A “Non-judgement” Judgement

During their “Christian Morality” class, a group of students discussed certain moral issues involving adulterous relationships. The students asked their teacher what she thought about it. In trying to make her students learn values clarification/evaluation by themselves, the teacher asked them how they would evaluate the situation. The students responded that they asked the teacher first because they do not want to judge anyone.

I was taken aback when I heard this, but it was not unexpected. I was just surprised by the extent to how students in Catholic schools are influenced in their thinking by secularism.

“Judgement” and ‘judging” have become very loaded words. Many would prefer to avoid using these words because they considered these insensitive and pretentious of a “holier than you” attitude.

Thus, many young people (and those not so young) would avoid these words by saying, “No, judgment” or “No judging.”

However, making judgments is a consequence of thinking. For example, in choosing what to wear, we are making a judgment. When we choose what restaurants or cafes to patronize, we are making a judgment. When deciding who is the better person among suitors, we are making judgments. We cannot avoid making a judgment.

I understand that the students were talking about “moral judgment,” not about restaurants or suitors!

Yet, I would contend that the process of making “judgments,” whether moral or otherwise, is a consequence of being a thinking person. Claiming that you are not making any judgment is already a “judgment” in itself.

The bottom line is whether we are selecting what dress to wear or whether we will consider a person as “adulterous” involved our values and moral visions. From these values and moral visions, we draw our criteria for making our life choices and how we look upon the world.

“I am not making any judgment” is a consequence of a person’s values and moral visions. For a Catholic educator, this should be alarming because if students are no longer making any “judgments” on their actions and the actions of other people, it is indicative of a loss of the “sense of sin.”

Without a sense of sin, repentance becomes absurd.

Is it not that the Good Shepherd looked for the lost sheep by leaving the ninety-nine? Is it not that what is more important is compassion and mercy?

My answers to these questions are affirmative. But, the readers should take note that the conclusion of the parable states that heaven is happier when one lost person “repents” rather than the ninety-one who does not need repentance. I would contend that this parable is about repentance brought about by those who are compassionate.

Thus, there are two elements in this parable: the repentance of the “lost” one and the shepherd’s compassionate attitude.

I believe this is succinctly articulated by the dictum “love the sinner but hate the sin.” We recognized that there is sin, and we treat the sinner with compassion so that those who were “lost” will return.

Unfortunately, this has been distorted into “love the sinner by loving the sin.”

It is the crux of the matter because underneath this is the reality that “thought-influencers” and “thought leaders” are promoting the eradication of “sin” from public discourse and the conscience of the individuals. As the secularists would claim, “there are no sins, only mistakes and lessons to be learned.”

Let us go back to that classroom discussion. The students were hesitant to make any “judgment” because they mistakenly thought that they are condemning the person by evaluating the moral issue.

This is the reason why religion teachers need to emphasize repeatedly that making a judgment on a moral issue is not condemning the “sinner” but recognizing that the action is a “sin” without condemning the “sinner” because, after all, we are all sinners. Love the sinner, but hate the sin.

In the end, this brings us to the often misquoted and mispresented soundbite of Pope Francis when he said that “Who am I to judge?” Does the argument that if Pope Francis refused to “judge” others, then why should we judge others? Is it not said that “you shall not judge so that you will not judge?”

Much ink was spilled on this quote from both sides of the aisle. I do not want to add more to this. The only thing I would like to note is that the media left a crucial part that says, “seek the Lord and have goodwill, then who am I to judge?”

It is a reminder that we are all sinners, but we need to seek the Lord willingly as sinners. On the other hand, we cannot seek the Lord for mercy unless we felt that we need God because we are sinners.

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