notes on being a (REAL) judgemental person

entry from morning pages:

I love the way Susan Sontag’s journal begins

She is seeking her own clarity to understand the world. She writes what she thinks. I see in myself a new urgency to drift from the recall of feelings and thoughts, to deciding what I believe and know of the words that I dump onto the page.

In short, Susan is unafraid to judge. I’ve been accused of being too judgmental, which meant that in time I stopped forming an opinion at all. What does it mean to judge?

ii.

I look up the word:

• “One who gives an authoritative opinion”

• “To hold as an opinion”

• “A judicial position”

• “To form an opinion about, through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises.”

Currently, to judge has a negative connotation in society. To judge, or to be judgmental, has the illicit meaning to “describe an individual who is intolerant or unaccepting of people or ideas with which they disagree.”

When is judging something “wrong”? I define wrong as an act of bad faith.

iii.

Judgment happens on an axis of values (personal, societal, cultural, and I dare I say environmental) that governs us to certain beliefs. I mean, we are living in a value-less... actually I hesitate to use that exact word. After all, most of this shit is made up.

When the judgment of what we value is taken too far, we develop extremism (such as Evangelical Christians who believe their values should be the governing system in which we should live, which for me is oppressive).

Is there such a thing as harmony when we live amidst pluralism?

How do I judge our societal responsibilities towards individuals? I believe values that are predicated on malicious intent and oppression are intolerable.

Simply: Does this value hinder the mobility (progression) of another?

Wow. That was the first time I wrote exactly what I think so plainly. Moving forward, I’d rather be wrong than silent.

iv.

I write to challenge myself. What is missing is the basic function to judge, the evolution to discern.

Envy and Jealousy (Hating)

ego driven

is the intention of wanting some type of harm or fall from favour measured by what a person possesses

Discern and Judge

is critical and curious

is measured by a person’s behavior, his actions.

what do you think about judging something or someone ?