Many times after making inferences about a person, I was admonished not to "judge" by some well-meaning figure of authority who would often follow up on this with "you don't know what they're going through." A variation of this is "don't judge a book by its cover." "You can't judge me" was a typical celebrity line.
Strangely, I can't even recall seeing discussion of this attitude on the internet. I'm not sure why since it was extremely prevalent not too long in the past, but if I had to guess, it's because it was a saying from the "colorblind" times. Obama and his ilk kicked off a new era in racial politics where it became permissible to judge white people for everything they did and said, so even a white lib can't really tell their kids "don't judge" when they are teaching them to constantly judge themselves for white attitudes like speaking clearly.
The notion of not judging comes from Jesus' words in Matthew 7, "Judge not, lest you should be judged." These words are taken at face value and ripped off in simplistic and tendentious ways, but the Bible is meant to be read as a whole, not quote mined, and the full meaning is closer to "don't judge superficially." GotQuestions has a great article on the topic. Indeed, Jesus also said, "Stop judging by mere appearances, but judge correctly."
So the Bible does indeed tell us that snap judgments are wrong. But it also calls on us to investigate, discern, and make more accurate judgments. Without the ability to do this human civilization, and worship of God, would cease to exist.
I'm not sure how many parents are still repeating "don't judge" to their kids, but instead of an easy (and frankly hypocritical) hit of virtue signaling, maybe it's better to explain to them that they should keep their cool and take the time to judge accurately. Sometimes a book is indeed different from its cover, but other times the cover is exactly what you need to know. Ignoring abundant evidence from reality is not practical or Biblical. Case in point.
Even on a super simplistic level, taking "never judge" as the lesson from "judge not, lest ye be judged" is a fucked up moral lesson. Rather than treating it as a reminder to strive to be good and noble enough that you don't fear judgement from others, and still retaining your own ability to discriminate between obvious patterns.
"Never judge" is accepting the premise that you are undeserving and irredeemable and the only way to avoid reproach is to stay unnoticed. It's the despicable wretch's option of doing nothing and going no-where. It's long past time someone told the tutting soccer moms parroting it to their kids that they are acting more like bacteria than humans.
It's not a fucked up moral lesson. Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Good, if God is to judge me at all times for my conduct, then I will act in accordance with His moral teachings, and I will be happy to judge others by them as well.
Seems legit.
That's genius. If only there was a verse that said something like "and by your own. Standard so shall you be held"
Oh wait
Like "make sure your house is in order" or not having a log in your eye.
The left ignores all that, of course. They constantly judge others but refuse to allow anyone to even offer an opinion they don't like.
I'm no expert but a lot of the non-judgmental talk is about the soul and the redemption of sin. If you judge a person unworthy of redemption and beyond God's grace you to will face that judgment.
That's also part of it
Yep, throw it on the pile along with "the customer is always right [in matters of taste]", and "[the love of] money is the root of all evil"
That's a great example of "Bible mis-quotes".
LOVE (or lust) of money is the root of all evil. Money is just a thing, it isn't good or evil all by itself, eh?
The customer is always right unless the Boss says otherwise :>
It's supposed to be another variation of the Golden Rule: "judge unto others as you would have them judge unto you".
As in don't stone people over hearsay because you wouldn't want to be stoned over a mere accusation.
I'm thinking maybe it is a translation problem in there, judge as in making an opinion and put a sentence on someone as in I judge you as a bad person and not worthy of respect. Makes more sense considering the theme of redemption.
I got more problems with "But I tell you not to resist an evil person." Where do you draw a line on resisting an evil person? Is genocide a step to far, are we allowed to resist it?
You have to understand the situation at the time to understand that verse. The Jews had been conquered by the Romans so Israel was essentially a state in the Roman Empire. The Zealots and several other Jewish paramilitary guerilla movements resisted this. Jesus told them that instead of reflexively and thoughtlessly striking at Romans - or a neighbor they were arguing with, or someone who owed them money - they should accept their situation and try to show godly love.
