Judgementalism

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Is the Catholic Faith Judgmental?

One of the most common accusations made against religious people, especially Christians, and especially Catholics, is that they’re judgmental. This judgmentalism by traditional Christians and Catholics seems to be particularly ironic, since it was no less than Jesus Himself who said, “Judge not, that you not be judged.” Even in our own time, probably the most famous quote of Pope Francis’ entire eight-year pontificate was his early statement, “Who am I to judge?”

There is clearly a sinful mode of judging, but does that mean every form of judging is sinful? To answer that question, we need to look at three different kinds of judgment.

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Judging Statements to be Accurate or Inaccurate

It is a basic responsibility of human life to judge whether certain statements are accurate or inaccurate. For instance, suppose a little grade-schooler, let’s call him Bobby, writes on the board that two plus two equals five. His teacher would be failing in her professional and personal responsibility if she didn’t say, “Actually, Bobby, that’s inaccurate. Two plus two equals four.” She needs to make that judgment. And, in certain contexts, she needs to make her judgment public. It would be negligent not to

So too, the Catholic Church has a set of teachings, teachings on faith, in which she declares that some statements are accurate, like the statement that there is One God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, and that some statements are inaccurate, like the statement that Jesus Christ was only a man.

By making these declarations, the Church isn’t doing anything other than judging certain statements to be accurate and others to be accurate. That kind of judgment is just part of being human. We all make those judgments all the time. We have to! So we can’t complain that the Catholic Church is judgmental if she does the same thing.

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Judging Behaviors to be Appropriate or Inappropriate

All of us are also required, from time to time, to make judgments about which behaviors are appropriate or inappropriate. Imagine that grade-school teacher again. Imagine in the middle of some class activity, little Bobby gets mad about something and punches little Susie in the nose. The teacher would be absolutely required, both professionally and personally, to say, “Bobby! That’s very inappropriate! Go see the principal.” She would be negligent not to make such a judgment, and in some cases, she’d be very negligent to not make such a judgment public.

So too, the Catholic Church has a set of teachings, teachings on morals, in which she declares that some behaviors are appropriate, like coming to mass to worship God with your fellow believers once a week, and that some other behaviors are inappropriate, like when Jesus said it’s wrong to look at a woman lustfully or when Pope Francis said it’s wrong to hire a hitman to kill your child in the womb.

Again, by making these kinds of declarations, the Church isn’t doing anything other than judging certain behaviors to be appropriate or inappropriate. That kind of judgment is just part of being human. We all make those judgments all the time. We have to! So we can’t complain that the Catholic Church is judgmental if she does the same thing.

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Judging the State of Someone’s Soul

Now we come to the kind of judgment it’s always wrong to make: judging the state of someone else’s soul.

Let’s go back one more time to the grade-school teacher. Is it ever, under any circumstances, right for her to say: “You know something, Bobby? You’re a rotten little kid! You have a wicked soul!” Nope. Never, ever, ever. Even when someone does terrible things we don’t know what misunderstandings or psychological compulsions they’re struggling under. We don’t know what mitigating factors diminish their culpability.

This is why the Catholic Church has no third branch of official teaching. It only has faith and morals, nothing about the particular state of an individual person’s soul.

The one exception might seem to be when the Church declares somebody to be a saint but even there, the Church requires that there be two indisputable miracles, precisely so she doesn’t rely on her own judgment to determine how holy a given person was.

The Church tells us about the accuracy and inaccuracy of certain statements, and the appropriateness or inappropriateness of certain behaviors. As to the rest, she leaves that to God. And so should we.

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Hating Sin and Error; Loving Sinners

So if ever anyone accuses you of being judgmental, ask them: “What do you mean by ‘judgmental’? Do you mean judging certain statements are inaccurate and certain behaviors are inappropriate? Because everybody does that. It’s a necessary part of life. We’d be failing as human beings if we didn’t.”

“Or do you mean, by judgmental, that I judge any person or group of persons to be unlovable? Unworthy of respect? Because I don’t. I think every person, however inaccurate their beliefs or inappropriate their behaviors, is so beloved by the Father that He sent His own Son to die for that person. I think that person is infinitely valuable, infinitely worthwhile. God is glad that this person is in the world, otherwise, they wouldn’t be in the world, and so am I.

“I know that some people spread falsehood and do disordered things. But I also know God is at work in their lives, like He is in mine.

“How much are they cooperating with God, and how much are they resisting Him? Who knows? Who am I to judge?

“But I trust that God will be merciful to them as well as to me.

“And part of that mercy will involve all of us overcoming the lies that we live by, and the wrong that we do.

“And the sooner we can all judge rightly about what is true and what is good, the sooner that healing can take place.”