I felt that I should weigh in on moralizing and the "woke" culture of America's youth, as it is something I've pondered greatly over. To many, pontification is a form of self-righteous criticism which should be avoided, while to others it constitutes the moral duty to publicly express one's own code of conduct. Either way, it is an ancient debate that our country will probably not solve on its own. But that will not keep people such as me from sharing our sentiments on the matter.
So, is remaining silent a failure to speak out against injustice? Or is sharing one's thoughts a failure to mind one's own business? The Reformation, and subsequent centuries of war between Catholicism and Protestantism, were in part an attempt to answer those two very questions. Catholicism places an emphasis more on minding one's own business, and maintains that privacy and attentiveness to oneself is more sacred than activism, while Protestantism argues precisely the opposite: that retreating from public life betrays cowardice and egotism, and that consistently engaging with others is fundamental to resolving the world's problems.
In my own quest for clarification on this issue, I've stumbled upon a remarkable distinction, which has left me with few qualms about expressing indignation at the crimes which permeate this world. It is the difference between judgment and opinion. Judging another usually entails some form of punishment that you are sentencing them to. It is a direct action, which invariably comes with consequences. Opinions, on the other hand, are moral sentiments that define the person you either are or want to be. As such, they are by nature passive, and sharing them is no less innocuous than sharing presents during a family gathering.
When Christ instructed His followers to "Judge not, lest ye be judged," He likely was not referring to moral opinions: the belief that something was right or wrong. Given how often He shared what others would call His own opinions on Divine Law, heaven, hell, and many other subjects, this advice would make little to no sense in that context.
What He in truth was likely saying, and what I believe the oldest Greek translations of the New Testament would affirm, is that people of faith should not punish others, lest they be prepared for punishment themselves. If someone slights you, it is perfectly acceptable to publicly acknowledge what they have done, but one must also admit to oneself two other facts: that it is not a mortal's duty to serve as judge, jury, or executioner, and that no amount of pain one causes their persecutor will avenge the injustice which has been committed.
To provide an example: in the New Testament, John the Baptist was arrested and later executed for having spoken out against King Herod. In particular, the prophet considered the King's desire to marry a close relative of his to be unlawful.
Was John the Baptist sinfully judging King Herod? Or was he sharing an innocent opinion? If the former, then humanity is in a great deal more trouble than any of us realize, for in the words of Christ: none born to men on this Earth are more righteous than John the Baptist. If he deserved to be imprisoned and butchered for having "judged" another, and having spoken truth to power, then none can escape the eternal torment which lies in wait for us all.
But if, on the other hand, John the Baptist did not deserve the treatment he received, and became the world's first martyr, then there can be hope for humanity, for both he and Christ can be seen as having suffered the burdens of this world in order that their followers might be spared.
Therefore, I would consider the belief that opinions are synonymous with judgment to be a more pessimistic approach to life than the belief that they are distinct. I have come to rely on the latter assumption to fuel my behaviors over most of my days, and it certainly has plunged me into almost as much trouble as John the Baptist found himself in two millennia ago. I've yet to lose my head, which is not to say that it will not happen at some point, but even if it does, my own feeling is that I would rather be cut to pieces as one who was unafraid to speak his mind, than to live a thousand years walking delicately over egg shells. For the former may be an affliction of the body, but the latter is an affliction of the mind.
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