Do we have the right to judge?

Question

If you know someone who is making bad decisions can you make them change or are they even making a bad decision because what is good for you may not be the best for them, and even if it isnt right for them there are people who do wrong, and is it fair to ask them to change or say they are wrong do we have the right to judge them?

Answer 1

the fact is we are judging all the time, every single one of us!
If you didn't you would be dead.
we judge countless times a day.
pulling into a parking space
what activities we involve ourselves in depending on our talents and abilities
picking a phone service
choosing where we live and how
how to ask a question
which ones to answer and how
hopefully we are using good judgment
when we aren't we will be corrected or suffer the consequences...
it sounds like the judgment here has already been made on your part whether you intended it or not
what to do about it?
I read the; judge not lest you be judged
how about: be your brothers keeper
both apply at different times, we are judging already and we are our brothers keepers in degrees
know that you can not control another person, yet if someone close to you is doing something illegal and it can affect you in ways that are not acceptable you have a right not to pretend otherwise.
you can ask gently, state your fear respectfully, listen and hear the response without correcting or editing the person, accept that everyone has a basic human right to make their own choices and do not add to the 'problem' or become part of it.
I have a friend who forewarns by saying I think I've seen this movie and know how it ends, whereas perhaps you've just seen the previews...
and leave room for -perhaps you may be the one to only see the previews...

good luck

Answer 2

I don't think it's wrong. We judge people all the time, it's something we do unconsciously. It's not bad when it's used for the right purposes, and I feel that it's quite essential sometimes. For instance, you have to hire a baby-sitter for your baby. During the interviews, whether you like it or not, you are supposed to judge the candidates according to their skills or their profile, in order to find an adaquate professional to assist your child. Now imagine if you could not judge people. You would end up making bad decisions, puting your life at risk and making your life quite inefficient.
I think we should judge people, but just to a certain level, as long as we have a purpose for doing it.

The problem comes when people who have nothing to do with you start judging you on irrelevant aspects, such as your religion and your political ideas.

Answer 3

Many people are uncomfortable with the concept of judgement, and rightly so, but we can and must at some point judge our own and others' actions.

Those that say that we have no right to judge others are sadly mistaken. That is an easy way to avoid difficult social situations and default on our responsibility to help our fellow humans.

We should not necessarily force people to change but instead help them to see the error in their ways. However even with that said there comes a time when we must force people to stop certain actions.

I am willing to both judge a murderer and stop him. How about you? Not all behaviors require this level of force however. We have to judge and we have to judge our judgements.

Judges have to judge but not only judges. Teachers have to judge too. And so do mothers and fathers. In fact all humans find themselves in situations that require 'judgement'.

Even driving a car requires many many 'judgement calls'. When we make a book of traffic laws, even though we have thousands of rules we can still not cover every single driving situation. It requires 'judgement' to be a successful driver and yes, a successful human being.

The thing to remember is to judge the actions without judging the person. If someone makes a mistake that doesn't necessarily make them bad, it just means they made a mistake and we all do that from time to time.

Some mistakes need to be stopped harshly others must be allowed to run their course and that too requires judgement.

Yes, we need to judge. We all do. We also need to find a way to share those judgements and opinions.

The lack of compassion is the problem. If we can judge others with compassion and with the understanding that we are trying to improve the world then there is no problem with it.

Answer 4

I don't think we have grounds to *judge* anyone who is struggling and failing to make good decisions on his/her own behalf. We all have to do that sometimes, and we may be naive or misled or self-deceptive, and make a bad decision -- but judgmental people don't help us; they just make themselves feel better at our expense. Of course in a sense we "judge" that a decision is "bad" because it "harms" the person in some way - that's natural; but I don't think we have the right to judge their character by their poor decision making. For example, take a drug addict - I don't think we have the right to judge that person is a "bad person." It's fair to say why we think they should change, and try to help them, but it's not really fair for us to use any power we have to punish them.

If someone is making bad decisions that are doing harm to a third party, I think it's fair to judge it unethical, tell them, and ask of even force them to change, even if they aren't doing it on purpose. But if it's just bad decisions and not deliberate harm, I still don't think we have the right to judge the person's *character* - only their actions, and then their response to our pleas to stop. We naturally do come to judge character by patterns of behavior, but I think we should try to do so conservatively, and focus on the behavior, not the person.

Answer 5

No one has the right to judge others: "Judge not lest ye be judged." However, seeing someone making "bad decisions" and telling them what might be a better solution is not judging. But, be wary of judging. And don't get into a tuff about trying to convince the other party your way might be better.

Answer 6

We judge wether we have the right or not. I think it's a way to relate to other people, but we use it the wrong way. You can't make a persons life for them, that's not your right. You aren't living their life, you have no idea what's going on in their mind. From a different perspective you can make surface judgements about everything anyone does, but we can really help them by listening to what's really going on. Just listen, don't try to offer your invaluable advice on anything. If they want, just offer your perspective. Judgement free. Dude.

Answer 7

we shouldn't be judgmental,
yes if a Friend or family member is doing something and you can help, advice is not frowned upon but don't tell someone to change who they are because they make so many mistakes and what you know will make them better because they'll think your a jerk and that you think your Bruce almighty or something....
just be smart in your advice giving, don't over do it
that's all you can do,some people just have to learn the hard way...no need to fret

Answer 8

Depends on the decision that person makes, or what that person means to you. Like if you care about that person and he/she trusts you, they can count on you to tell them what's right or wrong.

Answer 9

Judge only if you can prevent something bad from happening (again), or you can make something good happen. Never judge if there is no consequence to your judgement.

Answer 10

No,Taylor .We do noyt have the right to pass our judgrement on anyone.
If you see it as a bad decision you can only advise
We should only advise if it is asked for.