It’s time to start judging

The era of ‘not judging’ is over

“I’m not judging”

It’s one of those phrases that’s become fashionable, hasn’t it?

Because the suggestion is that ‘judging’ someone is wrong, that we can’t possibly make a decision about something without knowing the full circumstances.

But when I hear a news story about a woman deliberately aborting (this word itself has been neutralised from ‘killing’) her own baby at 8 months gestation, then I make no apology for ‘judging’.

I don’t give a monkeys if she was depressed.

I couldn’t give a rat’s arse if lockdown had made her ‘vulnerable’.

Ever felt that vulnerable, ladies?

Nah. Thought not. It cuts no ice.

And the argument that the tablets were made too easy to obtain is just lame.

“They should have made more checks”

Whether that medication should have been so readily available, is another issue entirely, but to blame the episode on the provider is as absurd as attributing a stabbing incident to a person selling steak knives. No healthcare worker foresaw those pills as being used on an 8 month old foetus.

And when I hear about an MP - yes, Stella Creasy I mean YOU - giving sympathy to this woman being jailed and suggesting the abortion laws should be changed to accommodate such horror, then I’m not just judging.

I am fucking repulsed.

Because not only does she seek to condone it, she wants it decriminalising for others!

Yeah, all you fellow sick fucks out there, if you decide at 32 weeks you don’t want your baby and may as well kill it, don’t worry, Stella Creasy has your back. Big up the sisterhood.

“Shit happens”, right?

I’m afraid I’m judging.

And it’s the same with other twisted acts that are taking place in the world right now.

Fellas advertising tampons.

Violent sex becoming normalised through porn.

Children being taken to watch adults parading in fetishwear.

What the actual fuck?

People have to speak up.

The era of ‘not judging’ is over.

Over!

If we want society to evolve, to move on from the current depths it plunges, it’s time we started judging. Now!

And what does ‘judging’ actually mean anyway?

‘To form an opinion or conclusion about…’

That, is all.

‘Not judging’ gives carte blanche to all manner of heinous acts taking place on the grounds of not knowing the full story.

“Yes, go ahead, who am I to know your circumstances?”

People say, ignoring that burning red tearing right through their gut like a forest fire.

Well I’ll tell you who you are, because the culture of ‘not judging’ seems to want you to forget. It seems to want you to believe that in order to make a judgement you need a wig and a robe.

YOU are a person with instinct.

YOU know wrong from right.

YOU have years of lived human experience.

THOSE are your credentials.

Got it?

So, all of those components make your input not only valid but VITAL!

It’s time to take off your progressive, ‘being kind’ mask and start telling people exactly what you think.

And you can be sure that some people won’t like it.

Because it will mean they are made to consider what they are doing. What they thought they could do without moral recourse, confronting the kind of human being they are.

And of course, they may do the same to you.

You know, tell you some home truths you don’t like.

But it has to be worth it.

This trajectory that society is hellbent on, needs reversing, fast.

Opinions are not the preserve of MPs, celebrities and ‘experts’.

As an ordinary person you too, are entitled to yours.

You have within you a compass that knows good from evil.

You have a heart that dips like a swallow and soars like an eagle.

You have a stomach that tightens.

You hear stuff that make you physically retch.

Don’t let your human instinct for black and white be tempered by the grey fluff of fancy sounding arguments and long words.

If we, everyday people don’t convey our views, soon we won’t be able to. We will lose that right.

And if feelings are gonna be hurt, so be it.

We’ve gone the other way for too long. Stepped aside, bitten our lip, given the benefit of the doubt.

Start judging.

Harshly, if necessary.

Start speaking up, speaking loud and speaking often.

The world needs ordinary judges.

Judges with real humanity, warmth, values.

Judges without political agendas, groupthink indoctrination and a penchant for people pleasing.

The world needs you!