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"It is often easier or more convenient to see and condemn the faults and sins of others than it is to see our own” (Pope Francis, Angelus, March 3, 2019). The fondness to judge and criticize others may well be a way of not facing one’s own sins. It is especially found among those who set themselves as crusaders for a just cause and, then by their lack of charity, become unjust themselves. Sadly, making negative judgments on others on the basis of appearances and then spreading those judgments to others is found among those who consider themselves Church-going people. People who constantly judge or criticize others truly lack compassion. For this reason, people of good faith should be slow to judge others.
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Falsehood flies, and the truth comes limping after it so that, when men come to be undeceiv’d, it is too late…the tale has had its effect” (Jonathan Swift, The Examiner, Number 15, November, 1710). However, unlike the surgeon’s scalpel that removes the cancer, gossip is the arrow that destroys the other.Īs a statement sometimes attributed to Mark Twain says, “a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth can get its boots.” In a similar vein, Jonathan Swift once wrote, “if a lie be believ’d only for an hour, it has done its work, and there is no further occasion for it. In a society of fast-paced information sharing, gossip has become so commonplace that people justify it as a way to right wrongs, correct others and unseat those whom they deem unfit for their chosen work. There is no area of modern society that is exempt from someone passing on false information, half-truths or blatant, deliberate lies. As a result, in this environment, deliberately passing on stories that destroy other people’s good names is nothing less than cyber bullying. What years ago was whispered between a few people now goes viral and can never be retrieved. As a result of this incessant communication about other people’s lives, we live on the edge between truth and falsehood. We get information instantaneously and, because we want solutions just as fast, we are quick to judge. Today’s rush to judgment gathers speed along the newly constructed digital highway. And, all the while, truth grows ever more fragile. Albeit from opposite directions, the Sandmann and Smollett incidents show how quick we are to believe or disbelieve, to accuse or defend and how easily we pick a side and draw a line in the sand. And every judgment must always be tempered with compassion. However, every judgment must be founded on truth, not rumor on fact, not fiction on substance, not appearance. Discerning the good from the bad, the beautiful from the ugly, the right from the wrong, and virtue from vice: this is an essential part of our being human. Gifted with reason, we are wired to make judgments. Yet, before the facts were fully known, there was the rush to judgment and much chatter. However, in just three weeks, it was discovered that the whole event had been orchestrated by Smollett. Twitter and Instagram fueled the frenzy of self-righteous indignation.
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After Smollett’s initial report, friends and fans, celebrities and politicians expressed outrage at this hate crime. He claimed that the attack was racist and homophobic. On January 29, 2019, American actor and singer Jussie Smollett reported that two masked men attacked him at 2 AM near his apartment in Chicago. Finally, when the facts were uncovered, the high school student was exonerated of any wrong-doing, even though much wrong had been done to him and his family. Misinformation and lies spread like wild fire. On the basis of that picture, a frenzy of condemnations from reporters, commentators and politicians were heaped upon this student, accusing him of prejudice and hatred. He was at the Lincoln Memorial standing face to face with a Native American man during the March to Life in Washington, D.C. On January 18, 2019, a video of Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann went viral.
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Rush to judge others and gossip: and the devil laughs / 00:00 am