Artifical Art of Condemnation

I recently engaged in a Facebook "conversation" that is still on my mind.  It was over a contestant who didn't get booted off last week's elimination show on American Idol.  I was shocked over the one who did, and felt that one particular contestant's bad attitude should have booted her off the show instead.  I wasn't the only one participating in this conversation who felt this way.  But one young man kept insisting that it's a singing contest not an attitude contest, and she not only deserved to make it through to the next round but should be crowned the American Idol.

I wish it were so.  I wish this was simply a singing competition but it's not.  If that were so then contestants like Pia this season or Jennifer Hudson a few seasons back should have been crowned winners.  But entertainment is more than the sum total of its parts and being simply a terrific singer does not a winner make.  (Look at Bob Dylan's career for heaven's sake!)  

But this is not a post about who deserves to win a singing contest.  No, it's about the very act of judging itself.  It's true that we can't really separate who a person is (their character) from their actions or their accomplishments.  That's disingenuous.  Certainly we all overlook "flaws" in each other since none of us are perfect; sometimes however a flaw is just too glaring to ignore and we make a judgement.

I was judging this female contestant's apparent bad attitude.  She came across as someone who, in my opinion, didn't deserve the accolades of a singing idol.  But the young man engaged in our Facebook conversation was persistent in his admonishment that we shouldn't judge her on her attitude because we don't know her.  Yes, she appears to be this, that and the other, and it's not necessarily a pretty sight, but we really don't know why she comes across the way she does.  Maybe rather than being brash, full of herself and a bit disrespectful, she's really insecure and hurt by the judges' comments.

Time will tell if her singing ability is enough to crown her the coveted title of entertainer and all it entails.  Time will tell if she connects with people on a deeper level than hitting a high C or seducing a low note.  But I am convicted that I have judged where I have no right to judge.  I am convicted of my need to have a kinder and more gentle spirit, not just with people I know but also with those I don't.  It's my evil twin, Miss Prideful Intellectual, that's peeping out and it doesn't serve me ~or others ~  well.  Thanks for the reminder, young man.

"Criticism serves to make me harsh and cruel, and leaves me with the soothing and flattering idea that I am somehow superior to others.  There is no escaping the penetrating search of my life by Jesus.  Every time I judge, I condemn myself." ~ Oswald Chambers