Over-Condemning
Father François Laisney
Introduction
By this neologism, I mean the defect or vice of those who condemn someone over what he deserves, who judge someone more guilty than he is. It is a kind of rash judgment.
This defect is quite frequent among some of the faithful. It often expresses itself in criticisms of everything. It is at the origin of many oppositions, divisions, lacks of charity . . .
I beg the reader not to use this article to condemn his "over-condemning" neighbor, but to see if this article applies to himself, and so correct himself!
A Little Story
Once upon a time, a certain man called Mr. Pharisee lived in a tall castle on a high mountain called Pride; he thought that from this high point of observation he was given the charge to judge everyone.
One day Mr. X was driving too fast. Mr. Pharisee judged that Mr. X was despising the State Authority and all laws.
Mr. Pharisee's children disobeyed him a few times (what child never disobeyed his parents?) and he judged his children guilty of public rebellion and that they had stubborn contempt of all parental authority. Because of this, his wife became a little angry with him, and she was judged to have hatred for him.
Once Mr. Pharisee went shopping with his daughter; she forgot to lock the car. In the middle of a conversation with her about potatoes and carrots, he suddenly asked his daughter whether she had locked the car or not and, surprised, she answered that she had (for she was so used to locking it). When he went back to the car it had been stolen. He became furious with his daughter, accusing her of deliberate lies, complicity with the thieves and hatred for her father.
Examples in the Holy Gospel
We can find many examples where Pharisees not only condemned the guilty as much as they could (see the adulteress, Jn. VIII, 1-11), but also condemned the Innocent One.
He is accused of casting out devils in the name of Beelzebub (Mt. XII, 13); of disobeying the law of God on the Sabbath (Jn. IX, 16); He is accused of blasphemy when He forgave the sins of the man sick with the palsy (Mt. IX, 3); He is accused of being possessed by the Devil (Jn. VIII, 48); to be a malefactor (Jn. XVIII, 30); to be a revolutionary (Lk. XXIII, 5); "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread or drinking wine, and you say he hath a devil. The Son of Man is come eating and drinking, and you say: Behold a man that is a glutton and drinker of wine, a friend of publicans and sinners" (Lk. VII, 33-34).
The Pharisees, often not daring to accuse Our Lord, criticized the Apostles: "Master, rebuke Thy disciples" (Lk. XIX, 39); they said to the man born blind: "thou wast wholly born in sins, and dost thou teach us?" while Our Lord has said of him: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents" (Jn. IX 34, 3). They condemn the disciples who plucked the ears of wheat on the Sabbath Day (Lk. VI, 2).
Our Lord's Teaching
Our Lord teaches by His example and His words to be very reserved in our judgments.
His example: "If any man hear My words and keep them not, I do not judge him: for I came not to judge the world but to save the world" (Jn. XII, 47). "For God sent not His Son into the world to judge the world but that the world may be saved by Him" (Jn. III, 17). Did Our Lord condemn the man who used His name without following Him? No, "And John . . . said: Master, we saw a certain man, casting out devils in Thy name, and we forbade him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said to him: Forbid him not; for he that is not against you, is for you" (Lk. IX, 49-50). Did Our Lord condemn the Samaritans who did not receive Him? "The Samaritans . . . received Him not, because His face was of one going to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John had seen this they said: Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them? And turning, He rebuked them saying You know not of what spirit you are! The Son of Man came not to destroy souls, but to save" (Lk. IX, 54-56). Let us meditate on these words: neither does Our Lord approve these sinners nor does He condemn them; no, He came to save them. When we see others doing wrong, neither should we approve them nor condemn them without mercy, but let us pray for them, give them a good example and help them to be corrected.
The summit of Our Lord's example is on His Cross: did He condemn His persecutors? No! He was there to save them. "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" (Lk. XXIII, 34).
In His Sermon on the Mount, He teaches: "Judge not that you may not be judged, for with that judgment you judge, you shall be judged; and with that measure you mete it, it shall be measured to you again. And why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye; and seest not the beam that is in thy own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: let me cast the mote out of thy eye; and behold a beam is in thy own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast first the beam out of thy own eye, and then shalt thou see to cast out the mote of thy brother's eye" (Mt. VII, 1-5). By this, Our Lord teaches us to criticize ourselves first and to judge ourselves first, and then we might be able to help our neighbor. St. Thomas teaches that "to decide rightly [=to judge] about virtuous deeds proceeds properly speaking from the virtuous habit [=the virtue]; thus a chaste person decides rightly about matters relating to chastity" (II II, Q. 60 a1). Thus we must work first in ourselves in order to get an increase in these virtues before we may be able to judge others! Again St. Thomas: "In these words (judge not and ye shall not be judged) Our Lord forbids rash judgment which is about the inward intention, or other certain things . . . or He forbids the judgment which proceeds not from benevolence but from bitterness of heart" (II II, Q 60, a2 ad 1m).
