A Spiritual Perspective On The Concept Of Judging
What we believe about life is entirely dependant on how we view God. Theory one of the universe says that God is a monarch and we are subjects to him. This theory of life says that we are all separate from everything else in existence, seen and unseen. Theory two of the universe says that God is an infinite source of energy and intelligence and we are entirely made up of that same energy and intelligence. This theory of life says that we are all one with our source and because everything that exists, seen and unseen, is made up of source energy, we are all one with everything in existence.
Most of the world has been conditioned to believe in the concept that we are all separate from each other and everything in existence which aligns with theory one. We are going to look at the concept of JUDGING through the perspective of theory one to gain a better understanding about why we tend to judge the people, events and experiences of our lives.
Theory one tells us that whether you go to Heaven or Hell is determined by how God judges the way you lived your life on earth. Theory One says that when you die you will go before God's appointed legal counsel, Saint Peter, and he will do a review of your life to see if you were basically good or if you let the Devil tempt you into doing a lot of bad stuff. God determines what is good and bad and judges you accordingly. Some of your life actions are cut and dried. If you kill somebody, that action is judged to be bad and you are certain to go to Hell, even if you lead an otherwise exemplary life. But some of your life actions are borderline, so it's up to God to arbitrarily judge those actions as good or bad. God knows the ultimate rules and we don't. We are separate from God. A lot of this determination process is just a matter of tallying up your sins. Of course all sins are bad, but some aren't as bad as others. Mortal sins are really bad while venial sins aren't quite as bad. God knows for sure but we don't.
After your sins have been tabulated and your life has been reviewed, you are then judged. You are either accepted into Heaven or you are condemned to Hell. There is no appeal process. Heaven or Hell. God can do this because he is the monarch and we are his subjects. He is God and we are not. We are separate from God.
However, being God's subjects, we look to him as an example of how we should live our lives here on earth. Since God gets to judge us at the time of our death, then it seems perfectly okay for us to judge our lives while we are here on earth. Since we are our own entity and separate from all other things, it is up to us to judge what benefits us and what does not. Not only should we judge the people and circumstances of our lives but, just as God does, we should be able to accept them or condemn them.
So just like God, we set up our own standards of what works and what does not. What is acceptable and what is condemnable. Some of our standards are obvious, kind of like the Ten Commandments. Others are arbitrary, depending on our moods or circumstances. But mostly our standards are not set in stone like the commandments of God. This allows for a certain amount of flexibility when applying our standards to unknown situations.
Typically our code of standards reflects our own life circumstances. If you are born into a family that has a lot of money, you may accept that as a good thing, and typically you might judge people who don't have a lot of money as not quite as good as you. Whereas people who have a lot more money than you might be judged to be better than you. If you are tall and slim, you might accept that as your standard of good and you might judge people who are short and fat to be not as good as you. You may even go so far as to condemn them for not being up to your standards.
These are just examples. I'm sure that you can think of many more, such as educated versus illiterate, black versus white, bald versus hairy, and the granddaddy of them all-male versus female. It's easy to make judgments because you are a separate entity. You are who you are and you are not them. They, out there, are separate from you. You have to look out for Number One. It's survival of the fittest.
This arbitrary setting of standards does not apply just to individuals. It also applies to groups of people and large communities of people, such as states or nations.
As we set standards for ourselves, we begin to realize that there are many other people who have similar standards and by banding together with these people in a common bond, we develop more power for our particular standards. Examples of such behavior can be seen in religious groups, political parties, labor unions, racial groups, country clubs, sewing circles, fraternal organizations, etc. We find strength in numbers and we have discovered that if we band together we are better able to exert our will, or our standards, on people or groups of people who don't necessarily believe in our standards.
This tendency reaches the epitome of group behavior when we band together as nations of the world. As a nation we are able to set national standards that supposedly reflect the overall values of the collective of people within that nation. Nations include diverse people, opinions and standards. We have devised systems of governments to control the dominating standard or, in other words, express the collective theme that the majority of the citizenry wishes to use as a standard.
Governments can be composed of a monarch system with a king, or a collection of monarchs, like the government of the United States. The theory is that the people governing will reflect the collective will of all the people and pass laws and rules accordingly. They will protect our freedom because only by having our individual freedom do we allow the government to exist. We expect our government to defend our freedom, even if it means going to war and killing thousands of people in our tribe and thousands in other tribes. We can do this because we judge our system to be better, and if any other group of people threatens us and our way of life, our very freedom, we will judge them to be unworthy of life and will kill them to defend ourselves and our freedom. So help us God. You see, your nation of people is separate from our nation of people. We are us, you are not. We are separate from you. Once again, the law of survival of the fittest applies.
