To Judge or Not To Judge

The following is my answer to a question posed by a mother concerning her daughter and whether she could pass judgment on her friends.   A couple of things to keep in mind as you read this.  1. I tend to paraphrase scripture, so you may not agree with my interpretation.  2. I was speaking to a fundamentalist Christian, and for that reason I used the masculine pronoun when referring to God.  I don’t believe God has a specific gender, but it is easier to just use the accepted forms than to try to explain that each time I speak.

Luke 6:37-42 speaks to this issue best of any I have seen.  Judge not, so you won’t be judged.  Don’t condemn and you won’t be condemned.  Forgive and you will be forgiven.  Give and you will be given to. The criteria you use to judge, condemn, forgive or give to others is the same criteria which will be used to judge, condemn, forgive or give to you.  It occurs to me that, knowing these things, I may want to be very careful judging or condemning.  This passage also has a great parable about the blind leading the blind and the specks and/or planks in our eyes.  Matthew 7:1-5 says the same things.

1 Corinthians 4:5 says to judge nothing before the Lord returns.  The Lord will know the motives of your heart and so will be equipped to judge correctly.  This indicates to me that motive is important in knowing if a wrong has been committed.   Even in our own system of justice it is very difficult to convict someone of a crime if you are unable to determine his motive.  In society, we must be free to speculate about motive in order to maintain order and punish crime.  But in truth, only the person doing the deed and God, can know for certain what his motive is for committing the deed.  For this reason we cannot judge anyone.  It is not our job.  It is God’s job, and He has sole discretion over what constitutes sin, and He has sole discretion over what the punishment might be if He determines that a sin has been committed. 

 

It is a dilemma, because you want your kids to make wise choices based on your values and morals.  Yet if they make the choice only because they know you want it, whose values are they displaying?  They need to make the choice because it is the right thing to do and they need to be able to understand why this is right and that is wrong.  As a young seeker I read a book called “Why I Believe”.    The only thing it taught me was that the author’s reason for believing was not a good reason for me to believe.  I needed a bit more evidence than this author presented.  As a small child all that is necessary is “Mom or Dad says so and if I disobey it hurts”.  As the child grows up he/she needs to have reasons which make sense for doing this as opposed to that.  It is the job of the parent to see that the reasons are in place when needed, and that they are logical.

Another thing that occurs to me is in something you said about the mother and daughter wanting not to judge, lest they be judged.  It seems immature to simply not want to judge because you don’t want to be judged.  That is simple self preservation.   We don’t judge because we are not qualified to judge and our judgment may be incorrect or unjust.  It’s the old “don’t judge me till you have walked a mile in my shoes” metaphor. 

John 12:47 tells us that even Jesus was not going to judge us.  He came to save us not to judge us.  So how can we presume to judge others when even Jesus won’t. 

 

There are some obvious paradoxes here.  If we look down on those who judge, are we judging them?  As with any aphorism or metaphor, you can carry it out only so far until it turns into nonsense.

Scotch, The Alternate Sacremental Wine

I had some scotch again tonight.  I don't usually have drinks two nights in a row, but tonight was an exception.  Actually I did not have drinks last night so, technically, I will not have had drinks two nights in a row until I have drinks tomorrow night, which I plan to do so it's the same thing.  I think. Right?  Anyway I don't want to drink two nights in a row because it seems excessive.  I don't want to be an alcoholic.  I try to limit my drinking to 1 night every week or two.  Why am I talking about drinking?  Isn't that one of the signs of alcoholism?  If you are not drinking, you are talking about drinking. 

I like scotch, cheap scotch, not single malt, expensive scotch.  I am not a scotch snob, I just want a cheap blended scotch.  Some of the bars in the small towns around here don't understand scotch.  They seem to think that if you want scotch, you want some expensive 18 year old liquid for which they can charge you $9.00.  I do not want a $9.00 drink.  I just want scotch.  I guess people who usually order scotch around here don't care about the cost.  If it is 18 years old and has a prestigious name, then it must be good, so they sip it and comment on its body and flavor and everyone thinks they are wise in the ways of good liquor.  Maybe they are wise or at least knowledgeable, but not me.  If you intend to sip on an ounce and a half of scotch for two hours, you will not be concerned about the cost.  In order to get the result I am looking for I need to have consumed 5 or 6 ounces in that same 2 hours.  That would cost me $27.00.  Scotch is here for one purpose, and only one purpose.  That purpose is to get you feeling good.  To get your otherwise slow tongue moving a little faster.  To release some of your inhibitions so that you can say what you really think without caring so much about how it sounds to others.  I like scotch for two reasons: 1. it tastes better to me than other hard liquors, and 2. It tastes bad enough to me that I will never drink it just for the taste. 

I guess you have figured out by now that this writing has nothing to do with sacraments.  Sorry about that, but it is a Christian blog, so if I wanted to write about scotch, I had to make some religious reference somewhere.  Why not the title?

Non-traditional Christians?

From The Skeptical Seeker
The link above takes you to an excellent article about "Non-Traditional Christians".  Below is my little comment on the article. 

Well thought out and well written. I would say at the risk of causing you to chuckle at me, that I consider myself a non-traditional Christian. You are correct in saying that most of those who claim that title are simply non-modern Christians. They would mostly consider me a heretic if I told them my real beliefs. I believe that there is a God, who presents to people in many different way. Some people need an example to guide them in being moral. Jesus meets that need in my life. Like you, I was brought up in a Christian environment. I was allowed to question things, but if my questions could not be answered to my satisfaction, I was simply told that this was a mystery which I would understand when my faith was strong enough. I accepted that until early teens, at which point I decided that it was all hogwash. I didn’t have time for hogwash so I just laughed it off and ignored the whole subject. I still believe that it is mostly hogwash,(no offense to hogs, I love bacon) when presented in a “modern fundamentalist” mode.

Musings at the coast

At 11:04 PM 10/29/10 -0700, you wrote:
Hey again,

Back in the RV now after a good, though spendy meal at the Pelican Pub.  I think I mentioned that the scotch was $9.00, which makes me glad I brought a bottle of Clan McGregor for which I paid $11.00.  That's two dollars more than one drink at the Pub.

Anyway I'm sitting here having a scotch ( cheap ) and  thinking about politics.  I have decided I hate politics.  It occurs to me that politicians are liars no matter what side they are on.  It is very disturbing to me that the good guys (democrats) are just as big liars as the the bad guys (republicans).  It makes me crazy.  The guys whose policies I agree with are supposed to tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may.  If you are confident that the things you believe are correct, there is no reason to speak ill of the opposition.  Just tell the truth as you see it and right will always win out.  Evil and ill will may win some battles, but the war will always go to the good guys.