i was talking with a friend of mine last night, and we were discussing ethics.
specifically we were wondering what actions might cause offense to god. we were wondering whether we were good people or whether we were bad people, and what is the criteria for determining those things. and, of course, we didn’t come up with any concrete answers. thousands of people who are a lot smarter than we are have wrestled with similar questions and not made much progress. but one thing that my friend said was, to paraphrase, that maybe the human act of judging is bad.
i know in writing that i sound like a simpleton, but the simplicity of the statement got me to thinking.
a few years ago i remember watching newt gingrich going on and on about how evil ‘welfare mothers’ were. how they were leeching off the state and how they were perpetuating bad morals and etc. and i thought to myself, ‘i wonder if newt gingrich has ever met a welfare mother? i wonder if he’s ever spent the day with a welfare mother? for if he hasn’t, upon what is he basing his judgement?’ so whenever an individual starts making harsh generalizations about other individuals i always wonder if they’ve spent time with the people whom they are judging?
when people in the islamic world scream ‘death to america’ or when people in the u.s scream ‘death to afghanistan’ upon what are they basing their judgement?
if someone from afghanistan who has vowed to destroy americans were to actually sit down and have dinner with a working class family in boston would he still be able to destroy them? and if someone from america who is wearing a ‘nuke em all’ shirt were to sit down and have dinner with a family from afghanistan would he still be so hostile?
i know, these are simple and obvious points. but i’ve often found it to be very easy to judge people with whom i have no contact. from a great distance individuals are easy to judge cos they look so one-dimensional and simple. but from up-close individuals are far harder to judge, cos then you see their humanity and complexities. people in the western world want to look in at their children and see them sleeping peacefully. people in the islamic world want to look in at their children and see them sleeping peacefully. i’m not saying that everybody in the world is altruistic and full of good will, obviously that’s not the case. i guess i’m saying that judging people whom you’ve never met is too easy and destructive. christ said, ‘judge not lest you be judged’, and the wisdom of that has never seemed so vital as it does now.
christ, by the way, is considered to be a prophet by muslims.
once again, these are just my thoughts.
thanks
moby