Judging Others

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjf150
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mjf150

Guest
Most Catholics agree that it is wrong to pass judgement on others. So, is it a sin to sit on a jury? Or to tell your children that they are wrong? I, myself a Catholic, believe that it is only wrong if you unjustly judge others, i. e. prejudice, and also, it is wrong to judge others for a sin that you yourself have committed, i.e. convicting someone of murder, if you are a murderer. Please, explain what the Catholic Church’s official stance is on the issue.
 
I believe it is wrong to judge the culpability of another’s soul. But, it’s quite another thing to judge another’s actions as being right or wrong. That’s how we teach children, and others. We are called to be “fruit inspectors” of each other. What we cannot do, however, is to judge another’s soul. Only God can do that.
 
Matt.7


  1. *]3] Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice thelog that is in your own eye?
    *]4] Or how can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is thelog in your own eye?
    *]5] You hypocrite, first take thelog out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

    Our priority is to take care of our logs first, then he can see clearly to help out our brothers and sisters in Christ. When I would tell people to “stop judging” it was not out of charity, but because I didn’t want to address my gravely sinful life-style. I tend to believe the more someone gets upset about judging others, the more likely they are having some serious issues with some grave sin. My 2 cents.

    God :blessyou:
 
the role of the jury is to decide fact, the judge decides guilt or innocence. The judge has his authority, as all elected, appointed or hereditary government officials derive it, from the people, and ultimately from God. There is no conflict in the admonition not to judge others and serving on a jury, or serving as a judge. We judge others all the time, are they trustworthy, are they telling the truth, are they safe drivers, are they good center fielders, are they passable bridge players, can they bake a decent cherry pie. The judgement Jesus warns us about is judging the state of someone’s soul before God, a perogative that belongs to God, or to those whom Jesus has given his authority as judge, namely the priest in the forum of the confessional.
 
“Judge not, that ye be not judged” is the favorite Bible verse of the otherwise irreligious left. It only applies to certain things though, such as sins they like to commit. 😃 We are supposed to be ‘tolerant’ of anything they like to do, such as make total and complete fools of themselves in ‘Gay Pride’ parades! :rolleyes:

We must tolerate ‘diversity’, as long as everyone thinks the same as them. We must not judge anyone, except for intolerant Christians, corporate monsters, Republicans, Mormons, anti-choice people, or anyone else who wants to shove their beliefs down their throats by doing anything so highly offensive, such as posting the 10 commandments in a public place, or saying a prayer at a graduation. :eek:
 
With regard for those who approach communion wearing a rainbow sash, who run for public office campaigning as Catholics but publicly support abortion legislation, live openly with a person of the same or opposite sex without benefit of marriage, notoriously exploit their workers, are heads of crime families – the priest and bishop are the ones who have the authority to judge the state of their souls and to give or withhold communion, or absolution.

Those of us in the pews must place the most charitible interpretation possible on their actions, and assume that if they receive communion that they have just confessed and been absolved of their sins (if any) and that if they are conducting themselves publicly in a manner that seems to espouse an immoral choice, then they are invincibly ignorant. In either case, lay people never have the right to judge, only the priest.

If the lay person has responsibility over such a person by reason of a service to the church, for which he receives his authority from the pastor and ultimately the bishop, that lay person exercises prudential judgement, applies the standards he has been instructed to use. This is not the same as judging the condition of someone’s soul. For instance, the DRE cannot choose someone to serve as a catechist, or the school principal cannot hire someone as a parochial school teacher, who publicly dissents by speech or manner of living from Church teaching.
 
The verses mentioned must also be viewed in light of the teaching of Jesus in, for example, Lk 17:3.
“Take heed to yourselves; if your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.” (RSV-CE)

Forgiveness is required, yet the fact that we are to rebuke the one who sins necessarily means that the “Judge not” verses demand reading in view of the entire teaching of Christ, which, as the verse I cited shows, includes the concept of fraternal correction.
 
40.png
puzzleannie:
With regard for those who approach communion wearing a rainbow sash, who run for public office campaigning as Catholics but publicly support abortion legislation, live openly with a person of the same or opposite sex without benefit of marriage, notoriously exploit their workers, are heads of crime families – the priest and bishop are the ones who have the authority to judge the state of their souls and to give or withhold communion, or absolution.

Those of us in the pews must place the most charitible interpretation possible on their actions, and assume that if they receive communion that they have just confessed and been absolved of their sins (if any) and that if they are conducting themselves publicly in a manner that seems to espouse an immoral choice, then they are invincibly ignorant. In either case, lay people never have the right to judge, only the priest.

If the lay person has responsibility over such a person by reason of a service to the church, for which he receives his authority from the pastor and ultimately the bishop, that lay person exercises prudential judgement, applies the standards he has been instructed to use. This is not the same as judging the condition of someone’s soul. For instance, the DRE cannot choose someone to serve as a catechist, or the school principal cannot hire someone as a parochial school teacher, who publicly dissents by speech or manner of living from Church teaching.
Click to expand...
Correction: If they espouse something that is immoral they are not invincibly ignorant. They cannot be invincibly ignorant because only those who have never heard the Gospel message and live in remote regions of the world fit that criteria. All others, who have been raised as Christian do not meet the strict criteria of invincible ignorance.

Maggie
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top