NationStates Jolt Archive

With free poll!

Well, do you think it's right or wrong to judge other people?

Also, how do you define 'judging other people'?

It's fun.

depends, if your judging someone you know well, based on their actions or words then yes. Judging someone you've never met or seen before just on their appearence/race/religion? no. thats called prejudice

You pollneeds to bo a) multiple choice and b) public.

It's impossible NOT to judge other people. We make value judgements about everyone we met, every day, whether trivial or major.
What is wrong is to assume our judgements are always right, or to make a snap judgement and then not be willing to reconsider.

I said it was okay, and here's why:

We judge people every day, about everything. Sure, there's the big ones. Race, gender, age, apparent financial stability. But that's not what I'm talking about (and, for the record, sexism, racism and classism are bad).

I mean this: When you're walking down the street at night, say you see someone that creeps you out. Don't know why, exactly, but he seems frightening. Maybe he starts talking to you, offering to help you carry those groceries home for you or something. But you say no, and hop on the bus to a friend's house, because this guy was SERIOUSLY creepy.

Well, I actually stole that one from The Gift of Fear, a book I read recently. The girl whose (abbreviated) story that was found out later that the guy was a serial rapist, and only her general unease from judging him kept her from getting raped, too.

So for me, judgement (in certain, non-systemic/governmental situations) is just fine.

depends, if your judging someone you know well, based on their actions or words then yes. Judging someone you've never met or seen before just on their appearence/race/religion? no. thats called prejudice
I should have said that. I'm not talking about prejudice, racism etc. We can all agree that that is wrong. I'm talking about judging on actions and words.

You pollneeds to bo a) multiple choice and b) public.
I don't see how the poll needs to be multi-choice. One can't be both Christian and atheist, and as for public, I'm not trying to instigate a witch hunt.

I don't see how the poll needs to be multi-choice. One can't be both Christian and atheist, and as for public, I'm not trying to instigate a witch hunt.
I am Agnostic, Christian and a Computerologist. What should I choose then?Really, I am only the first.
Also, witchhunts=FUN!

I should have said that. I'm not talking about prejudice, racism etc. We can all agree that that is wrong. I'm talking about judging on actions and words.

then yes

I live by the motto that all people are judged only by the actions they take, and not by colour, religion, sexuality or any other factor. I hope this makes me a better person.

I live by the motto that all people are judged only by the actions they take, and not by colour, religion, sexuality or any other factor. I hope this makes me a better person.
Define person.

I'd say its okay to judge people based on how the act of course you should always leave room for forgiveness

oh and it must be a fair trial that takes into account looking at things from there perspective

I think its fun though find it hard not to slap some one up side the head when I judge them to be an idiot

Define person.

Is this some kind of existential question?

Define person.

A well balanced fair individual, does that help?

Is this some kind of existential question?

No. Those are stoopid.

A well balanced fair individual, does that help?

Otherwise known as; A person who does not exist.

Can you help it?

Since we're judging people all the time, consciously and unconsciously, I suppose it would have to be all right.

Our judgements of others lead to our choices of friends, mates, allies, enemies, religions, politics, we can't not judge.

Well.... if you're gunna judge... judge YOURSELF first... and then judge others.

People are like Slinkys: Mostly useless, but I can't help but giggle when one of them falls down stairs. :)

It appears that you are asking us to judge people by whether or not they judge others. Doesn't this beg the question?

With free poll!

Well, do you think it's right or wrong to judge other people?

Also, how do you define 'judging other people'?
Since you've specified christian/non-christian on the poll, I think I see what you're getting at here.
Christians are not supposed to pass 'judgement' on others, because we are all ostensibly sinners, and no one sinner is any better than another, even if all siner a) has done is pondered about masturbation, and sinner b) has gone out and killed someone. Christianity strives to make everyone equally unworthy, since the deal is that Christ makes up the difference for you.

To me, this is pure fanatasy. Though maybe it's a good idea not to be harshly or preemptively or viciously judgemental about people and things, we must make judgements continuously in order to move foreward. Judgement is basically distinguishing things - seeing the differences between things. It's an essential process of discernment, observation, and choice. If we cannot judge external things, we have no way to define or place ourselves in the world.

It's never possible to know all of the circumstances that drive a person to do what they do. Maybe a killer spent their entire life trying in vain to fit in with society. Maybe their parents abused them as a child. I'm not trying to justify ANY murders here, I'm just saying that you can never really understand what drives another person (unless you spend years learning about them, in which case I'm going assume that you enjoy their company enough to not judge them), so it is never justified to make generalizations about them.

EDIT: I am Agnostic, bordering on Buddist.

People are like Slinkys: Mostly useless, but I can't help but giggle when one of them falls down stairs. :)

lmao

There's a difference between judging people and judging actions. It's okay to judge actions - we need to be discerning between good and bad. It's not so okay to say that because people behave badly they themsevles are bad people. There, but for the grace of God, go I... and I don't see how I can say "you're bad" when I know I have the potential to be that bad, or worse.

There's a difference between judging people and judging actions. It's okay to judge actions - we need to be discerning between good and bad. It's not so okay to say that because people behave badly they themsevles are bad people. There, but for the grace of God, go I... and I don't see how I can say "you're bad" when I know I have the potential to be that bad, or worse.To me there is a clear disconnect in this argument. If you can judge an action, you can clearly judge the person that carries it out. Actions do not exist as seperate from their perpetrators - people are only the sum of all the actions they have carried out in their lives.

I've never understood the argument that since we all have the potential to do wrong, or be extreme, we must not pass judgement on those who actually take the physical steps toward wrong: the choice of each person to do, or not to do a thing, is the essence of their being - it is the only criteria they can be judged on, and distinguished by. To dissacociate an action from the person it that created, invented, and lived it, is artificial and escapist.