Now you must ask yourself this question, Does this serve me? Only you can answer this question for yourself. If the paradigm of life that says we are all separate does not seem to serve you then you are at choice point. You can choose to look at life from another perspective. You may choose to examine life from the concept that we are all one with the source of our existence.
It is your choice.
Most of the world has been conditioned to believe in the concept that we are all separate from each other and everything in existence which aligns with theory one. We are going to look at the concept of JUDGING through the perspective of theory one to gain a better understanding about why we tend to judge the people, events and experiences of our lives.
Theory one tells us that whether you go to Heaven or Hell is determined by how God judges the way you lived your life on earth. Theory One says that when you die you will go before God's appointed legal counsel, Saint Peter, and he will do a review of your life to see if you were basically good or if you let the Devil tempt you into doing a lot of bad stuff. God determines what is good and bad and judges you accordingly. Some of your life actions are cut and dried. If you kill somebody, that action is judged to be bad and you are certain to go to Hell, even if you lead an otherwise exemplary life. But some of your life actions are borderline, so it's up to God to arbitrarily judge those actions as good or bad. God knows the ultimate rules and we don't. We are separate from God. A lot of this determination process is just a matter of tallying up your sins. Of course all sins are bad, but some aren't as bad as others. Mortal sins are really bad while venial sins aren't quite as bad. God knows for sure but we don't.
After your sins have been tabulated and your life has been reviewed, you are then judged. You are either accepted into Heaven or you are condemned to Hell. There is no appeal process. Heaven or Hell. God can do this because he is the monarch and we are his subjects. He is God and we are not. We are separate from God.
However, being God's subjects, we look to him as an example of how we should live our lives here on earth. Since God gets to judge us at the time of our death, then it seems perfectly okay for us to judge our lives while we are here on earth. Since we are our own entity and separate from all other things, it is up to us to judge what benefits us and what does not. Not only should we judge the people and circumstances of our lives but, just as God does, we should be able to accept them or condemn them.
So just like God, we set up our own standards of what works and what does not. What is acceptable and what is condemnable. Some of our standards are obvious, kind of like the Ten Commandments. Others are arbitrary, depending on our moods or circumstances. But mostly our standards are not set in stone like the commandments of God. This allows for a certain amount of flexibility when applying our standards to unknown situations.
Typically our code of standards reflects our own life circumstances. If you are born into a family that has a lot of money, you may accept that as a good thing, and typically you might judge people who don't have a lot of money as not quite as good as you. Whereas people who have a lot more money than you might be judged to be better than you. If you are tall and slim, you might accept that as your standard of good and you might judge people who are short and fat to be not as good as you. You may even go so far as to condemn them for not being up to your standards.
These are just examples. I'm sure that you can think of many more, such as educated versus illiterate, black versus white, bald versus hairy, and the granddaddy of them all-male versus female. It's easy to make judgments because you are a separate entity. You are who you are and you are not them. They, out there, are separate from you. You have to look out for Number One. It's survival of the fittest.
This arbitrary setting of standards does not apply just to individuals. It also applies to groups of people and large communities of people, such as states or nations.
As we set standards for ourselves, we begin to realize that there are many other people who have similar standards and by banding together with these people in a common bond, we develop more power for our particular standards. Examples of such behavior can be seen in religious groups, political parties, labor unions, racial groups, country clubs, sewing circles, fraternal organizations, etc. We find strength in numbers and we have discovered that if we band together we are better able to exert our will, or our standards, on people or groups of people who don't necessarily believe in our standards.
This tendency reaches the epitome of group behavior when we band together as nations of the world. As a nation we are able to set national standards that supposedly reflect the overall values of the collective of people within that nation. Nations include diverse people, opinions and standards. We have devised systems of governments to control the dominating standard or, in other words, express the collective theme that the majority of the citizenry wishes to use as a standard.
Governments can be composed of a monarch system with a king, or a collection of monarchs, like the government of the United States. The theory is that the people governing will reflect the collective will of all the people and pass laws and rules accordingly. They will protect our freedom because only by having our individual freedom do we allow the government to exist. We expect our government to defend our freedom, even if it means going to war and killing thousands of people in our tribe and thousands in other tribes. We can do this because we judge our system to be better, and if any other group of people threatens us and our way of life, our very freedom, we will judge them to be unworthy of life and will kill them to defend ourselves and our freedom. So help us God. You see, your nation of people is separate from our nation of people. We are us, you are not. We are separate from you. Once again, the law of survival of the fittest applies.
Now you must ask yourself this question, Does this serve me? Only you can answer this question for yourself. If the paradigm of life that says we are all separate does not seem to serve you then you are at choice point. You can choose to look at life from another perspective. You may choose to examine life from the concept that we are all one with the source of our existence.
It is your choice.