[LittleLisaMarie]

Judging people
By Leah Gorham
Different is just different, not wrong.
Stereotyping and labeling, snickering while pointing. Everyone does it; it’s judging people, an automatic response. It’s noticing something about someone, a feature or quality they possess. Yet did you ever notice how many people put others down because they are different? Fat and thin, short hair and long. People who keep up with the latest trends and ones that don’t. Those who call attention to themselves versus those who choose to tone it down and fade away.
While you walk down these high school hallways you are displayed and viewed by many, some who may have things to say about you. No matter who you are, or who you think you are, people will have things to say. It does hurt and you may not realize that. Or worse, you just don’t care. Why do this to someone? Maybe you are just feeling bad about something, or feeling sorry for yourself.
While at the senior play I over heard someone say, "Ok, she wore that shirt yesterday," while the other girl just simply shrugged her shoulders.
At lunch I heard two more girls talking "I hate eighth graders," "Yea I know, they’re all losers."
Then, while walking down the hall, "She’s such a snob, look at the way she walks." Who cares about the way someone walks, does it really bother you that much?
Individuality is something that people strive for, to be apart from the crowd. But when someone steps out and acts on that feeling, they are ridiculed and silenced. Piercings, dyed hair, flashy clothes, independent minds and daring personalities are all shut down in our society. People are categorized as being weird, freaks, people with problems and issues or people who dress and act certain ways just for the attention. But do they?
Some people choose to look "different," but what about people that look different because that is the way they are. When you see an overweight person, the first thing you just notice is theirsize, that they are big. You place them into a category, never thinking that maybe they have an eating disorder or health problem that makes them eat more than you.
It’s not a bad thing to notice things about people, but it is bad to bring them down and make someone feel bad for being who they are. In today’s world the way people look is highlighted everyday by the media. Sometimes it’s as if the outside counts more than the inside.
But different is just different, not wrong.

[LittleLisaMarie]

Judging Others

Judging Others by Jason Misleh

Do you judge people? I bet you do! We all do. Our society has raised us to judge on the basis of many things. Sex… Race… Religion… Ethnicity... you name it; we judge it. Is this wrong? Is there a difference between judging people and making a judgment call against someone?
“Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given back to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” (Luke 6: 37-38) I know what you’re thinking! “Hey, Jay! What’s your point?!” Well, my point is this. The Bible states that we will be judged with the same judgment we judge with. So, does this mean that we should judge everyone as a good person so we are also judged as good people? Well, what about those of us who have to judge people as bad? Police officers, detectives, loss prevention personnel…. They have to make judgment calls every day of their lives.
Working as an undercover loss prevention team member for a popular store, I make judgment calls on people every day. Christmas shopping makes this one of the busiest and most challenging times of the year for me. From the time a person walks into my store until when he or she walks down the liquor or CD aisle, I have to evaluate them. Now, I don’t just make stupid or ignorant judgments — they are based on tons of statistics. They include race, sex, age, and body language. I have to occasionally crawl on the floor, peer around shelving units, watch from a camera room to see if a person is concealing merchandise — all just to make a judgment call. If it goes against them, I follow the person out of the store and ask them to place their hands behind their back. I’ve had to make negative judgment calls against more than a few people. Now, I do admit, there are the times when I’ve followed perfectly honest people around, who don’t steal. That was a bad judgment call on my part; but hey, I’m human too!
So, how does this all tie into the Bible verse at the beginning? There is a great difference between making a judgment call versus judging a person. Due to my job, I am required to make judgment calls against people I don’t know every day.
Another example would be in a relationship. You have to judge whether or not you want to have a relationship with someone. As a police officer you would have to judge whether someone was dangerous or not. That is a judgment call. As Orthodox Christians, we are called to be “in the world, but not of the world.” I find this extremely different from making a personal judgment, for example, of a beggar on the street and his reasons for being in the position he is in. Is he lazy and shady, or is he desperately seeking help to get out of a situation he does not want to be in?
We are all guilty of occasionally jumping to conclusions about people. This is especially true of us teenagers who are very caught up in what our society feeds us about looks, behaviors, relationships, etc. The need to fit in, be accepted, or develop a personal identity often blurs how we view others or even how we treat others.
As far as our faith as Orthodox Christians is concerned, we are called to see the image of God in our fellow human beings. Despite how society conditions us to relate to each other, we must work hard to distinguish ourselves and live our lives in a way that is over and above society.
We must continually strive to overcome the temptation of judging others and seek, rather, to judge ourselves in light of how we deal with others. In doing this, we might just start seeing in others what God sees in them.

[beckamarie]

Lisamarie Thank you so much...That first one I am having my daughter read. I think it may help her

[LittleLisaMarie]

HI Becka, did your daughter get a chance to read it? If so what did she think of it?
Hopeyou are doing well.

LittleLisaMarie

[beckamarie]

Lisamarie,
She liked it aot. She said she has friends that make fun of people and she tries to stand up for them and they call her names for it. They have a little boy who is 11 and he is rather big for his age and Ellisha is always standing up for him so she gets alot of critism for it, now she said she nows she is doing the right thing.

[LittleLisaMarie]

I am so glad she liked it. THat is great that she stands up for him....kids can really be cruel. I always try to teach my kids to never ever judge people and accept people for who they are ....so far i am very lucky...I have great kids that see the good in people. again very happy she liked it.

LittleLisaMarie

[tantesta]

you do have great kids but some people deserved to be made fun of !!!!!! not because of race color or religion just because they are A HOLES!!!!!

[LittleLisaMarie]

LOL............