Sunday, October 9, 2016

Where Does "Judgmental" Come From?

I was thinking random thoughts recently and the word, "judgmental" came to mind. I started rolling over that word, and what drives one's judgmental views of others?

And I came up with two things, both, interestingly, related to pride or arrogance.

1) Judgmental assumes that the source-individual of the sentiment (the one being judgmental) has sufficient information to fairly and accurately pass judgment on the situation. This is usually painfully clear to the recipient of the sentiment. Jill's neighbor, Bob, can't possibly know her situation, why she chooses to home-school her children. Mariam, Anthony's coworker can't possibly know what trials Anthony has been dealing with at home that drive him to want to end his marriage. "You don't know my situation like I do... you can't."

2) Judgment assumes that the source-individual is better suited for decision-making than the individual on the receiving end. As a dispassionate third-party, they feel that they are able to make more rational and logical decisions.

But these expressions of pride are exactly that- pride, arrogance, knowledge built on the sand of pomposity... and we all know that song!

The Foolish Man built his house upon the sand...

So what to do about people who get judgmental about your choices???

In my experience, for me, I remember that they're talking from a place of ignorance. They don't know the necessary facts on which to make a sound decision.