judging others

[backtocatholic]

Hi there.

I know that it is a mortal sin to judge the state of someone’s soul.

What is the position if we judge someone’s soul positively. E.g. thinking about someone using artificial birth control but making a judgment about them that they didn’t know it was wrong. This is just an example for the sake of simplicity. The question is if it is a mortal sin to make these judgements even if they are positive.

 

[DexUK]

Judgementalism is to do with arrogance - whatever the subject matter of the thing you are making a judgement about. If you presume to know better (or as much as) God who clearly knows the state of someone’s soul, then that’s where you have a problem.

The way to treat people is with an open mind. Nobody is ever in full possession of the facts about someone else’s interior self. Treat people charitably and in such a way as you won’t unduly hurt them.

When it comes to considering other people’s motivations, being charitable is to allow for the possibility that your interpretation is wrong but doing the right thing by those people nonetheless. It can be tricky, for sure, especially if you end up being ‘patronising’ as a result. Just do your best.

Mind you, some cases are clearer than others: I think you’d be on shaky ground if you were, to take an extreme example, to suggest that ‘underneath it all’, Hitler was actually a nice guy! People might ‘judge’ you as being perhaps a sandwich or two short of a picnic if you did!