What is condemnation? This is a negative assessment of the behavior, appearance or lifestyle of another person through the prism of one’s 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 the background of which the condemner tries to look better than his “victim”.
What it is?
The conviction of most people that they have the right to their opinion in assessing other people’s lives is based on their confidence in their own infallibility, about which Andre Maurois wrote: “Everyone is sure that others are mistaken when they judge him, and that he himself He is not mistaken when he judges others.” The notorious position of “fair 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 deserves it.
So what is condemnation of 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, constant and painful dissatisfaction with one’s own person has become so ingrained in human nature that the need to condemn, strike morally, and humiliate has become akin to the need to rise, and has even taken the form of a synonym for this definition. What is condemnation and how does it help the self-realization of an evil-tongued person?
Why should people try on the role of God?
Every day, consciously or not, every person takes on the role of a judge from the Higher Mind, acting as an accuser on a countless 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 specks in someone else’s eye, it would be nice to remember the words of T. Solovyova that “only those who have not had a hint of success in their lives undertake to judge a loser.”
What is condemnation? This is a verdict made taking into account one's own view of justice. And justice, like its framework and main tags, is different for each person, albeit with some common features, but convenient for him personally. Can these specific values be applied to someone else? Of course not. But a person does this, almost losing control of his sense of proportion and not noticing that the negativity projected towards his opponent has long been his personal outlook on life.
Causes of Judgmentalism
The motive for condemning the actions of another person may have nothing to do 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 thus decided to compensate for his grievances by belittling the chosen “victim”.
Other reasons for putting someone else’s life on public display may include:
- outdated concepts and values (for example, the unacceptability of couples cohabiting before marriage);
- lack of objectivity and narrow view of various circumstances;
- envy, which pushes to belittle other people's merits;
- a method of manipulating someone else’s opinion (imputing a person’s feelings of guilt or responsibility);
- denial of one's shortcomings through emphasizing and exaggerating the shortcomings of another person.
And finally, a common reason for censure and condemnation is considered to be banal boredom and the lack of other topics for conversation. Basically, the manner of communicating 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 slander towards one’s neighbor very strictly, reasonably believing that the desire to condemn another person hides one of the most serious mortal sins - pride. A condemning person cannot remain impartial; he is also incapable of humility, which is obligatory for a Christian.
In the words known to every adult, “Judge not, lest ye be judged!” contains the whole essence of the Orthodox view on the controversial issue. Man is by nature 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 occurs at a reflexive level. The mother praises her child, implying that other children are less gifted and obedient; the husband admires his thrifty wife, condemning his less troublesome neighbor.
The Church teaches: every person must first of all take care of himself and his actions. No one is so blameless that they do not cast shadows, but if everyone thinks to himself that he is worthy of forgiveness, then it would be normal to apply the same attitude towards others.
Don't judge a person, but be intolerant of sin itself
The Georgian saint Gabriel Urgebadze, who lived in the 20th century, once said: “If you see a murderer, or a harlot, or a drunkard lying on the ground, do not condemn anyone, because God has released his motive, and holds your reason in his hands. If yours also lets go, you may find yourself in a much worse situation.”
But how can one not condemn a murderer?
“It’s another thing to notice, and another thing to condemn,” says Schema-Abbot John (Alekseev) in one letter.
When the saints ask to be intolerant of sin, and not of man, they remind: the main goal of man on earth is the acquisition of Grace. Everything in Christian teaching - the commandments, the Church foundations - were formed for the sake of one thing - so that a person, by his purity, would acquire the Grace of the Holy Spirit.
Condemnation is aggression in the heart. If there is aggression, there is no Grace. And if there is Grace, then for you a person who has committed even the worst, most terrible act in the world becomes not a villain, but an unfortunate one. I want to feel sorry for him, he ruined his soul...
The Monk Porfiry Kavsokalivit wrote: “They ask me, how can one not condemn criminals? Well, not everyone who commits crimes is murderers and villains. These people are deprived of a “protective barrier”; they do not fight with themselves, do not confess, do not receive communion, do not pray, do not try to improve. They have kind souls, but they live, as they say in common parlance, “like in an inn.” Evil catches them in its networks and pushes them to murder and other crimes. However, very soon they repent, suffer, and feel like they are in hell. I don’t want to justify crimes, but a criminal and a sinner never cease to remain people, wounded people.”
Asking us not to judge the sinner means that we should not allow our hearts to become bitter. Do not allow yourself to turn into, even a distant, but similar likeness of that person. After all, if we allow ourselves to be angry, it means that we ourselves have the germ of evil. And in what way are we better than the villains?