If the Jews had listened, they would not have rebelled for the final time circa AD 70. The empire's response destroyed Israel and scattered the Jewish people to the winds. Fulfilling a prophecy of Jesus, not a single stone of the Jerusalem temple was left upon another (the Wailing Wall is a retaining wall of the temple grounds, not part of the temple itself).
To summarize: if someone personally slights you, there are two choices. A, you try to accommodate him and make peace (others first). B, you take the territorial mindset and reject everything (me first). The traditional Jewish attitude is all into option B and that's why you see self-sabotaging, blind ethnic triumphalism.
Option B goes against ingrained human nature (selfishness) and is only possible through divine grace. When people talk about compassion, "humanity," and thoughtfulness, they are actually talking about the influence of God. We have seen what this principle looks like after attempting to excise God - leftism.
"If he asks for one cloak, give him two" is not a prescription to let people kill your son or let your country get invaded.
Honestly it seems to apply to having your country invaded and not resisting. It also seems to be in-line with the teaching of sacrifice, Jesus allowed himself to be captured and killed.
It is one of the things I've been struggling greatly
I talked to my pastor about this very subject but unfortunately there wasn’t much time. I can imagine Jesus wouldn’t want you to stand by while people are getting killed. I try to avoid violence as much as I can but I struggle with it too but I want to be obedient to the Lord
Turning the other cheek doesn't mean to let people walk all over you; it means "Come at me again bro, I can take it!" Look at the apostle Paul; he was imprisoned and tortured and near death...and despite all that he actually prayed to God to be even bolder in preaching the Word!
Meek means to endure injury with patience and without resentment. It doesn't mean to live life as a people-pleasing beta submissive like many might think.
Thank you
I was thinking the same, it would contradict helping/ loving others. But even about the self, lets assume that you're the only one being harmed in the process. Where do you draw the line, do you allow someone to shoot you rather then shoot back in defense? If he shoots you once and you survive you allow him to shoot again?
If you get an answer from your pastor, let me know. I've been thinking to much on this point :))
Will do!
Jesus allowed himself to be killed, and most of the disciples did as well, because that was what their missions commanded - the same way that Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac.
As I mentioned in another comment, people misunderstand Jesus' teachings as a replacement for the Old Testament when it's actually a fuller explanation of it. So the basic application of the Ten Commandments found in the OT still hold in the NT. You can read about David's saga, as well as people like Gideon and Jehosephat, and see that self-defense is fully moral in God's eyes.
Jesus also alluded to self-defense when he told his disciples to buy swords for their journeys.
Jesus is warning that the standard you hold will be held against you.
I think about this line a lot.
Wich is retarded even if you follow lefty logic because they are the ones wanting you to follow some idiotic standards while them wanting to be immune to them
Make useful judgements without being spiteful, and don't badmouth people, are better life guidelines than ''don't judge''.
In that theme, if you ever see anyone with a 'Only God Can Judge Me' tattoo, I advise you get the fuck away from that person as soon as feasible.
Or do something that would violate rule 2. As they're likely the worst kind of person using it as an excuse to do the worst kind of things.
"Don't Judge" in the biblical sense, even on the most superficial level, is a warning against being a hypocrite. "Lest ye be judged" is the second half. If you're not ok to be judged on that standard, don't judge others. If you are, then judge away. It's re iterated in another gospel with the passage about noticing the speck in your neighbours eye but ignoring the log in yours.
"Don't judge a book by it's cover" is so monumentally stupid. If someone ever asks says that in person, ask what the point of a cover of a book is.
Don't judge a book by it's cover has been so warped and abused people use it to justify ignoring degeneracy. It means don't judge people by things that they didn't control. It doesn't mean ignore the tattoo'd facial piercing blue hair pedophile trying to get a job as a teacher.
People's actions and choices are all perfectly usable criteria to judge them on.
