. You formed an opinion…stated it…..and therefore you judged her !
Or what about this tasty gem “Oh my gosh….you are so judgemental”. I’m sorry……did you just form an opinion of me? Then I’m pretty sure that’s judgment…so you are judgemental too hypocrite.
I’m just going to leave this here now and wait for the barrage of comments that I am sure will ensue.
I stand firm in my belief that Judgement is necessary. And sometimes It’s necessary to make it with minimal time and information.
What’s not necessary though is to form an opinion and then use that as an excuse to behave badly yourself. That is not judgment, that is the act of bad behaviour.
What’s wrong is to be unkind or judge someone unfairly or unjustly and treat them poorly undeservedly.
It still doesn’t mean we shouldn’t ever judge.
Well said Kiley though what informs our judgement is probably central here. Child kidnapping and street violence are horrors we’ve had to recognise and learn to avoid. This unfortunately has been learned through terrible experiences. I believe judgement should be inspired by proper consideration & credible, proven example. We should not be led to make judgement through the promotion of stereotypes and sensationalism.
If we use the current anti-Muslim rhetoric as a case study, I believe judging people by their faith and condemning that faith based on the actions of a minority to be a mis-judgement. The actions of the majority far outweigh those of the few. We are all entitled to our opinions but need to be mindful that opinions can be easily manipulated by politicians and the media to suit an agenda. Critical analysis is the key to good judgement. Good judgement comes when we reflect rather than react.
Thanks for the reply John. Although my article wasn’t referring to Anti Muslim rhetoric, if you would like to use that as a case study, then I’d say judgment on that would be warranted. I don’t want to come off as biased or racist as you know me personally and know that I am not- however based on current events in our own neighborhood and abroad – it would not be a bad judgement to be wary of your personal safety if say you were a female and approached by a group of Muslim males in an isolated area. I’d be nervous and my guards would definitely be up automatically. I might be wrong of course…..but it’s better to be safe than sorry. They could be one of the minority of ‘peaceful secular Muslims’ but then i could also be gang raped or the victim of a hate crime. It’s not nice to say, that doesn’t make it incorrect or far fetched as it does happen.
It would also be a smart judgement perhaps putting my mobile phone into my bag and putting the bag strap across my shoulders should I travel in a country known for pick pocketing but that doesn’t mean i think everyone in that country is a pick pocket! Or perhaps……I’m sitting in my car at the lights. A car pulls up next to me and it’s driver and passengers all look Sudanese. Given that statistics just came out listing Sudanese (Aust born or refugees) are 44 times more likely to commit a violent crime and the Apex gang have been responsible for a number of recent car-jackings…..i’m going to lock my doors and be ready to drive in a hurry out of caution. I’m not going to shoot first….but I’m going to be aware.
I don’t want to get into a war of statistics and the like as i already mentioned that this topic was not the point of my article. You bought up this idea (which I would say points more to your current train of thought than mine perhaps) I would just like to clarify though that I would not however, treat a Muslim or any person badly simply due to their religion. I don’t honestly think i would treat anybody badly at all unless they had done so to me. I would always wait to see how a person treated me first – minding my safety of course.
The same care would also be applied on my behalf if I was alone in an isolated place……..and was approached by a group of shady looking white guys.
I mean……how would you take care of your children if you hopped on a train and saw a group of youths that were obvious drug users ? Would you perhaps move to another carriage or sit next to them and hope they were some of the ‘nice’ ones?
Sometimes….when it comes to personal safety or looking out for our own……we don’t have the luxury of time and research. We only have the knowledge we have garnered over time and experience. We must make our judgement call and decision about our actions from that point and quickly. Reflecting on a bad judgement call later although it might be good for future reference, is no good to us if someone has been hurt or worse.
As i said…..I am not using these examples as an excuse to behave badly….I”m simply stating that Judgement doesn’t equate to or necessarily cause or excuse behavior.
You are definitely correct that the media and political agenda plays heavily on our emotional reactions. The extend to which that is happening now actually upsets me. We must of course be mindful of that and do our own research.