“to Judge or Not to Judge” that is the Question? Over the years I have observed many interesting phenomena in those professing to be actively practicing the principles of Recovery. There are many areas of dispute regarding most of these same principles. In my view, confusion reigns, damaging the capacity for many many many people to progress well in their Recovery due to there being so little common agreement to so many of those principles. Since discussion provides food for thought and both sides of a particular point of confusion, it would seem most appropriate to discuss these types of Recovery issues here. Through discussion we may not come to consensus on any given issue but through discussion we can provide all people on this site with both sides of any issue and all issues so they can “take what they need …and leave the rest”. Understand this … I can not change one single person on this site! What I can do is work the 12th Step of Recovery “having had a spiritual awakening” I can share my experience, strength and hope to all those who are Honest... Open minded and Willing to read these discussions. Shall we venture forth together? The issue on the table here is Judgment. The Yin & Yang (a Chinese initiated belief stating all things have positive and negative characteristics) dictate there are two sides to judgment. I’ve observed in the halls of Recovery … judgment is most often viewed as a purely a negative. What follows are actual definitions of judgment: Judgment is the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. The term has four distinct uses: • Informal - opinions expressed as facts. • Informal and psychological – used in reference to the quality of cognitive faculties and adjudicational capabilities of particular individuals, typically called wisdom or discernment. • Legal – used in the context of legal trial, to refer to a final finding, statement, or ruling, based on a considered weighing of evidence, called adjudication. • Religious – used in the concept of salvation to refer to the adjudication of God in determining Heaven or Hell for each and all human beings. I use my judgment in making decisions which god suggests to me. God does not command me … for it gifted me with “free will”. In order to maintain Heaven on Earth all human beings must use our judgment and “free will” to either follow god’s guidance or follow the will of the dark one. Being able to judge the correct path to follow is not a negative behavior. To judge others the goodness or wrongness of other’s behaviors or beliefs is wisdom, extremely important to growth along the Spiritual path. Those who only view judgment as evil will never progress. Namaste …live with love … family
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 08:38:29 +0000