by Ginger Betzer

Created on: February 06, 2008   Last Updated: April 27, 2009

The question "Is it against Christian principles to judge others?" implies a certain element of judging "motives" Most would agree that we have no rights to judge the motives of any one. This type of judgement remains G-d's alone. But, we do have the right, and moral responsibility to judge the actions of others. Without this ability we would have no means of establishing "Justice". To judge someone's actions is to remove elements of subjectivity that many liberal Americans view as invasive. But, without this removal we have no definite value system on which to base our society. What is meant by this. Basically, when we see an action that violates a certain set of presupposed axioms of right and wrong, we do have the responsibility to make a judgement. Especially in a Christian setting. If we see a person stealing from his neighbor, not only do we have the responsibility to make a judgement call on this behavior, but we have an obligation to the one being stole from to set things right.

Judging the actions of our fellow humans must be based on an objective set of values that are basically accepted in society. For instance, we can not judge someone for dying their hair green, because hair color is not a moral issue. We can make a judgement call if someone purposely spray paints another persons hair green without their permission. This is based on the principle that we must not violate another persons freedoms. So, judgment must be a moral judgement, not an ascetic or personal bias judgement. We know it's wrong to steal, to verbally abuse another person, to murder, etc. When we see actions that violate a certain standard of morality accepted by society as a whole, it is our personal right and responsibility to make judgement calls.

In the area of Faith and Religion, things get a little stickier. We have no right to impose our own religious views on another. But we do have the responsiblity to warn those who profess belief in our faith that their actions are in violation of the creeds of our religion. For instance, adultery is not illegal in America. But to most religions, it is taboo. So, if we find a member of our faith involved in this action, we do have the right to make judgement based on religions values. In fact, according to Christian Scripture, it is our responsibility to warn him that they is in violation of Christian principles. So, while we cannot judge motive, or people of other religions in the area of religious values, we do have obligation to make moral judgements. We have a moral responsibility to make Justice an integral part of our society and our lives.

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