What is condemnation? This is a negative assessment of the behavior, appearance or lifestyle of another person through the prism of their own concepts of the norm and based on the personal experience of the judge. This concept is closely related to such definitions as "slander" and "gossip", but it is characterized by comparative conclusions, against which the condemner tries to look better than his "victim".
What is this?
The conviction of most people that they have the right to their own opinion in assessing someone else's life is based on their confidence in their own infallibility, about which Maurois André wrote: “Everyone is sure that the rest are mistaken when they judge him and that he himself does not err when he judges others. The notorious position of “just retribution” becomes most noticeable when the condemner himself is in great need of open and public confirmation of his “perfection”, and precisely when he least of all deserves it.
So what is judging a person? Ideally, this would be considered the sincere intention of one object to point out the erroneous action of another in order to correct the model of its behavior. However, in fact, a constant and painful dissatisfaction with one's own person has taken root in human nature so much that the need to condemn, morally strike, humiliate has become akin to the need to rise, and even acquired the form of a synonym for this definition. What is condemnation and how does it help the self-actualization of the wicked?
Why do people try on the role of God?
Every day, consciously or not, but each person tries on the role of a judge from the Higher Mind, acting as an accuser on an uncountable number of issues that do not concern him at all. Trying to eradicate this trait in yourself is completely useless, since it is the dark side of every rational being. But being too carried away by looking for a speck in someone else's eye, it would be nice to recall the words of T. Solovieva that “only those who have never had a hint of success in life are taken to judge a loser.”
What is condemnation? This is a sentence handed down taking into account one's own view of justice. And justice, as well as its framework, and its main tags, each person has his own, albeit with some common features, but convenient for him personally. Is it possible to apply these specific values to someone else? Of course not. But a person does this, almost losing control over the sense of proportion and not noticing that the negative projected directed at the opponent has long been his personal view oflife.
Reasons for being judgmental
The motive in condemning the actions of another person may be in no way connected with his behavior, and in general, only indirectly relate to the object. Often the opponent is chosen almost by random selection, and the direct reason for the slander lies in the low self-esteem of the judge, who decided in this way to compensate for his discontent by belittling the chosen “victim”.
Other reasons to put someone else's life on public display may be:
- obsolete concepts and values (e.g. unacceptable cohabitation of a couple before marriage);
- lack of objectivity and narrow view of various circumstances;
- envy, pushing to belittle other people's dignity;
- method of manipulating other people's opinions (imputing a person's feelings of guilt or responsibility);
- denial of one's shortcomings by emphasizing and exaggerating the flaws of another person.
Finally, a common reason for censure and condemnation is considered to be banal boredom and the absence of other topics for conversation. Basically, the way to communicate through hidden condemnation (in the form of sympathy) is inherent in the fairer sex.
Church's point of view
What is condemnation in Orthodoxy? The Church treats such a vice as slandering one's neighbor very strictly, reasonably believing that one of the most serious mortal sins, pride, is hidden in the desire to condemn another person. A judgmental person cannot remain impartial, nor is he capable of humility, which is obligatory for a Christian.
In the words known to every adult, "Judge not, lest you be judged!" contains the whole essence of the Orthodox view on the controversial issue. A person by nature is prone to idealization, but this state is dangerous due to the presence of a shadow side. It is impossible to point out someone's perfection without highlighting someone's shortcomings, and the comparison takes place on a reflex level. The mother praises her child, implying that other children are less gifted and obedient, the husband admires the economic wife, condemning the not so troublesome neighbor.
The Church teaches: every person must first of all take care of himself, of his actions. No human is perfect enough to cast a shadow, but if everyone thinks they are worthy of forgiveness, then it would be okay to apply the same attitude to others.
Condemnation and denunciation - is there a difference?
What is a moral condemnation, if not a statement of the fact of someone else's imperfection? In the origin of accusatory morality, despite the fact that outwardly these concepts seem similar, one should look for other motives. The accuser does not seek to "work for the public", since his goal is to correct a person, and not make him look unsightly.
The Gospel of Matthew cites the words of Jesus, which quite fully reveal the meaning and delicacy of such a step as reproof: “If your brother sins, go and rebuke him between you and him alone …” Rebuke should be beneficialsinner and in no case serve to ex alt the truth-seeker. In some cases, especially if the accuser feels angry or hostile towards the opponent, it is better to refrain from intelligible speech.
