Yes, I am judgmental.

And I'm fine with this definition.

After the Boston marathon bombing and before the authorities had any suspects, someone I know claimed no one has the right to judge whoever set off bombs in a crowd of spectators. This person quoted multiple Bible verses about not judging lest we be judged, and claimed that people are calling the bombing "evil" to try to feel better about themselves, when they shouldn't feel better. I interpreted this as equivocating all sins, implying that none of us are any better than the bombers.

It made me kind of grateful I'm not a Christian, if being Christian means stifling my own anger at injustice and wrongdoing by trying to convince myself that the mistakes of my life make me no better than a person who blows up innocent bystanders, including children.

Perhaps from the Christian perspective, that's true. It seems like a rather binary view: you're either a sinner or not (and we all are), and there's no gradation for type or frequency of sin.

I understand the idea that none of us are perfect. I understand and appreciate remembering your own mistakes before being too harsh with others. I admire grace, and I can see it's healing power in some circumstances.

But I don't buy this notion of no judgment. Instead of not judging people so that we won't be judged ourselves, I think we should judge people and be open to being judged in turn. By "judging people" I don't mean "stop thinking and just hate." It seems like that's what some people think "judgment" means. I guess I just mean "be willing to say, 'hey, this is wrong, and you're wrong.'" The do-not-judge crowd sometimes seems to object even to that (which I would argue doesn't go with biblical teaching anyway--I recall plenty of instances in which Biblical protagonists called out other peoples' wrongdoing.)

I also don't think this binary view of wrongdoing makes sense. Yes, everyone makes mistakes--and not just mistakes, everyone willfully chooses to do bad things at some point. But all mistakes aren't equal. Imagine a world where everyone cheated on their taxes and shoplifted, but no one raped or killed anybody. Are you at all unsure which world you'd rather live in? Of course not, it's obvious. All of those actions are bad, but they aren't all equally bad. And it makes sense to me that the thieves would look with disdain on the murderers, because murder is worse.

And I mean it when I say we should be open to being judged ourselves. Again, by judgment I don't mean blind hate, but I would hope and expect people who care about me to call me out when I'm doing something stupid or wrong. Judgment is part of the process of holding me to higher standards, standards I want to be held to, and I'm fine with people saying "Hey, you're being a jerk and knock it off" if that's what I'm doing. If I am doing wrong, why shouldn't I be judged?

I'm not going to stay silent about things I think are wrong, especially not out of a misguided desire to not have anyone ever tell me I'm wrong either. Both of those seem like bad ideas to me.

So yes, I'm judgmental. And I'm fine with you judging me for it.

Matthew 7:1

You know the phrase "Judge not, lest ye be judged"? What if you are okay with being judged?

I judge people who are behaving stupidly or immorally, and I expect them to judge me the same way. I'm not asking for special treatment. If I'm doing something stupid or immoral (and I find the two often coincide) then I think I would want people to judge me, and push me to get my head on straight and stop doing those stupid or immoral things.

Maybe when people say "Don't judge me" or "Don't judge others" they mean something different than I do by "judge." I suspect they mean "don't assume you know enough details about the situation to have an accurate reading of what's going on" or "don't think you're better than people, consider some of the things that you've done yourself" or simply "don't be hateful." I like this idea:

And while I agree with being kind and taking care not to assume too much or be arrogant, I don't think that's all there is to "judging." I think some people take the "no judging" thing to the point of "no thinking" or "no standards."

When you see immorality, or just plain stupidity, you should point it out. People won't necessarily change, or listen to you at all, but it's not wrong to stand up for what you think is right, and similarly, there's no reason to fear other people holding you to the same standards. I do judge people, and I expect them to judge me in return. Not hate me, not scream at me, but to tell me when they think I'm in the wrong. I'm fine with that.