Why are so many Christians judgmental?

Question

As I hear, the Bible teaches those who read it not to judge others, and that God is the one who casts judgment upon those that arrive at the gates of Heaven. (Please correct me if I am wrong.)

I am asking this question because of several reasons. The first being my grandparents, who have devoted their lives to worshiping God, and living their lives in accordance to the Bible. But, they are the first of my family to cast judgment upon anyone in my family, or people in negative or trying situations. Another thing I have encountered...while shopping at the store, pregnant with my son, and pushing my then 2 year-old in the cart, an old white man approached me and said that he was a preacher and had a young lady in his congregation that only dated black men. He wanted to know what he could tell her to get her to stop liking black men. (I assume he approached me because my kids are bi-racial.) I told him that if he was the Christian man he claimed to be, then he wouldn't try to dissuade the girl from dating someone based on their skin color. I also questioned him as to why a Christian man was judging someone based on outer appearances. Before he could answer, his wife came and pulled him away and told him to stop bothering me.

I've had a few other situations that made me ask this very same question. So I now turn it over to you guys. What is your take on this?

Answer 1

Luke 6:37  Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

I believe that when I say to another that they sin, I am (personally) not judging them, I am passing on what I read in God's Holy book, and I believe that it is not me, but God who is judging the sinner.  

Answer 2

because they r narrow minded. What they genrally discuss about is 1) is jesus god or not  2) who is jesus father       3) who fertilized eggs of marie...

they dont want to come out of their state and think in a broad way

Answer 3

you're stereotyping. not all Christians, or at least not most that I know, are very judgmental about race/s*x/religions/ect.

I think that Christianity gets a bad reputation for  acting "holier than thou" because, unfortunately, the judgmental ones also talk the loudest.

Answer 4

Because we really are holier than thou.

Answer 5

It can be summed up succinctly:  Some have a 'holier than thou' attitude.  Pride, pride, pride.

Answer 6

I think the judging should stop with you and you teach us how to live without judging by example.

Answer 7

The bible teaches us to judge the deed not the doer, this line is to often crossed, mainly I believe out of ignorance, there are to many so called Christians that have no idea what the bible has to say.

tGod bless

Answer 8

We all fall short from the glory of God. We ALL

Answer 9

Hello,

If you want to travel from New York to Montreal by car and I hear there is a terrible blizzard on the way I may caution you not to go because of slippery conditions and white outs where you "may" be in danger of getting killed or injured. I did not say you definitely will die but advise you it is a bad idea to go and better to wait for a clear day.

As for the preacher he may have some reservations about interracial relationships knowing that marriages are difficult enough with a 50% failure rate in Western Europe and North America and sometimes marrying into a different race or culture only adds more pressures to your plate. Also there are many white people who are not loud or mouthy but are inwardly very critical or unhappy with mixed relationships as my very pretty niece found out when she dated a Jamaican fellow in her university years. She observed nothing was said to her but she was certainly not miss congeniality with her peers and she was askeD out by others no more for the rest of her time there.

You would have had to have questioned him farther to see where he was coming from to understand if his reasons were practical or based on hatred.

Cheers,

Michael Kelly

Answer 10

i think christians are very judgmental from what i myself have experienced too, but you can't categorize them all together. i'm jewish and a lot of my friends from school are like hardcore christians and it seems that they judge, but now we just don't talk about religion together. anyways i think certain christians, usually born agains, are very pushy and try to shove their beliefs down your throat. i only respect people and their religious beliefs when they don't try to convert me and teach me what "jesus would do"!

Answer 11

im sorry for the stupidity of ppl im a christian and i think thats horrible that would be christians say or do that

i think that we sometimes allow a very human emotion called pride enter our faith  wat i mean is sometimes we are so vain and proud we assume that because we "know" about God we have the right to judge

Answer 12

I don't know about the Christians you met, but you can't expect us to be perfect either. I'm a Christian, but I also sin. Just because I believe in God, doesn't mean I'm not allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. I don't check the bible for my every single move. Every mistake has their own consequences to be dealt with. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you're also making judgements of your own about Christians?

I have to agree that it's wrong to judge by one's skin colour. It's sad that some Christians put the rest in shame.

Answer 13

I was at a baseball game yesterday with my son and a woman from "up North" proceeded to regale me with all of the "hypocrisies" of the Southern Baptist Southern community she had moved to--different town, btw.

She first approached me by asking if my shirt with some beads on it had religious meaning because "so many of us wore them."  My mom got me the top in Florida at SteinMart.  LOL  Anyway, I listened patiently until she was literally driving me to drink.  I suggested, nicely, that she take I 75 North if she was miserable down here.

My take is this:  If people are happy the way they are, leave them alone.  For you to try to change them is you being just as judgmental as they are.

Edit:  Don't get me wrong, I believe you.  I believed that woman yesterday.  But you are missing the point:  You cannot change other people into what you want them to be.  God can, but you cannot.  It is up to each of us to find our place in this world and we cannot expect anyone else to do this for us.  I'm sorry for your situation, because it sounds like you needed some help and didn't have any.  If you let it make you bitter, you will become what you despise.

Answer 14

You express that you have a few situations.  does that qualify as many?