It is dangerous to act as an accuser for someone who himself leads an immoral lifestyle and is subject to petty passions. Even a well-intentioned vain layman runs the risk of descending to condemnation in his denunciations, inflicting a spiritual wound on the sinner and becoming even more hardened himself.
Conviction as a legal liability
What is condemnation from a legal point of view? This is a retribution to a person for his misconduct, issued in court and in accordance with the laws of the country of residence of the defendant. The fact of the appointment of punitive measures in relation to the convicted person indicates the proof of his guilt in full or in part.
A convicted person, depending on the preventive measures chosen by the court, may temporarily lose the right to freedom of movement, exit from his country, and conduct his former activities. In special cases, it provides for the seizure of property owned by him, the deprivation of parental rights or any privileges assigned earlier (allowances, benefits, etc.).
Probation
What is a conditional sentence is still the subject of controversy among jurists. So, some lawyers attribute punishment left without actual execution to the methods of preventive influence on the object, while others see it as a measure of a criminal law nature.real threat to human well-being. The last moment affects mainly the moral and ethical side of the life of the punished.
A conditionally convicted person is obliged to regularly provide information about himself to the executive inspection bodies; he cannot leave the country without special permission, change his place of residence. In addition, when making a decision in court, a number of duties are imposed on the convicted person, designed to serve the correction of the offender, as well as limit his stay where it can harm others (or someone specifically).
What is condemnation in social studies
In such a science as social science, much attention is paid to the concept of social control, which can also be called the regulation of the position of an individual in the group of his belonging. The public is always sensitive to manifestations of deviant (distorted) behavior of individuals. Depending on the area in which a violation of social norms was discovered, society, through the available control mechanisms, takes appropriate measures to eliminate the factors of failure.
Sociologists name the following forms of manifestation of public control:
- Internal - a person controls his own actions, taking as a model the norms of behavior adopted in his society. The indicator of control in this case is the conscience of the individual.
- External - control is carried out by the public, using such levers of moral or legal condemnation as publicity, reprimand, court decision orcomplete (partial) isolation of the individual from social life.
It has been proven that the lower a person's sense of self-control is, the more likely they are to face the harsh influence of social control institutions (court, attention from supervisory authorities, compulsory treatment, etc.).
How to get rid of the manner of judging everyone
If you explain in simple terms what a moral condemnation is, it turns out that this is criticism of a pejorative nature, coming from a person with one goal - to expose an opponent in an unsightly light. When blaming, a person cannot be objective, because the assessment of the behavior of the “victim” that he makes comes from a set of his own values, which no longer allows him to treat the issue impartially.
The habit of judging everything around looks very ugly from the outside. If a person understands his shortcoming and seeks to get rid of it, he needs to learn to control his thoughts and realize common truths:
- committed mistakes form the experience of a person, therefore they are an indispensable part of the life of every person;
- before blaming the behavior or appearance of another person, one should look at the situation through his eyes and from the height of his experience - perhaps he could not do otherwise;
- stereotypical thinking is a serious obstacle to understanding other people's motives;
- the habit of judging, like envy, is born out of idleness, so the main recipe for self-improvement lies in constant employment;
- whoevercondemns, one should always remember that he, too, can become the object of unflattering comments, especially from his former "victims".
The need to see the flaws in other people often originates from one's own low self-esteem, so without correcting one's own behavior, it will not be possible to get rid of the habit.
A simple story with a moral
So what is condemnation? In conclusion, we can recall the old story, often used in the sermons of moralists, about a certain family that moved to a new house. The woman who was the wife and mother in this family was reputed to be a good housewife and did not miss the opportunity to show off her ability to manage household chores.
And so, the heroine of the story began to notice that a woman from the house opposite daily hangs clothes on the drying ropes, all dotted with dirty spots. Every time this happened, the evil-speaking wife called her husband to the window and told him that their neighbor was a completely worthless hostess, unlike her, who was so attentive and caring.
This went on for a week, until one morning the gossip girl saw the neighbor hanging up the laundry again, only this time as white as fresh snow. Surprised, she again called her husband and shared the news with him. What did he answer? That, tired of his wife's eternal injustice, he simply got up early that day and washed clean the dirty window through which the grumpy hostess looked into the neighbor's yard.
To summarize today's topic, I would like to use the words of William Shakespeare: “The sins of others you judge soyou are zealously torn, start with your own and you will not get to strangers! If all people, before condemning and making public the shortcomings of their neighbor, first thought about their own shortcomings, there would be much less negativity and reasons for contention in the world.
