Who Are We to Judge?
Who are we to judge? Who are we to shame?
Every interaction involves two personalities—mine and someone else’s. Who they are, and who I am. And more importantly, how I choose to respond or react.
But what about the people who feel entitled to shame others? What gives them the right to call me, or anyone else, shameful or a disgrace to my profession simply because I choose to share what I believe?
Do they think I speak carelessly, without thought or conviction? Do they assume that because they disagree with me, I must be uninformed, reckless, or even dangerous? What compels them to believe that disagreement justifies disrespect? That their feelings give them license to insult, to label, to diminish?
Who are they to judge me?
I could ask the same of myself. When I share my own thoughts—whether about life, society, or even politics—am I, in my own way, guilty of the same thing? Am I shaming others without realizing it? Do I believe, deep down, that I am more educated, more informed, more rational than those who see the world differently?
It’s a fine line, isn’t it?
For example, I may not fully understand why someone feels the need to change their gender, but who am I to say they are wrong? And yet, if I say, "Well, if someone can feel they were meant to be a different gender, then why can't I say I was meant to have a different body—one with a flatter stomach and larger breasts—and have the government pay for it?"—am I questioning the principle, or am I diminishing someone else’s experience?
And if I ask that question, does that mean I deserve to be shamed, called names, or dismissed as ignorant?
What drives people to react with such hostility, rather than curiosity?
Maybe it’s fear. Fear that their own beliefs might be challenged. Fear that if they don’t attack first, they might have to examine their own convictions more closely.
Maybe it’s ego. The need to be right, to feel superior, to prove a point at any cost.
Or maybe, just maybe, they’ve forgotten that disagreement doesn’t have to mean disrespect.
It’s easy to judge. It’s harder to listen. It’s easy to attack. It’s harder to pause and reflect.
Maybe the real challenge isn’t in having the right answers, but in being willing to sit with the discomfort of not knowing.
Maybe the true strength isn’t in proving a point, but in asking better questions.
Maybe, just maybe, judgment isn’t our job.
Maybe, kindness is.