This does not mean that a murderer or rapist should be released from custody. The laws of the earth have already taken shape and through them a certain atonement for sin also occurs.
Perhaps one of the best symbols of how one can separate sin and the person himself can be the attitude of parents towards their children. The child committed a crime - played truant, stole, something else - but the mother never stops loving him for a minute?
Condemnation and reproof - is there a difference?
What is 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 the person, and not to expose him in an unsightly manner.
The Gospel of Matthew quotes the words of Jesus, which quite fully reveal the meaning and delicacy of such a step as reproof: “If your brother sins, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone...” Reproof should benefit the sinner and in no case serve to exalt the lover of truth. . In some cases, especially if the accuser feels anger or hostility towards his opponent, it is better to refrain from intelligible speech.
It is dangerous to act as an accuser to someone who himself leads an immoral lifestyle and is subject to petty passions. Even a vain layman armed with good intentions runs the risk of descending into condemnation in his denunciations, inflicting a spiritual wound on the sinner and becoming even more hardened himself.
Third option
The word being studied also means - to give negative, and sometimes unconditional, harsh assessments of someone or something, to condemn. At the same time, they proceed from spiritual, moral, aesthetic grounds.
Examples:
Continuing to consider the meaning of the word “condemn,” let us turn to its origin.
Conviction as legal liability
What is a conviction from a legal point of view? This is retribution to a person for his misconduct, issued in court and in accordance with the legislation of the country of residence of the defendant. The fact of imposing punitive measures against a convicted person indicates 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 rights to freedom of movement, leaving their country, and conducting their previous activities. In special cases, provision is made for the confiscation of property owned by him, the deprivation of parental rights or any privileges assigned previously (allowances, benefits, etc.).
Synonyms
By the way, there are many such words that can be used to condemn. Among them are the following:
- blame;
- blame;
- judge;
- criticize;
- blame;
- defame;
- reproach;
- to brand with contempt;
- hang all dogs;
- sentence;
- give a deadline;
- award;
- to be pilloried;
- to scourge;
- throw a stone;
- evaluate;
- to stigmatize;
- brand;
- to blaspheme;
- doom;
- bake;
- curse;
- clique;
- find guilty;
- blame;
- express disapproval;
- vilify;
- reproach;
- put on display;
- reproach;
- reprimand;
- scold;
- distribute;
- scold;
- stipulate.
To conclude our study of what it means to condemn, consider the church's attitude toward such action.
Conditional sentence
What a conditional sentence is is still a matter of debate among legal scholars. Thus, some lawyers consider punishment left without actual execution to be a method of preventive influence on the object, while others see a measure of a criminal legal nature as a real threat to human well-being. The last point affects mainly the moral and ethical side of the life of the person being punished.
A conditionally convicted person is obliged to regularly provide information about himself to the executive inspection bodies; he cannot leave the country or change his place of residence without special permission. In addition, when making a decision in court, a convicted person is subject to a number of responsibilities designed to serve the correction of the offender, as well as to limit his stay in places where it could cause harm to others (or someone specifically).
What is condemnation in social studies
In a science such as social science, much attention is paid to the concept of social control, which can also be called the regulation of an individual’s position in his group. The public always reacts sensitively to manifestations of deviant (distorted) behavior of individuals. Depending on the area in which a violation of social norms is detected, society, through existing control mechanisms, takes appropriate measures to eliminate factors of failure.
Sociologists call the following forms of manifestation of social control:
- Internal - a person controls his own actions, taking as a model the norms of behavior accepted in his society. In this case, the individual’s conscience is considered an indicator of control.
- External - control is carried out by the public, using such levers of moral or legal condemnation as publicity, reprimand, court decision or complete (partial) isolation of the individual from social life.
It has been proven that the lower a person’s sense of self-control is developed, the more likely it is that he will have to face the harsh influence of public control institutions (court, attention of supervisory authorities, compulsory treatment, etc.).
How to get rid of the manner of judging everyone
If we explain in simple words what moral condemnation is, it turns out that this is criticism of a derogatory nature, coming from a person with one goal - to put the opponent in an unsightly light. When blaming, a person cannot be objective, because the assessment he makes of the behavior of the “victim” 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 the common truths:
- mistakes made shape a person’s experience, therefore they form an obligatory part of every person’s life;
- Before you condemn the behavior or appearance of another person, you should look at the situation through his eyes and from the top of his experience - perhaps he could not have acted differently;
- stereotypical thinking is a serious obstacle to understanding the motives of other people;
- the habit of condemning, like envying, is born from idleness, therefore the main recipe for self-improvement lies in constant employment;
- the one who judges should always remember that he, too, can become the object of unflattering comments, especially from his former “victims”.