And again Our Lord said: "Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not and you shall not be condemned. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you . . . for with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again" (Lk. VI, 37-38).
The Apostles' Teaching
What must be our attitude in the presence of a brother doing evil? It must be full of the "meekness of wisdom," not judging the intention of others, but working for their correction rather than for their condemnation.
"But to me it is a very small thing to be judged by you, or by man's day; but neither do I judge my own self . . . Therefore judge not before the time, until the Lord comes, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts" (I Cor. IV, 3-5).
"Brethren, and if a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. For if any man think himself to be something, whereas he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let everyone prove his own work, and so he shall have glory in himself only, and not in another. For every one shall bear his own burden" (at the Last Judgment, everyone shall have to render account for his own works!).
"And the Lord direct your hearts in the charity of God and the patience of Christ . . . and if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed; yet do not esteem him as an enemy but admonish him as a brother."
"Who is a wise man, and embued with knowledge among you? Let him show by a good conversation, his work in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal, and there be contentions in your hearts; glory not, and be not liars against the truth. For this is not wisdom, descending from above, but earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and contention is, there is inconstancy, and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, consenting to the good, full of mercy, and good fruits, without judging, without dissimulations. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace, to them that make peace" (James III, 13-18).
St. Thomas's Teaching
Over-condemning is to judge someone more guilty than he is, or to think that one has a bad and evil intention while one has not, etc. It always involves a lack of sufficient proof: there might be suspicion that one is more guilty, or has a bad intention; there cannot be proofs if it is not true! Thus, it is a kind of rash judgment which St. Thomas studies in II II Q. 60 Art. 3-4. Let us read his clear teaching:
Third Article
Whether it is Unlawful to Form a Judgment from Suspicions?
. . . Chrysostom in commenting on the words of Matth. VII 1, Judge not, etc., says: By this commandment Our Lord does not forbid Christians to reprove others from kindly motives, but that Christian should despise Christian by boasting his own righteousness, by hating and condemning others for the most part on mere suspicion.
I answer that, as Tully says (De Invent. Rhet. ii), suspicion denotes evil thinking based on slight indications, and this is due to three causes. First, from a man being evil in himself, and from this very fact, as though conscious of his own wickedness, he is prone to think evil of others, according to Eccles. x. 3, The fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool esteemeth all men fools. Secondly, this is due to man being ill disposed towards another: for when a man hates or despises another, or is angry with or envious of him, he is led by slight indications to think evil of him, because everyone easily believes what he desires. Thirdly, this is due to long experience: wherefore the Philosopher says (Rhet. ii. 13) that old people are very suspicious, for they have often experienced the faults of others. The first two causes of suspicion evidently connote perversity of the affections, while the third diminishes the nature of suspicion, in as much as experience leads to certainty which is contrary to the nature of suspicion. Consequently suspicion denotes a certain amount of vice, and the further it goes, the more vicious it is.
Now there are three degrees of suspicion. The first degree is when a man begins to doubt of another's goodness from slight indications. This is a venial and light sin; for it belongs to human temptation without which no man can go through this life, according to a gloss on I Cor. iv. 5, Judge not before the time. The second degree is when a man, from slight indications, esteems another man's wickedness as certain. This is a mortal sin, if it be about grave matter, since it cannot be without contempt of one's neighbor. Hence the same gloss goes on to say: If then we cannot avoid suspicions, because we are human, we must nevertheless restrain our judgment, and refrain from forming a definite and fixed opinion. The third degree is when a judge goes so far as to condemn a man on suspicion: this pertain directly to injustice, and consequently is a mortal sin.
From the very fact that a man thinks evil of another without sufficient cause, he despises him unduly, and therefore does him an injury.
Fourth Article
Whether Doubts Should be Interpreted for the Best?
I answer that, from the very fact that a man thinks ill of another without sufficient cause, he injures and despises him. Now no man ought to despise or in any way injure another man without urgent cause: and, consequently, unless we have evident indications of a person's wickedness, we ought to deem him good, by interpreting for the best whatever is doubtful about him.
He who interprets doubtful matters for the best, may happen to be deceived more often than not; yet it is better to err more frequently through thinking well of a wicked man, than to err less frequently though having an evil opinion of a good man, because in the latter case an injury is inflicted but not in the former.
. . . when we judge of men, the good and evil in our judgment is considered chiefly on the part of the person about whom judgment is being formed; for he is deemed worthy of honor from the very fact that he is judged to be good, and deserving of contempt if he is judged to be evil. For this reason we ought, in this kind of judgment, to aim at judging a man good, unless there is evident proof of the contrary. And though we may judge falsely, our judgment in thinking well of another pertains to our good feeling and not to the evil of the intellect.
