Judging others

[Pete_1]

I recently read this:

Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

from the NIV

Is it a mortal sin to call someone cruel (not a fool)?

A source would be nice.

 

[Pete_1]

For example if i was to say Mr X killed millions of people, Mr X is a cruel man.

Is this a mortal sin?

Does it count as judging my brother?

 

[teachccd]

Since when is judging an intrinsically disordered act a mortal sin? We can difinitely say that a serial killer is cruel by means of his actions. Only God knows his culpability and only God can judge his soul. So when one identifies someone by their actions they define the character of the person but not his soul…teachccd

 

[rwoehmke]

The question concerning judging others is a favorite topic on the forums. Suggest you run a search.

 

[KingAlfred]

I need some guidance, please. I have a co-worker I consider evil, and actually loathe her. I’ve tried in vain to stop hating her, but to no avail. Yes…it’s wrong, even though she is a horrible, horrible person, IMO. She’s seemingly omnipresent, engaged in all manner of hurtful mischief. She has my boss under her thumb. How can I overcome this sin?

 

[catharina]

I need some guidance, please. I have a co-worker I consider evil, and actually loathe her. I’ve tried in vain to stop hating her, but to no avail. Yes…it’s wrong, even though she is a horrible, horrible person, IMO. She’s seemingly omnipresent, engaged in all manner of hurtful mischief. She has my boss under her thumb. How can I overcome this sin?

Pray for her as if she were your dearest friend.
Always relate to her in the most gentle, non-judgmental way.
Ask Francis de Sales, the gentlest of Saints, to lead you in this.
Whe she enters your mind, turn your hatefulness into a prayer for her.

 

[MarcoPolo]

*1 Corinthians 2:15 The spiritual person, however, can judge everything but is not subject to judgement by anyone.*The NAB footnote says:*The spiritual person . . . is not subject to judgment: since spiritual persons have been given knowledge of what pertains to God (1 Cor 2:11-12), they share in God’s own capacity to judge. One to whom the mind of the Lord (and of Christ) is revealed (1 Cor 2:16) can be said to share in some sense in God’s exemption from counseling and criticism.*When we are not to “judge”, I understand it to be condemning someone’s soul.

 

[DJgang]

And something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately…

If you say “That person isn’t acting like a Christian”…or if you ask " How Christian was that?"…

Is this considered judging? Since, we as Christians know that the way to heaven is to be a Christian, …yet if we say someone is not a Christian, thus are we not judging their soul?

I think so.

 

[Cari]

And something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately…

If you say “That person isn’t acting like a Christian”…or if you ask " How Christian was that?"…

Is this considered judging? Since, we as Christians know that the way to heaven is to be a Christian, …yet if we say someone is not a Christian, thus are we not judging their soul?

I think so.

I believe the distinction is between judging the person’s ACTIONS and judging their HEARTS. The first, we can do. The second is reserved for God alone. So when we say of Mr. X, “He isn’t acting like a Christian”, that is an observable thing. We can see his actions, and using Jesus’ teachings, judge whether or not Mr. X is, in fact, acting like a Christian ought to.

However, should we say of Mr. X, “He did such and such a thing, he clearly ISN’T a Christian”, we are judging his heart, and we are not to do so.

The same goes for the question, “How Christian was that?” If we observe Mr. X, say, knocking down widows and stealing food from orphans, this rhetorical question is easily answered- the actions AREN’T how Christians are called to act. However, we are not speculating on the Christian-ness of his heart, so to speak, rather the actions he engages in.

 

[thistle]

CCC 2477 Respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty:

• of rash judgment who, even tacitly, assumes as true, without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor;
• of detraction who, without objectively valid reason, discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them;
• of calumny who, by remarks contrary to the truth, harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them.

CCC 2478 To avoid rash judgment, everyone should be careful to interpret insofar as possible his neighbor’s thoughts, words, and deeds in a favorable way:

Every good Christian ought to be more ready to give a favorable interpretation to another’s statement than to condemn it. But if he cannot do so, let him ask how the other understands it. And if the latter understands it badly, let the former correct him with love. If that does not suffice, let the Christian try all suitable ways to bring the other to a correct interpretation so that he may be saved.

 

[BlestOne]

Pray for her as if she were your dearest friend.
Always relate to her in the most gentle, non-judgmental way.
Ask Francis de Sales, the gentlest of Saints, to lead you in this.
Whe she enters your mind, turn your hatefulness into a prayer for her.

Totally agree here… and would like to add confess in reconciliation… you so do not need this person interfering with your relationship with God and your soul.

It is virtually impossible to stay mad at a person you are praying for and forgiving on a regular basis.

 

[coda]

I recently read this:

Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca, ’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

from the NIV

Is it a mortal sin to call someone cruel (not a fool)?

A source would be nice.

Matthew 7: 1-5 we are not to judge with arrogance or by being hypocrites, but can " call a spade a spade" so to speak…

 

[MichaelMurphy]

I need some guidance, please. I have a co-worker I consider evil, and actually loathe her. I’ve tried in vain to stop hating her, but to no avail. Yes…it’s wrong, even though she is a horrible, horrible person, IMO. She’s seemingly omnipresent, engaged in all manner of hurtful mischief. She has my boss under her thumb. How can I overcome this sin?