The need to see flaws in other people often stems from one’s own low self-esteem, so without adjusting one’s own behavior one cannot get rid of the habit.
Condemnation is a way of self-affirmation at the expense of another
Juridical thinking is formed in us from childhood. A person who judges others usually has a very serious deficit in self-acceptance and self-worth. The roots of this deficit usually lie in childhood, when parents did not give the child enough feeling that he is valuable, important, needed, loved simply because he exists, and not because he now behaves well, gets straight A’s, etc. And then, to compensate for this deficit, he needs to “gain” his value in any way. One of them is condemnation of the other. After all, if the other person is “such a fool,” I, a priori, against this background, “will be smarter.”
The opposite is also true - one who accepts himself, who has a basic sense of his own worth, regardless of what he does or does not do, such a person turns out to be quite internally free, he does not need to seek confirmation of his own importance, goodness by judging others. That is, in principle, such a need does not arise; he does not need to exalt himself over someone, to assert himself.
As a rule, a basic sense of self-worth is established very early, but this does not mean that nothing can be changed later in life. It also happens the other way around, when stability, the ability to rely on oneself, along with the ability to accept oneself, can be shaken in an adult as a result of strong traumatic experiences.
So, condemnation provides a very important benefit - the feeling that I am better than others, that I am not like them, this is a kind of way of self-affirmation. But there are other ways to do this, so why do we so often resort to condemnation? Most often, this habit is formed in childhood and, oddly enough, not without the help of parents.
A simple story with a moral
So what is condemnation? In conclusion, we may recall an old story, often used in the sermons of moralists, about a certain family who moved to a new house. The woman, who was a wife and mother in this family, was known as a good housewife and did not miss an opportunity to boast of her ability to manage household chores.
And so, the heroine of the story began to notice that the woman from the house opposite every day hangs clothes on drying lines, all speckled with dirty spots. Every time this happened, the evil-tongued wife called her husband to the window and told him that their neighbor was a completely unfit housewife, unlike her, who was so attentive and caring.
This went on for a week, until one morning the gossiper saw the neighbor hanging out the laundry again, only this time it was white, like fresh snow. Surprised, she called her husband again and shared this news with him. What did he answer? That, tired of his wife’s eternal injustice, he simply got up early that day and cleaned the dirty window through which the grumpy housewife looked into the neighbor’s yard.
I would like to sum up today’s topic with the words of William Shakespeare: “You are so eager to judge the sins of others, start with your own and you will not reach others!” 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 discord in the world.
Stay on high frequency energy
In addition to the fact that we take other people’s problems upon ourselves, we also switch to low-frequency energy - which means we create not the most pleasant events in our lives instead of those that could have happened if we had maintained a neutral attitude and positivity.
Remember the movie "The Secret"? There is also an excellent book “Power” - I will also definitely make a separate post about it, it contains many quotes from famous physicists and Nobel laureates about how this world actually works and logically justified why you should not switch to low-frequency waves.
This is exactly what the 4th “magic” rule of Alexander Palienko is about.
“Looking for the good in everything. The ability to speak creatively and think, then the program of creation begins.”
“Our society has raised us in such a way that we are accustomed to looking for flaws in everything and condemning others. Remember what you talk about when you get together in a company? As a rule, there is an expression of dissatisfaction with everything: from neighbors to the government and the president. And the body tunes in to the energy that we constantly use. After all, if you take a cigarette from a smoker, the body will demand it out of habit, even though it is harmful.
When we live at the level of condemnation, we switch to low-frequency vibrations that form negative events. You need to learn to see something positive in all situations: the weather is sunny, a bird is singing beautifully, a passerby is wearing a great suit, etc.
By doing this regularly, we program the subconscious to be positive, and the brain begins to snatch positive events from the world around us. The ability to look for beauty in the world, embedded in the subconscious, will guide you through life.
When you come to the store, you will find the best shoes, and when looking for a job, you will choose the most interesting and highly paid one, etc.
When you learn to see the positive in life, no matter what happens, you will understand that with the bad comes good. S. Lazarev (author of the books “Diagnostics of Karma”) has a phrase: “If you feel good today, then look back. That’s where, when you felt bad, your good was laid.”
And here’s another from one of Alexander’s last speeches:
“When I looked at people who have large debts and a lot of loans hanging on them, it turned out that they have three aspects of behavior: bragging, giving advice and judging. These three points drive us into loans and debts .”
