Here Comes the Judge

I haven't made it a habit in my life to use the phrase, "Don't judge me," and I don't plan to start.  But, that doesn't mean that I haven't judged others and it doesn't mean that they haven't judged me either.  There is something perplexing to me about the word judgment and how throughout my life I have heard it from a religious perspective, which is a bible verse that says, "Judge not, unless ye be judged."  Even outside of a religious context, it seems like common sense that we would all take that as don't be so hard on everybody else and worried about what everybody else is doing wrong..... the world would be much better if we worked on fixing our own faults.  (I'm not talking about breaking laws.)

However, if we look at the definition of the word "judge" it is to "form an opinion or conclusion about."    This seems like a reasonable thing for us human beings to practice,  so why is it bad to judge one another?  We have to make decisions about laws, morality, honesty, etc.  So if someone lies a lot, I am not supposed to say, "You're a liar" because that is coming to the conclusion that someone is, in fact, a liar.... ??!!

Exhibit A:  The "news" on any channel whether leaning left, right, or central would last about 10 minutes a day if they all had to just announce the facts of the day.  Who said what, who did what, but giving no opinion on it at all -- that would put an immediate end to the 24/7 news cycle and maybe it should. 

Whether or not we like Exhibit A is our choice what to do with it.  I do watch the news and I am a part of the speculation, but I am also part of the crowd that is saying, "Hey, this is wrong because we need to treat each other like human beings."  And I guarantee you there will be people who say, "Well, you're judging me/him/her, and that's wrong."  I'm not sure there is any winning such an argument.

Exhibit B:  the weather report.  I believe that all weather reports should take place in the past tense only and here's why.  They don't get their predictions correct on the precipitation most of the time and it very much screws up my plans for fishing!  So just tell me how much it rained after it rains.  Stick with the facts and stop with the guessing, except if severe weather is coming, then absolutely give me a shout out . I'll be grateful for my life if you're right and I won't be mad at all if you're wrong!!

Here is what I sometimes grapple with, and for lack of a better phrase, I'll just call it "reverse judgement."   Why can't I say that something makes me uncomfortable?  Why have I taken flak for saying, "I do not want to know what they're doing over at XYZ because I don't like the way it makes me feel."  I'm not going around announcing to them that they can't do whatever it is that makes me feel a little bit funny.  I'm sure some things I do would make lots of people uncomfortable.  I'm also fairly certain that if I knew this, I either don't share it, or I don't hang around them if it is something that really means a lot to me.

As long as you're not breaking any laws......and if you are, don't tell me!  Even then,  I'm not a prosecuting attorney, so I'm not investigating anyone!  Although I can't say with complete certainty that I won't be in the jury pool or that you won't ever be in mine should I go down the wrong path in life.......... But, in both of those cases, it is our job to judge.......isn't it?

So what's the difference between judgment and judging?