Judgment



Rubens: The Judgment of Paris



I am often in the company of well-meaning people from privileged backgrounds who promote a practice of what they call "non-judgmental" Christianity, Buddhism or Humanism. From their life experience and perspective, they see evaluation and estimation of the motives and behaviors of other people somehow crude or unfair. This is, of course, a privileged point of view, impractical and irrelevant to people who must live on the pavement. In my opinion, while I approve of their understanding that they have no right to judge people who have to scrape together a living, I disapprove of them preaching this as a workable life practice to those who do have to scrape together a living.

The rage in America at the over-educated elite, as exemplified to some by President Obama, relates to this divide. To prescribe behavior or ideology from an ivory tower is always risky business. Ask any Pope, queen or potentate.

From my perspective as someone who lives on the pavement, judgment is essential for protecting my sanity and my life from abuse or violence. I ride the subway into and out of areas of my city where gang violence exists. The subway station nearest my own house is always crowded with transfer passengers from some of the poorest and most congested areas around Boston. There is often an air of potential conflict and danger there at night.

Those who can afford an iPhone to obliterate their surroundings are freed from judgment, I suppose, until someone rips the iPhone from a pair of non-judgmental hands. The daily warnings on the subway P.A. system are a testimony to the lack of judgment practiced by those passengers. I do not believe their carelessness makes them more moral people. In fact, their callous carelessness in the company of poor people, who could never afford such a device for casual use, could be seen as antisocial.

My father was a police detective, a good one. His long police career was based on practicing acute, sometimes harsh, judgment for the safety of the public. I myself worked in acute psychiatric hospitals for over a decade. My judgments were absolutely necessary to prevent patients from hurting themselves or others. Every job in society requires some form of judgment. Without qualified judgments, society would be reduced to chaos.

There is evil in the world. It's not the bat-winged, devil-made-me-do-it kind of evil. It is the evil that comes from greed, selfishness, hatred and deceit. While I, as a practicing humanist, may work hard daily to live a life of peace and compassion, I also recognize that many human beings are consumed by their own evil. Denying this, by subscribing to an ostrich approach of being totally without judgment of the behavior of others, is simply stupid and does not help to combat the evil in the world. Acknowledging evil, after judging it, is a first step to making progressive change in ourselves and potentially in the world.