“Judge not!”

“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Luke 6:37 – Online Parallel Bible

Forgiveness: The Real F-Bomb (Photo credit: bangart)

Refrain from condemning. Cease vilifying. Renounce resenting. Abstain from shaming.

Instead, simply withdraw from whatever may have been disturbing you. Turn away from what has been disgusting to you, or frustrating, or disappointing.

Do not pretend to condone what does not appeal to you, but refrain from condemning. This does not mean to ignore danger, to never seek assistance or never to report suspicious activity. You can report activity and identify suspects without vilifying them.

If you had a pet dog that caused a spill or stain, you would not ignore the mess, would you? This teaching does not mean to ignore a mess.

However, if you scare the pet to get it’s attention and to interrupt it, and then confine it to an area where it cannot cause further harm, that is wise, right? But do not resent a dog for being hungry or undisciplined. Forgive it and discipline it. If you do not protect your valuables from the weather or from animals or from thieves, then you might expect occasional losses, right?

You can forgive a child rather than hold resentment, but you may still punish them. However, beware of punishing out of anger. Punish for discipline and order, not for personal revenge, contempt, or rage, which can lead to escalations of conflict rather than a resolving of disputes and controversies.

“To those who are pure, all things are pure ….” But to the one who is already disturbed, most anything can be attacked as disturbing. To the one who is already confused, most anything can be attacked as confusing.

So what does it mean that if you stop condemning, then you will not be condemned? If you stop condemning others, then other people may still condemn you, right, but any shame that you had will vanish.

However, if you persist in resenting others for causing your own shame, then your shame will persist. If you forgive them- in the sense of refraining from vilification- then your own shame about the past sequence of events will vanish.

Stop agonizing- even about how to end agonizing. Agonizing is a sign of desperation and shame. Rather than agonize, it is better to simply be ashamed. The agonizing will perpetuate the shame. Allowing the shame to surface will let it re-organize your attention.

Stop resenting your own shame, disappointment and fear. Resenting does not benefit you, relieve the shame, or clean up the mess.

SHAME (Photo credit: BlueRobot)

If you have judged against someone for being judgmental, judge not. If you judge against yourself for judging against someone else (like for being judgmental), again, judge not!

So, by refraining from condemnation, you can perceive more clearly. For instance, those who are terrified of being perceived as afraid may be pre-occupied with appearing brave. Stop condemning fear and you will be more perceptive about recognizing your own fear and your intuitions about danger and risk. Do not endanger yourself naively by arrogantly seeking to appear brave. Do not condemn something unpopular just to fit in.

If you are terrified of being perceived as resentful, you may be pre-occupied with appearing grateful. If something angers you or disappoints you, then you can consider the best way to present your complaint and to whom. That is not agonizing. That is discernment.

Do not renounce voicing dissatisfaction.  That can lead to resentment and contempt. You can present a complaint respectfully. If someone is so panicked by a complaint that they erupt in to outrage and hysteria, that is an obvious sign of their lack of receptivity (or at least lack of interest). If they continue complaining about your complaints, that is not a sign of a lack of interest, is it?

When someone is unreceptive to hearing a complaint, you can bring witnesses or seek a mediator or court official to intervene. Or, if someone responds with contempt when presented with a complaint, this does not mean that you cannot take initiative boldly to satisfy your claim of their liability to you.

When you refrain from condemning a certain activity as inherently evil or unjust, you may still avoid it as dangerous, risky, or imprudent. However, by refraining from condemning it, you will not be distracting yourself and blinding yourself from accurately identifying that pattern of activity in yourself or others.

Keep in mind that justice and legality and evil are categories that different cultures have defined quite differently. When a new court system of organized extortion obtains a monopoly over coercion, new definitions of justice and crime are suddenly imposed by the military force of the court deputies and mercenary soldiers of “law enforcement” and peace-keeping.

 

“Condemn not” is about inner peace, introspection, and clarity of perception. When condemnation is forbidden, that does not mean that condemnation should not ever happen. It means that condemnation is dangerous, blinding, imprudent.
One popular translation of Luke 6:37 in to English says, “Judge not, and God will not judge you. Condemn not and God will not condemn you.” I strongly favor that translation as it is not idealistic, but a reference to established principles of the unconscious conscience.

If you renounce condemnation, then obviously others may still condemn you, persecute you, or even crucify you- including for renouncing condemnation- because they may have been practicing public condemnation in the desperate hope of obtaining your approval, because of their hidden insecurity and shame. Do not condemn others, even for condemning.

If you forbid someone from condemning, do not condemn them for condemning. Rebuke them and discipline them.

Do not condemn them. Do not vilify them. Do not judge against them. Do not shame them.

Those rituals of human interaction are forbidden to the lower orders of the great priesthood. Until you can learn to abstain from condemnation, you do not have the inner discipline to learn to master the art of strategic condemnation.

Clear your own shame before you presume to shame others in passionate reaction. Clear your own arrogance before you condemn others for their arrogant condemnations.

When you are no longer ashamed of your own shame, what arises will be clear and pure. When you are no longer arrogant about your own arrogance, what arises will be innocent without being naive.

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	judge not	Low .01	74,000	49,500	$1.43

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