Commentary
From this continuous teaching of the Church, we must conclude that very often it is virtuous to abstain from judging others, or to have a mild judgment of them. This virtuous act is an act of justice because it is avoiding to hurt the reputation of others. Everyone has a right to his good reputation; to judge someone more guilty than he is, deprives him of his good reputation, and therefore is a sin against justice, more or less grievous as St. Thomas explains. On the contrary, to respect the rights of others to their good reputation is an act of justice.
This act proceeds from a certain mildness and goodness of heart towards our neighbor, and above all from charity which as St. Paul says, ("is patient, is kind . . . thinketh no evil [of others], rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things" (I Cor. XIII, 4-7).
Sometimes we are tempted to think that, because we want to be faithful to the Tradition of the Church and have studied it a little, we are entitled to judge everyone else about every point of Faith or discipline. A lack of humility lies here! We forget these words of St. Paul: "What hast thou that thou has not received? And if thou hast received, why does thou boast as if thou hadst not received it?" (I Cor. IV, 7). If God has given us the grace to love the Tradition of the Church and to be attached to it, it is not in order that we may despise our neighbor and judge them, especially not those who, like us, love the Tradition of the Church!
Other times we are tempted to think that, because we love Tradition and have read a few books or pamphlets, we are great theologians and can make pronouncements about any question, and can decide whether this or that little thing conforms to Tradition. A lack of humility lies here also. By our faith we can know what is right and what is wrong in the major things (e.g., intercommunions are wrong!), but we are not hereby made able to judge all little things, which often require extensive knowledge, long experience and great wisdom. I was told that St. Thomas said, "One is not a good metaphysician before fifty years of age," and this could be said of a good theologian. One also needs charity and humility to be a good theologian. St. Thomas is renowned for giving the best interpretation possible to the unclear statements of other theologians.
Other times we are tempted to think that because we love Tradition and refuse Modernism, ecumenism, etc., we have the duty to judge as modernist anyone else, even those in authority in the Church. A lack of humility lies here also. First, we did not receive the charge to judge our neighbor, much less those in authority in the Church. What is wrong if we just be faithful to Tradition and abstain from judgment of others, praying for them? In some cases, when the wickedness of some of them is evident (by their participation in Clown Masses, etc.), we must disapprove! When the wickedness is not evident, we must do what is good, avoid any ambiguities or weakness in our defense of the Faith, but we should be reserved and modest in our judgment. Many have followed the changes in the Church either because of ignorance, or because of a false concept of obedience, or because of weakness . . . but without being truly Modernist! Many in positions of authority did not dare to resist the episcopal conferences (for example, concerning the introduction of Communion in the hand), though they were not pleased with the change. It is difficult to be in a position of authority, and they need more our prayers than our criticisms.
Objection 1: One cannot defend Tradition without attacking the enemies of Tradition. I answer that our first defense of Tradition must be by learning, teaching and living this Tradition itself; then we must attack the most modernist, those leading the others—Küng, Schillebeeckx—and say to those who follow them: "Don't follow the Modernists!" As Our Lord spent most of His life doing the will of His Father, and teaching His apostles the doctrine of His Father, so we should spend most of our time and effort in doing the will of God, and teaching the doctrine of the Church—priests to their faithful, parents to their children . . .
Objection 2: If we do not condemn them, we approve of them! I answer that to abstain from judging against is not to judge in favor of. By our actions themselves—being attached to the traditional expression of our Faith in the liturgy, in the catechism, being faithful to the moral laws of the Church—especially purity, chastity and humility—we show a tacit disapproval of any compromise, or any moral relaxation, or any Modernism. Let us remember that the right opposite of ecumenism (which is a false love for the world) is not bitter zeal (which condemns at all times and has no love for men), but is the missionary spirit (which saves and is thus the true love for men). "I came not to judge the world, but to save the world" (Jn. XII, 47).
Conclusion
Instead of losing time and effort in vain criticism, it would be much better to edify each other: "let all things be done to edification" (I Cor. XIV, 26), teaching positively the doctrine of the Church without polemics, giving the good example in all Faith, Hope, Charity and Humility. "Contend not in words, for it is to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Carefully study to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth" (II Tim. 14-15), "hating that which is evil, cleaving to that which is good, loving one another with the charity of brotherhood, with honor preventing one another . . . being of one mind one towards another, not minding high things, but consenting to the humble. Be not wise in your own conceits . . . if it be possible, as much as is in you, have peace with all men . . . be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good" (Rom. XII, 9-21).
And let us pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary who, by her humility and charity, is our example, and who is the Mother of the Church, that she obtain for us this humility, meekness and charity of the Sacred Heart.
Current Issue
