The Danger of Judging Without Access to All The Facts

by Lester Rennard

One very important lesson I learned at a very early stage in life is the lack of wisdom demonstrated when one judges another without first having access to all the facts. Yet it is a very common fault that many people do have. They jump to conclusions, sometimes on just the basis of appearances, and impute motives to others and become their judge, jury and executioner without any provision for a defense or an appeal.

The grave danger in judging others without first knowing all the facts is the reality that things are not always what they appear to be on the surface. When we use faulty premises to judge someone, we can do serious damage to that individual's reputation that no amount of later regrets or efforts at damage control may ever be able to remove the dark clouds cast over the victim. It is therefore imperative that if our judgment is have merit, we must first examine ourselves, motives and objectivity, thoroughly investigate the allegations or matters at hand, obtain all the facts, correctly interpret these facts and give the person accused an opportunity for defense.

If one is not willing to consider all the above before passing judgment, such individual is not qualified or capable of so doing. We do not have the capability of reading someone's mind to come to a definitive conclusion of guilt or innocence. One may have partial information or insight into a given matter but that is not usually enough to form the basis for fair judgment.

While sitting on the bench, judges are concerned that the court be provided with all the relevant evidence available involving the cases in which justice is being sought. When this evidence is not forthcoming, the outcome of affected cases may not always be reliable or just. Although circumstantial evidence may be allowed, a court will always prefer cases in which the evidence is irrefutable. As one who is engaged in the settlement of disputes and must examine evidence before dispensing justice that may affect the lives and fortune of the parties in dispute, I have a personal appreciation for the value of having access to and understanding of the facts, evidence and context before arriving at a conclusion that will influence how I determine the outcome.

In our personal interactions with one another, it is necessary for the sake of fairness in judgment that we do not only know all the facts in a given situation, but that we know how to interpret these facts in the proper context and not just rely only on our own perceptions. When one's life and reputation are on the line and the direction in which the pendulum swings depends on us, it becomes more critical for us to be diligent in our efforts to being fair and just in our understanding and interpretation of the issues before passing judgment.

In the realms of spiritual matters that involve a person's relationship with God, there is a definite danger when one individual sets him/herself up to judge the spirituality of another on the basis of their own parochial religious views. God alone knows the truth that lies buried within a person's heart and unless that individual's actions speak from 'out of the abundance of the heart', one is on safer ground to avoid judging another's motive and leave such judgment in the hands of the celestial supreme Judge.