It's been translated over and over, and at best we can get a couple varied versions and interpretations. Humans are fallible, after all, and humans made those copies.
I prefer the life lesson of telling a kid "never judge a book by its cover, everyone says that." and then showing them "Math for Grade 3", and asking them what's inside it. The correct answer is elementary math, because people are lying to you. Judge things based on their covers, that's why covers exist. People, too, present themselves in specific ways: A woman in a wedding dress is probably going to a wedding, not a funeral. Judge. Judge as much and as often as you can.
But remember that even though everyone is saying "never judge a book by its cover", those same people made that cover. They, too, judge based on covers. Everyone does. So make sure you're presenting well, too. They will judge you based on your cover, just as you judge them on theirs. "Judge not, lest ye be judged" is crazy, because you are ALREADY judged. It's on you to be aware of it.
CatGirl Kulak and hoe_math have been on a real tear about the whole notion of cuck Christianity and how weak Christian morality made the boomer generation.
I find myself agreeing more and more every time I see some white boomer tripping over themselves to apologize to and forgive the low-IQ ferals who just raped and murdered their daughter, stabbed their son, robbed them, drove them off their land, etc.
It really does seem to boil down to "allow all the evil things in the world to happen to you and the people you love, don't judge, don't resist, and you'll get a heavenly reward".
Does the New Testament really tell you to judge and take action against evil? Like, ever? Did the Sermon on the Mount ever instruct the listener on when to judge and do violence?
There's a long rant I've got saved up for one day about the feminization of Christianity and how, historically over the past 2 centuries, if not more, the woman was seen as the 'spiritual' center of the household but ANYWAYS-
Yes, if you take the New Testament in the historical context, Jesus and his scriptures are very much guerilla warfare on a small scale against your aggressors. Jesus teaches that you should force your enemies to respect you, if someone seeks to enslave you, you force them to break the law, people whom harm children should be rule 2'd, and violence is very much a feasible option to solve a problem.
Buuuuuuut, Priests are very much focused on getting money(hence speaking toward the women among their flock) and also focused on not rocking the boat(hence the emphasis on pacifism).
Jesus did not ever instruct anyone to do violence, and neither did any writer in the rest of the New Testament, but it is not intended as a replacement for the Old Testament. It redefines the Chosen People, gives them a new mission, and reorganizes them as a stateless church. So just because a principle is found in the Old Testament (such as basic self-defense) doesn't make it obsolete.
Jesus alluded to self-defense one time when he temporarily split up the disciples on missionary journeys and instructed them to buy swords. You don't cut campfire wood with a sword.
As far as Kulak and hoe_math, since one is a tranny and the other isn't Christian, the potential problem is they are looking toward the Bible as a means to an end instead of the other way around. All that being said - I think they are right about boomer Christians.
Well, I'm starting to, as well.
"If your rule led you to this, of what use was the rule?"
The full quote is "If the rule you followed led you to this, of what use was the rule?"
Did you really follow that rule?
Its also a misapplication of the Fundamental Attribution Error, which is how humans have an extreme tendency to say "the reason me (or my friend) are late is because of external factors like traffic, the reason you are late is because you are a lazy, shitty person." As in, humans instantly judge a character based on often mostly assumptions, while giving a pass to themselves and those they know for the same problem.
Now, there are lazy, shitty people around, so its not 100% wrong. But you can also be lazy, shitty too. And even then only sometimes instead of it being your entire character forever. Which is where it becomes a major error.
"Don't judge" in fully defined and explained terms would be to avoiding snap judgements based on assumptions and predisposed biases, while also realizing that other people exist and also have circumstances (like traffic) instead of just waking up shitty.
But that's a long conversation filled with nuance and questionable moral choices, so its easier to simplify it for children, whose instincts will push them towards the opposite anyway.
I think we all have an obligation to judge people internally. anyone who doesn't has no self preservation instinct.
I think the proper way to interpret "don't judge" is to understand when it is a good idea to voice your judgments, versus when it's a good idea to hold them in.