Answer 15

Is that exactly what that man told you, or an edited version? Seniors are blunt.  To only date one race is okay, but that is also judgmental too.  You are telling him not to persuade someone from dating because of skin color, while at the same time I guess you are for, the woman he is referring to, judging people on outside appearances. Maybe this woman, only thinks that black men are suitable while white men are not.  There are some women who think like that.  Perhaps she has turned down good white, asian, hispanic men to date black men exclusively not caring about their character.

You can see this several ways, I gave you another way to look at it.  Being quick to jump the gun is judgemental too.

____

This must be a pattern for you:

You went to a funeral of a family member, they probably knew of your plight, so your grandparents offered you some food.  Yes, you have the right to refuse, but there is a time and a place to take a stand.  Your grandparents said something out of place, you thoughts were out of place.  Everyone was mourning your brother and people are going to get emotional or overly charitable.  They all mean well.  Most probably made promises that they cannot keep.

I think that you should of just said yes, and chucked in the trash when no one was looking.  It wouldn't hurt you and they can still have the sense that they are doing something good.

Answer 16

Expressing God's truth of right an wrong is not being judgmental. it is an attempt and being helpful. They are trying to save people from h**l.

If somone says you're bad and you're going to h**l...then they have sat in the judgement seat of Christ.

Speaking about h**l......Condemning to h**l

there is the difference

Answer 17

Double standards, as well as arrogance and a superiority complex. That's all it is really, for anyone who does that. Not just Christians. (See, I'm not generalizing...thin-skinned cry baby's....)

You can go to them, look 'em in the eye, and give them a proper f*ck off and walk away since they're being hypocritical to their own religion. Don't worry, if God is real I'm sure he won't judge you too harshly for it.

Answer 18

Their whole religion is based on Judgement - and therefore they live their lives considering how this or that action will be judged.

Unfortunately, this has led to people judging themselves, then comparing others to them, and vice-versa. This leads to "keeping up with the Jones' " where they compare everything with neighbours, and judge their social standing on material goods.

So, their whole religion is based on it, so it is inevitable that they do this to others.

Answer 19

Why are Christians, Muslims, Jews, Unificationists, Mormons, liberals, conservatives, doctors, lawyers, custodians, cashiers, etc. judgmental?

Humanity in general has been stained by this characteristic. As Christians we believe in many principles and laws that half of the world doesn't. It's hard to see and watch people "sin". And at times we do judge, but that's because we are human.

"All Have Sinned and Fall Short of the Glory of God"

-Romans 3:23

Answer 20

Everyone wants to feel that they are better than someone else.  The Jews feel they are "God's Chosen People".  The Christians feel that they are the only one's going to Heaven.  The Muslims think they are the only one's going to Heaven.

It's just silliness and stupidity.  Why fight over something that isn't even guaranteed anyway?  That's like me picking a fight with my brother over who gets to marry the hottest chick in the universe.  Obviously, neither of us will, and even if we could, there's no guarantee that she'd pick either of us, so what's the point in fighting?  Religious people just need to chill and stop being jacka$$es.

Answer 21

we can judge each other..just we have to do it with kindness and respect. judgment is required to know the difference between right and wrong.

Answer 22

Although I do appreciate what you have said here, I do not think there is only one group that can be labeled as such. I personally do not know anyone who does not judge someone else. Everyone does it. Maybe not outright as you have said and maybe not to the degree that certain groups are accused of, but just by our very nature we are always quite certain that we know something better than someone else and if given the chance or asked our opinion, we are more than happy to say it. I will admit that one day I woke up and realized that I was actually judgemental against all judgemental people! LOL

I say this from personal experience within myself. I was raised in a very racist home and my parents tried very hard to let me know, without actually saying anything directly of course, that certain groups or nationalities or political parties were not as good as others. I picked up on a great deal of this attitude from them and decided from an early age that I would not judge others simply because of skin color or religion or whatever. But what I have come to see is that everyone, and I would go as far as to say every day for most of us, has a judgement against someone else without even realizing we do.

For example(s) What about getting behind an elderly driver or a young one or one that just drives slow. Any one here ever watch the news and see a reporter or story that they did not agree with. How about when we see the prices of gas or groceries it is obvious that someone somewhere is making very poor decisions. My point is that literally everyone makes a judgement about someone much more than they realize.

I know your question was directed towards those of a Christian faith and although I understand that you have had personal experience of their perhaps harsh or blatant judgement, but until we realize the reason that we ALL do it, it will not get any better. One must come to an understanding that we are all in the same boat and until we start rowing together as they say, by first realizing our own responsibility to the others, we will only continue going in circles and drift farther and farther from the goal. Here is a very good video that discusses our inability to get along with each other, that really helped me to understand why we as humans not only have a serious problem with our attitudes, but that there is a way for us to rectify it. Hope it helps in answering your question. Best wishes.

Answer 23

Everyone is judgmental.  When people see a person that isn't normal, they judge.  When people see a pitbull, they judge.  People are naturally judgmental because we project how WE see the world onto others.  If you're a Christian, you expect people to have the same views as you because YOU believe you are right, right?  Same thing with other religions and people in general.  If you go in rags to a high price clothing store, they are going to judge because they have a higher fashion sense than you do.  

Christians should not judge but they do.  They should not say "you're going to h**l" but they do even though God is the one who determines that, but they do.  The human specie is FAR from perfect, whether religious or not, because some are not religious enough and some are zealots.