Judging w/o arrogance

[fakename]

Let me supply an additional counter-argument because I think that it is equally strong.

I believe that if judging a person’s character was wrong, then meritocracy is wrong. But meritocracy is not wrong so judging is not wrong.

And also, democratic meritocracy or appointing a meritocrat or timocrat would be especially wrong. These are absurd positions though; the Church will never declare timocracy/meritocracy to be inherently evil.

 

[underacloud]

I fear that we will go around in circles indefinitely on this one, as to whether one can judge another. Let’s put that aside and assume for the sake of discussion that all you say is correct.

The next question is, what right do you have to judge others? Especially when Jesus taught to judge not, least you be judged. Leave the judging to God.

Aspire to live the life of a saint. God has judged them and in His wisdom allowed knowledge of such judgement, so we may know that they are in heaven and have received their salvation. But to judge, by your own reasoning, that you are any better or closer to God than another is what the Pharisee did, and he was in the wrong.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”. Matthew 23:12

 

[fakename]

user "underacloud":

I fear that we will go around in circles indefinitely on this one, as to whether one can judge another. Let’s put that aside and assume for the sake of discussion that all you say is correct.

The next question is, what right do you have to judge others? Especially when Jesus taught to judge not, least you be judged. Leave the judging to God.

Aspire to live the life of a saint. God has judged them and in His wisdom allowed knowledge of such judgement, so we may know that they are in heaven and have received their salvation. But to judge, by your own reasoning, that you are any better or closer to God than another is what the Pharisee did, and he was in the wrong.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted”. Matthew 23:12

It’s been nice talking to you esp. but also with everyone else here. Sadly I find it difficult to read things like the Summa and not come away with a sense that some judgments are perfectly well founded and that you have a right to them.

I can conclude this for two reasons: one the argument from the commandments which you’ve already read and two, the argument that humility can either mean to merely submit to “superiors” as a type of obedience or it can mean to submit to “superiors” as being actually and correctly judged by you to be superiors in virtue. If the latter is correct then one clearly has a right to judge or else one would not have a right to practice a virtue. Now, the latter is correct since if the former was, then it would follow that humility would be a virtue of justice since obedience is a virtue of justice. But humility is a virtue of temperance.

So that’s my conclusion.