Jesus , my Lord and Savior, said those very words in some Gospel, don’t remember which one. And these words by the only Man Who never lied are words I need to take to heart, truly.
Because sometimes on comments, regardless of issue within the article, I can be judgmental, thinking I’m right and the author or commentor is wrong, or being snarky or sarcastic or “offensive” to the one I am commenting about.
While writing posts about Tommy Robinson and his ridiculous arrest I made some off-hand comments about ‘maybe Benjamine Netanyahu should bail him out’ since Robinson is an avowed Zionist. Well, that really set off the writer of the article–I won’t mention her name, and she’s not a Brit, by the way, but American, and writes for Investment Watchblog–who “begged my pardon,” said “you don’t know me but I know you,” (as if she was trolling for an Intel agency, Mossad perhaps?) and, last but not least, told me, “God have mercy” on my “soul.” Well naturally I replied to that with “beg your own pardon” and other screeds, but also warned her about her own Zionist position, being (likely) a Gentile as well as a woman, with a warning about her need to read the Talmud.
Now this post is about judging others, and, screed or not, she sent me a message I needed–though I was being snarky, I should not have been snarky just because Tommy boy is a Zionist (folks, if he wasn’t a Zionist, I would not have been snarky!). For Robinson is likely a Zionist ONLY because he hates Muslims (well, maybe not all Muslims, but Muslims in general, and is a self-described Islamophobe), not because he loves Jews or the Talmud or is a Christian Zionist. But I really don’t know why he called himself a Zionist in some videos. So right now I am asking my Lord and Savior Christ to keep me from temptation to be snarky to Zionists, Christian or otherwise.
As for the writer of the post I was snarky to, I have apologized to her. Whether she cares if I did nor not, is up to her.
Here is why folks tend to be judgmental about other folks. The judgmental person opposes a political party or religion or ethnicity or race or sex or class or job position or societal position or celebrity of another person (that’s right–we really shouldn’t even judge celebrities, no matter how depraved we think they are….that’s just one message I give within my Prodigal Band series. ) So that judgmental person verbally or otherwise attacks someone just because of that COLLECTIVE that person belongs to.
Few articles by anyone speak to that point better than Julie Bindel’s post here., about grooming gangs that are generally made up of Pakistani Muslims, where she says that these “groomers” don’t do it because they are Pakistani Muslim, but because they are evil persons. Yes, she actually wrote this SPOT ON–these men do it NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE MUSLIM! Let me repeat that–BEING MUSLIM DOES NOT MAKE ONE EVIL! Good on Julie Bindel!
In my previous post I did my best to skewer Talmudic Judaism, because in its hatred of Jesus Christ, the ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF FATHER GOD whom these Talmudics claim to believe in–not because of their evil attitude toward Gentiles and Christians. But here is the thing. I did NOT skewer Talmudic Jews, or any Jews for that matter. I have also bad-mouthed Islam, especially its treatment of women. But I have not bathmouthed Muslims. I have even excoriated Christian Zionism as well as Christian Identity, but, because I hold Christians to a higher standard, I HAVE excoriated Christian Zionists, and perhaps Christian Identity as well (because they tend to be racist as well as anti-semitic.). But in a later post I did repent of excoriating Christian Zionists–after all, I used to be one!
In my (not always) humble opinion—and remember these are opinions–the reason so much back-biting happens in comments online is collectivism–you don’t like a comment because the comment seems to be coming from someone you think is a member of a collective you don’t agree with. And NO TOPIC anywhere gets the kind of backlash as comments to articles and posts dealing with either politics or religion. It is not race, class, sex, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnicity, or status within society that garners the most hate-spewing, but either politics or religion–or both.
And, folks, aside from any position I imagine Christian Zionism holds toward Palestinians in and outside of Israel (now, really–do most Christian Zionists really favor genocide of Palestinians? I do have my doubts!), and aside from what I suspect their real feelings are about Jews (do they really want two-thirds of the world’s Jews to be slaughtered just so they can be ‘raptured’? I have my doubts here as well), my biggest issue with Christian Zionism is that it is so damned political! CUFI, Christians United for Israel headed by John Hagee, is a POLITICAL organization, not a religious one. AIPAC, largely supported by Christian Zionists, is POLITICAL, not religious. Now a Christian Zionist can believe whatever he or she wants to believe, that is between he or she and God.
But when you mix politics and religion, you are making for yourself a toxic brew. And, as I finally figured out, mixing politics and religion can really make one judgmental!
Don’t judge, lest you be judged.