Is it just my reading of things, or has our culture descended into a morass of mean-spirited judgmentalism? It seems that everyone has an opinion about everything and it needs to be aired—preferably with a kean cutting-edge and often with unkindness. It's difficult to read mainstream, alternative, or social media without being served with harsh opinions of why x or y deserve vilification. Perhaps it was always this way and it is just the pervasiveness of technology-driven communication in our lives that make it seem worse. Social media can be brutal. With the easy anonymity of the tweet or the comment careful speech and restraint are becoming lost arts. It's easier to tear down than to build up. Truth is, the bad habits of the snide comeback, the cutting retort, the belittling comment are easy to pick up. Point-scoring at the expense of someone else is the name of the game. It has impoverished our culture. Sadly, in recent years I've seen it creep into the university classroom. Verbal thuggery. And it's ugly.
The wisdom of Jesus gives us an alternative. In his sermon on the mount Jesus said, “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” Simply put, don't do it. Don't get sucked in to the spiral of negativity, casting aspersions, gloating in the mistakes and failures of others. Jesus seems to suggest something karmic—judge others and it will rebound on you. If for no other reason than that just don't do it. Of course, there are better reasons that karmic retribution. The golden rule tells us to treat others as you would wish to be treated; don't say about others what you wouldn't want said about you. To treat others with kindness with both affirming words and with silence, when necessary, is a good in itself. In other words, there's no need to look for a justification to be kind. Just act kindly. Period.
Enjoy being kind today,
+Ab. Andy