love nature and live how you like

[...being rants and ravings cut and pasted from somewhere or other...]

04 August 2005

Making judgements

Surely to be judgemental is to be, inevitably, condescending to some degree. It suggests an attainment of a higher level of moral certainty not enjoyed by the person you are judging. And isn't moral relativism the inevitable and necessary consequence of losing the ultimate arbiter (God)?
From a pragmatic point of view, judgement in any form doesn't facilitate useful dialogue. I can't help feeling what matters is what you do i.e. how you convert your moral judgement into action. It is only how we live, not what we pronounce upon, which might actually affect others. Being judgemental isn't wrong (that would be judgemental of me) it's just ineffective. When did anybody ever respond favourably to being exposed as unreasoning, unethical or whatever? Perhaps it's only when we stop actively trying to influence others that we might start doing so...?
Being judgemental is just one component of the adversarialism which dominates our culture e.g. in our courtrooms, parliaments. It’s just a ritualised violence in which participants automatically rush to the polar opposites of fixed opinion (judgements) and thus become opponents rather than fellow travellers. I guess this system appeals to our fetish for dualism but, in reality, our society just ends up incapacitated and unable to make any real progress e.g. regarding ‘the environment’.
I’m not suggesting that dialogue is unimportant or that a mealy-mouthed correctness is any better - that just causes frustration. I just think the best thing vegans do is simply be vegan. I think any attempt at moral crusading is counter-productive and reveals stuff about those involved which is probably better left unstated.
Ultimately, I guess if you judged yourself sufficiently you would never judge others.

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