The great Martin Luther King Jr. said, as we all know, "Judge people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Very powerful words, yes, but it reflects a deeply rooted system of morals that can be seen in all cultures. Most of these cultures believe judging a man as bad is wrong only if it is on false pretenses, and judging a man as good is encouraged and accepted in any case. This can be seen in our culture, suburban-Christian, with the Bible quote: "Judge Ye lest ye be judged."
For almost any person in this world, judging is something that is natural and accepted under unconscious perameters. So, for me to say a statement such as "All judgement is wrong" is somewhat radical in this society. However, some people confuse the word of judgement to be inclusive to judging that someone is bad, and therefore agree with me. But do not be blind; all judgement, including judging a man to be "good", is wrong.
As I said earlier, we live in a society that constantly judges, whether we know it or not. For instance, I am considered successful because I make good grades and I am economically auspicious. A bum is lower standard of being because he lives among the depths of garbage and filth. Or we could go far enough to say that a man who is kind to everyone, honest, loyal, hard-working, and of benevolent intentions for all is a good man. These are all forms of judgement. People say that these things are not crude, ignorant labeling; they are truths (see truth.txt). The problem with judgement, even if you're judging a man to be a "good" man, is that you are dis-leveling society. You are placing one man above another. That makes the other man a "bad" man, or less of a man.
People argue that there is nothing wrong with this. If a man is malicious, it is obvious that he is bad. It is not "being affected by society" (which is something he can't help, so we should pity him), he was born that way and he is a bad man. It is this concept of "being naturally bad" that justifies people believing someone is a bad man. People argue "Bad Seed vs. Environment", debating whether a man is born evil or is "corrupted by society" (as Rosseau believed). A bad seed, by society's standards, should be despised, but a man corrupted by society should be pitied. Well isn't it true that a naturally malicious man is born that way? Can he help it? No. If he is born malicious, he cannot help that. He did not ask to be malicious. And if a man is corrupted by society, he cannot help that either. Either way he is helpless. Therefore, the arguement of "Bad Seed vs. Environment" is void.
Why did I just say all of that? Because, it is all judgement. If a man is benevolent, he is born that way. If a man is malicious, he too is born that way. Is there any difference in these men? People use judgement to define men. But men cannot be defined because they cannot help but be themselves. Does a "bad" (I stress the quotes) man have the obligation to end his life the instant he realizes he is bad? No. A man is a man. A man is born a man, and lives as a man. Different men are different. But do not regard one man as higher than the next. That, my friends, is inequality. JUDGEMENT=INEQUALITY. That is why all judgement is wrong.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 11:42 ID:wZcJzMUC
you have stated that judging people is wrong because they are not responsible for the basic components of their personality. But aren't you discounting free will? Don't we all make choices that we are responsible for? For example, I find lying to people very easy and could very well decide to use my evil powers to become a corrupt politician or sell my kids for cattle feed. Instead, I choose to be a good lil mommy and make pie for CP. That was a choice that I made. I find the idea that I am not responsible for any of the successes in my life rather offensive.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 11:42 ID:wZcJzMUC
You make a good point. Here is my flaw:
I wrote this thinking about "basic components of personality," as you said, not about the actions related to them. I don't necessarily think that the actions are consequent of someone's personality.
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to CP 2007-04-08 11:43 ID:wZcJzMUC
I do not believe people can get judged by the components of their personailites. Ultimately we are judged by our actions. Nobody really knows what a person's character is except by judging what they do. For example, say I have terrible pedophile desires that I keep hidden from society. I don't, but for the sake of argument bear with me. Say I raise my kids properly, I don't beat or molest them and I go to my death without committing an evil act to any child. I would be judged as a good parent even though I had all these evil thoughts. My point here is to try to separate personality from the actions that a person does is just not possible.
Another way of looking at it is say I decide to chop my kids in pieces and serve them for supper. Even if I was not judged by the evilness of my actions, it is highly unlikely that I would ever be trusted with children again. Even if I went to jail and became a born-again Christion or some other nonsense. At least, I would hope not. We have to judge people by their actions. It is a necessary part of life.
Every day of our lives we make judgments about people and the environment. Even when I am backing out of the driveway, I judge the distance from my car and the other car so I don't have an accident. When I drop my kids off at school I have put my trust in the school and the people to run it to educate my children and not fuck them up. I just don't see what is wrong with making judgments.
>>6
Correct if I'm wrong, but isn't that the basis of all religions? The fact that you have faith in things? There isn't really 100% proof of anything, in terms of religion, but that is were faith comes in.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 11:57 ID:wZcJzMUC
Religion? Is that the best you can fucking come up with? You can't prove a god damn thing about your religion
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Anonymous2007-04-08 11:59 ID:wZcJzMUC
no one cares what you say or think, you fucking whore.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 11:59 ID:wZcJzMUC
>>9
yes, I'm such a whore that you can't get down my pants no matter how hard you try.
I'm sorry your bitter.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 12:00 ID:CU8sE3Yb
Proving religion is like proving you love someone or something. Can you prove you love parents?How? Do we have evidence? Is it a fact?
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Anonymous2007-04-08 12:04 ID:wZcJzMUC
>>11
How do you know love is real? I say I love my kids but how does anybody know for sure? Maybe I am just bullshitting so I don't get judged by society. After all, what kind of a mom would I be if I didn't love my kids? just like every other woman. That's what I mean. How the hell can you tell the difference between real love, fake love and infatuation? You have to trust people and you know what fickle creatures us human beings are.
Exactly. Trust is the key word. But in religion, we call that word faith and that is what keeps religious people going.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 12:07 ID:wZcJzMUC
DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE ACCEPT LESS THAN YOU ARE OWED. People died so you wouldn't have to take this shit. DO NOT ACCEPT THIS TREATMENT.
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Anonymous2007-04-08 12:18 ID:wZcJzMUC
something is nagging at me. I now have in my posession the phone number of an insanely fucking saucy girl. This girl is also incredibly intelligent and as far as I can tell at the moment, she is very cool and heaps of fun. This would normally be all that I need to completely dropkick my brain out of the stadium and sign my dick up to coach the team through the upcoming finals series. Trouble is, the big shiny, limb flailing guy speaks the truth... This bitch is trouble. All shades of death, just waiting to kick me in the nuts. A depressive, lesbian, vegan, feminist? Dude. Like... Dude!
This is clearly going to get ugly. Maybe not the kind of ugly that is forseeable straight away, like the fat chick who goes out in skin tight white pants and has her gut hanging out over them, but more like the chick who you chat to all night, give her your number and then realise how nasty she is when the place closes and the lights come up. Or even sneakier, the one who you think is a goddess, so you let her take you home and have her way with you while you're still drunk. Then it's only the next morning that you wake up sober, only to roll over and find that you're next to a hook nosed, buck toothed, bearded bitch with a gigantic goiter.