Two things have happened recently that made me angry. I’m going to tell you what they are, and then I’m going to tell you the real reason I’m upset about it. It’s really not about the happenings at all, but what it says about our society.
Meet the Nazis: # 1
That word may be a little right-on-the money over-the-top, but some people take things way too far. Somewhere in my world recently, a lady decided to take someone else to task publicly because of a paper towel. The statement did NOT need made in the context, but the person had to get their digs in that they are better than others because they would not support a less-green option. My first thought was “get over yourself!” But in today’s world, we see this more and more.
It’s not easy being green
Taking care of our world is a God-given responsiblilty. However, some have stepped over the line and made it more like a religion than a philosophy. They think they have the right to shoot the infidels censor everyone around them and hate chastise look down on others who are not as “green” as they. How arrogant, but that’s not the only reason this infuriates causes concern.
Meet the Nazis: # 2
Watching an entertainment ‘news’ a show the other night where they were disecting Paula Deen. Paula has a cooking show on down-home, stick-to-your-ribs, full of good stuff food. This is an entertainment venue, and Paula repeatedly states that she does not eat like that in her every day life. {My husband loves her, and I’m too busy writing to complain and turn the channel.} Anyway, two women were discussing Deen’s recent ‘come out’ about having diabetes. One was totally trashing her for being a bad example….. It really does not matter what her reasoning was. What does matter is that she came across as someone who wanted Paula tarred-and-feathered dipped-in-honey-and staked-to-an-ant-hill excommunicated, uhm, castigated for her heinous act of cooking food that tastes great but is “bad” for you, while keeping her diabetes a secret.
It’s not easy being perfect
Good grief woman. She did not steal the crown jewels or kill someone. Talk about over-kill. I don’t care if Paula Deen wants to cook with fat and butter on her real-life ENTERTAINMENT show. I don’t care what she chooses to eat in her real life. She can eat what she wants and cook what she wants – Diabetic or not – it is her choice. I understand there’s more to it than that, but this woman was just way too rabid about something that really doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of things. Don’t like it? Then don’t support her, but don’t flog her at the post of public opinion, expecting her to crawl under a rock and hide in shame for the rest of her life. Get over yourself! Guess what? I am smart enough to know not to eat like that on a regular basis.
So what’s the real deal?
The real deal is that this is common fare today. Up is down, black is white, good is bad…. There are so many issues that really matter. Do we really need to run other people’s lives and sit in judgement on things that are really more personal than public? It’s ok to have sex with anyone and everyone whenever you want – don’t judge that! It’s ok to trash others in order to get ahead – don’t judge that! It’s OK to abort babies – don’t judge that! Don’t call something a sin – don’t judge that! Don’t do anything at all to make someone wake up to reality ‘uncomfortable’ – don’t judge that! We have to be politically correct; we are expected to hide our religious beliefs and practices because others don’t like it; we are called names and worse if we dare stand up against such things as abortion or sodomy or drama (backbiting/slander/gossip/etc.) or polygamy or …..
That’s another post. I hope, whether you agree with me on certain issues or not, you can see that our values have become skewed. 
Many tout out that “do not judge” statement, but God did not say “do not judge” out of context. He said: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” John 7:24 In other words, we are to judge with a pure heart, with nobleness, honesty and justice, making sure our own back yard is clean before trying to help others clean out their’s. We aren’t to judge motives and we are not to judge as if we are better than others. We are to judge with discernment.
A really good assessment of the Biblical mandate about judging can be found here.
The point is that society has tilted and expends way too much energy on side issues and distractors, becoming almost rabid in their desire to slam those who don’t “measure up” to their self-righteous standards, while leaving alone the things that matter.
Pulling in my claws stepping off my soap-box Finished with my diatribe, I will leave it up to you what to make of this post. I’d love to know what you think, so take time to comment if you please. Hate mail may be sent to my e-mail which you should be able to easily find here somewhere. It is public on this site. If you can’t find it, ask me for it in comments.
Jan 21, 2012 @ 10:55:11
Well said ! Back in the “old days” we would call this insisting that people “M.Y.O.B” or “mind your own business, take care of your own back yard and get the timber out of your own eye before trying to get the speck out of the “offending person’s” eye, cast NOT the first stone unless you are also flawless in a state of absolute perfection –which NOBODY is.
We rush to judgment FAR too quickly–and it’s a very, very bad habit. Again, well said!
Jan 21, 2012 @ 16:21:18
Thank you very much Raymond. Today we mind other people’s business much more than our own it seems. Of course, we all interpret that through different lenses too, lol. If we spent half as much time cleaning the log out of our eye, we wouldn’t have time to worry about their speck. Thank you so much for coming by, reading and commenting. It’s always good to know someone is reading what I write 🙂 Angie
Jan 22, 2012 @ 01:08:23
No worries Angie. Someone is always reading, even when you don’t get a like or comment. Remember, God says ” I will never leave you nor forsake you!”. As long as what you write is pleasing to God, that’s all that matters. As far as the post is concerned, well said. The biggest issue that we face as Christians, besides hypocrites, is the fact that so many have lost sight of of what Jesus said when asked about the most important commandment.1) Love God with all your heart 2) Love others as yourself By this I mean that they either got the order mixed up or, they don’t know how to love themselves. How can you love someone else if you don’t love YOU? You are ugly, fat, dumb, lazy…. You have to release all that negativity somewhere! Hence comes being “Judgmental”. Keep up the good work. God Bless, Grant
Jan 22, 2012 @ 09:02:02
Thank you Grant. Exactly! Mother Teresa said, “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” It’s such a fine line to walk sometimes between judging that an action is innappropriate and judging a person. Sometimes we can only make a difference by loving (always!) Future post – always comparing ourselves to one another – leads to a fight to be at the top of the pecking order. When we compare to Christ – we’re all in the same boat! Angie