I have been thinking a lot about judgment lately. Biblical, and otherwise. Not that I should worry about judgment, rather, I have to worry, but since it is a necessity I shouldn’t overly worry. Anyway, I guess the moral of this story is that I have been thinking a lot about judgment lately.
Everyone knows that judgment is a large part of life, and that there are many forms in which judgment can come in. Judgment can come in the form of common sense. Where you look both ways before crossing the street, an assumption of judgment that saves lives every day. Judgment can also come in more artistic forms, where an artist uses their best judgment; rather, they use their artistic ability to create a work that conforms to their perceptions of judgment. Others may judge, yes, the work itself, but that is solely because the judgment of the piece does not conform to the assumptions that their judgment has already made. Does this make any sense? I’ll continue anyway. Judgment can also come in a more common phrasing of the word, where you meet a person on the street and decide whether you should give them the time of day. That is the most common form of judgment, the most common form that sways our reality, shifting and shaping each day, excluding and including certain individuals throughout any given day. Finally, the judgment that I am least familiar with, moreover, that society is least familiar with: the judgment of God. For, unless you have the unfortunate circumstance bestowed upon you, you will never know the judgment of God, or rather you will not be able to relate said judgment back to the grieving living. If you’re still interested, I’ll continue with this nearer the end.
The first two given examples of judgment are complex in their own way, but I am not here to focus on them. There are whole professions given to professional judgment, the second example. Furthermore, you are sitting at a desk/in a chair/on your bed/on a plane (etc.) reading this blog, so I can only assume that you’ve formed a partial understanding of the first example of judgment: common sense. Though common sense does deserve its own essay, I am not here to write on that subject either. My ultimate goal is to clearly describe the actions of judgment on a daily basis, the judgment that shapes our perceptions of the world, our judgment that creates unfortunate assumptions about individuals. Finally, I will finish with my limited experience of the Judgment; where we have taken over for God, ultimately using his power to judge those around us. An unfortunate happenstance, I’m sure, though I’m not sure how happy that makes God.
Each day we are creating our perception of the world. Our minds race with information, and we are constantly trying to perceive the world around us in an organized, ordered fashion. No matter how psychotic the individual, each has a perception that leads them through the world. The mind is constantly processing information, aiding with our awareness of our surroundings. We are alive, each and every one of us, because we have the power of mind to perceive our surroundings and adapt to them. This is the ultimate goal of survival, where common sense replaces instinct in a civilized society, but also where judgment helps us record and perceive danger from other individuals.
The fact that each individual human being judges others is a primal element of our genetic algorithms. We must judge others to assume safety and create trust. There is a certain abstract quality to the person who claims that they judge no one, but there is an automatic judgment made from the same individual when a masked figure advances toward them, gun raised, yelling obscenities. Said individual may have some control over the judgments they ultimately pass, but they are not free from the overwhelming urge to judge. This is where the unfortunate, almost ghastly, judgments come from: when someone cannot control the judgments they pass. One look, and they think they know exactly who the individual is. This has occurred since the beginning of organized society. Where, throughout history, the color of one’s skin or the religious markings one wore could get them killed, or worse. These markers help us create assumptions through our initial judgments that can lead to stereotyping, and even to bigotry, and ultimately to hate.
As humans, we are capable of large emotion: love, grief, resentment, melancholy, and hate. Hate. Think about the word. Take a moment. What does your judgment say about the word? What does the word make you think of? Who does the word make you think of? As you can see, as your mind jumps from one question to the next, your judgment has shaped your reality a bit more than you would have liked. As a society, though society is another beast in itself, we form judgments. As a collective these judgments pass laws, secure policies, and ultimately drive the course of the world. These judgments are harder to sway because they are the judgments of a mindless, heartless beast: the mob, of which you and I are a part. The luckiest thing about the situation we have found ourselves in, however, is that we, the we within the society—the individuals—are able to form malleable judgments that can evolve and take shape as we learn, as we love, and as we accept differences.
A friend this past week, a newer friend, struggling as we are to find out way through the world said something, not necessarily original, but very profound. He asked me, “Why don’t they try walking in the shoes of another? Of me? Why can’t they walk in my shoes for the day, to know what it is like to be me?” I did not know what to say. Nor do I have any idea what to say now because are any individuals really willing to walk in another’s shoes? The fact remains that we cannot face our judgments; we can spread our judgments, ultimately in the form of our beliefs and opinions. We may look at a person, process our impressions into judgments that we ascertain as truth, but we will never know that person’s story unless we are willing to walk in their shoes.
Maybe I do know what I’d like to say to my friend. Maybe I could just ask for a pair of shoes? Maybe I will ask for the opportunity to see into their world. Maybe I could ask them to tell me what it is like to be in their shoes. Because, sincerely, I would like to know. I want to know what it is like to be them, so that I can better understand what it is like to be myself.
This is where I come to my ultimate confusion: the Judgment of God. I will say this now; I have mixed feelings about God. I do not know Him, as many in this world do. I believe that He exists, but I do not know in what capacity. However, if you would like to quote a Bible or any text, for that matter, of who God is, that would be trifling at best. Dead words on a page of manmade paper do not interest me when it comes to such a great being. (I should add that I do believe that many portions of the Bible act as an intricate historical tale of the world. If I want to know a person, I am not going to read a biography, I would speak with the person. Though, that would lead me into the issues of prayer, and that is not what this essay is about. I do not want to discount the Bible, or the beliefs people bestow in that book. I am expressing my belief that one cannot know God by reading ancient texts that have been translated thousands of times throughout history by man. I believe that to be an impossibility. If you are focusing all of your attention on this singular paragraph then you have missed the entire point of this essay, and I suggest you start again at the top.
The Judgment of God is something that I am completely unfamiliar with, though I’m sure there are a multitude of people out there willing to sit me down and explain their believed system to me. My confusion lies with the fact that there are millions, absolutely millions of people, with the ability to cast this Divine Judgment on their fellow man. Throughout history, the word of God, God’s decisive hand, has played a role in Holy War, suffrage, slavery, and death. Though, if we look back, was it God that enslaved these people? No. Like the debate of guns and bullets, it is people that enthrall their fellow man, not God. The idea of God within the minds of the individual, that is the ultimate culprit. So in the end, the judgments that are passed are not God’s will, for we cannot know His will. The ultimate culprit is our judgment. The assumptions that we create based off of ancient words in a text, with the result of oppression for many races, sexes, and sexual tendencies. It is a sad day, to think that, in God’s name, we have decided to act with His decisive hand fist to create a world where the masses are turning away from God.
The fact remains, we must take ultimate responsibility of our judgments. There is a heavy task for humanity, for we are not always inclined for taking up responsibility. I can only hope, that before making life-changing judgments that forevermore shift your perceptions of the world, you will take the time to walk in their shoes.
