I got roped into drawing Judge Knot #4 today!

Murder Suicide

I hate hearing about murder suicides.  It’s always so completely tragic in every way. It’s the same with judgment.  It kills you and the one you are judging.  Now obviously I am not talking about physical death. I am talking about emotional damage.

Damage to Yourself

Being a judgmental person stifles you. It stunts your growth, diminishes your joy and shrinks the beauty of the world around you.  I wraps you up like a cowboy ropes a calf, immobilizing you and keeping you from movement.

Getting to Know You

In the meanwhile you are hurting someone else. It’s possible you could be judging and the other person or people don’t even know it. And in that case you might think they aren’t being damaged.  But I think they are, for no other reason then they don’t get the opportunity to know you.  You might not be worth knowing but I doubt it. I bet you are worth knowing and you judging them keeps them away from you.  You aren’t going to let them in.  That is good if the person is rightly judged a creep or a danger in some ways. But what if your judgment is due to the color of their skin, or their zip code, or the club they belong to?  Then what? Is there a legitimate reason not to know them, to let them know you? No, there isn’t.

In Your Face

What about when what you say, your judgment, does make its way back to the person? What if you say it directly to them?  Once again, if it’s based on real reasons then perhaps the judgment needs to be spoken.  But if not, if your judgment is frivolous and made for social reasons, not real ones, then you are damaging that person on purpose.  You are purposely inflicting emotional pain on that person. And for what reason?  To make you feel better about yourself or to look better in the eyes of someone else.  It’s an ugly thing to witness and the person doing it is being ugly, no matter how pretty they are.

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Drawing, quote and commentary by Marty Coleman

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Fact of the Day

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase was the only justice ever to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives (1804).  He was acquitted of all charges by the U.S. Senate (1805).  He also was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. 

Samuel Chase, 1741-1811

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