(Edited)
There’s only one remedy. You gotta go through a dangerous (preferably life threatening) experience together, where the only way to overcome the situation is to help eachother. After a few days, you’ll both understand the other.

 

[sebestt]

Or else you can show that person unconditional love. It is easy to love ones who love you back. I would say continue to pray for that person and pray for the strength to love that person unconditionally.

 

[awfulthings9]

That sucks.
There’s only one remedy. You gotta go through a dangerous (preferably life threatening) experience together, where the only way to overcome the situation is to help each other. After a few days, you’ll both understand the other.

In my experience, it tends to work best when vicious animals are involved. Or a volcano.

 

[Pete_1]

In my experience, it tends to work best when vicious animals are involved. Or a volcano.

Hahahaha

 

[SpiritMeadow]

We are all guilty of this to one degree or other. This was so serious a matter to Jesus that he spoke on it twice. Our tendency is natural, we associate behavior with attitude and heart. This is simply not always the case. What we are being told to do, IMO is to judge the act by moral and legal standards common to our faith and our civil community. Thus we judge the serial killers acts as cruel. We do not judge the serial killer as such. We have no idea the life lived the traumas lived through, or any of the other circumstances of anothers life. God does, and thus God decides, not us.

One of the things I try to do, is recall that once upon a time, this person so so aggravates me was a toddler, innocent, loving, and loved hopefully by some or many. I cannot begin to know what happened in the intervening years such that he/she now protrays such actions that seem so incongruent with that image. I also try to remember that every person acts in what appear to them ways that is best for them at any given moment. If I find their actions distorted, then I can but assume that something very wrong has gone wrong in their thinking, to cause them to think this action was best for them. That is something to be pitied, not hated.

 

[Pete_1]

We are all guilty of this to one degree or other. This was so serious a matter to Jesus that he spoke on it twice. Our tendency is natural, we associate behavior with attitude and heart. This is simply not always the case. What we are being told to do, IMO is to judge the act by moral and legal standards common to our faith and our civil community. Thus we judge the serial killers acts as cruel. We do not judge the serial killer as such. We have no idea the life lived the traumas lived through, or any of the other circumstances of anothers life. God does, and thus God decides, not us.

One of the things I try to do, is recall that once upon a time, this person so so aggravates me was a toddler, innocent, loving, and loved hopefully by some or many. I cannot begin to know what happened in the intervening years such that he/she now protrays such actions that seem so incongruent with that image. I also try to remember that every person acts in what appear to them ways that is best for them at any given moment. If I find their actions distorted, then I can but assume that something very wrong has gone wrong in their thinking, to cause them to think this action was best for them. That is something to be pitied, not hated.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[wildleafblower]

We are all guilty of this to one degree or other. This was so serious a matter to Jesus that he spoke on it twice. Our tendency is natural, we associate behavior with attitude and heart. This is simply not always the case. What we are being told to do, IMO is to judge the act by moral and legal standards common to our faith and our civil community. Thus we judge the serial killers acts as cruel. We do not judge the serial killer as such. We have no idea the life lived the traumas lived through, or any of the other circumstances of anothers life. God does, and thus God decides, not us.

One of the things I try to do, is recall that once upon a time, this person so so aggravates me was a toddler, innocent, loving, and loved hopefully by some or many. I cannot begin to know what happened in the intervening years such that he/she now protrays such actions that seem so incongruent with that image. I also try to remember that every person acts in what appear to them ways that is best for them at any given moment. If I find their actions distorted, then I can but assume that something very wrong has gone wrong in their thinking, to cause them to think this action was best for them. That is something to be pitied, not hated.

SpiritMeadow, first off, I’ve never known a serial killer. But I can tell you this much, I have no pity for a “serial” killer. As a mature, logical adult I know for a fact that a serial killer is evil and should be in prison. I don’t care what childhood “traumas” the serial killer may have had. If their face shows up on the NEWS that that criminal escaped prison and happens to appear in my home, I promise you, I will be his or her immediate judge. I will do anything and everything to stop the person from killing, knowing biological thoughts of any serial killer did result in the death of innocent lives.

p.s. I should mention that I have many friends in law enforcement. Thank God!

Hi Pete_, You may wish to review a similar discussion that was also hashed over here:
Topic: We are not to judge others

1. forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=246085&page=8
2. forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=3795891#post3795891
3. forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?p=3814091#post3814091

 

[c659smith]

We are all guilty of this to one degree or other. This was so serious a matter to Jesus that he spoke on it twice. Our tendency is natural, we associate behavior with attitude and heart. This is simply not always the case. What we are being told to do, IMO is to judge the act by moral and legal standards common to our faith and our civil community. Thus we judge the serial killers acts as cruel. We do not judge the serial killer as such. We have no idea the life lived the traumas lived through, or any of the other circumstances of anothers life. God does, and thus God decides, not us.

One of the things I try to do, is recall that once upon a time, this person so so aggravates me was a toddler, innocent, loving, and loved hopefully by some or many. I cannot begin to know what happened in the intervening years such that he/she now protrays such actions that seem so incongruent with that image. I also try to remember that every person acts in what appear to them ways that is best for them at any given moment. If I find their actions distorted, then I can but assume that something very wrong has gone wrong in their thinking, to cause them to think this action was best for them. That is something to be pitied, not hated.

so what do you think Christ meant when He told the Apostles " the sins you forgive are forgiven and those sins you retain are retained" ?