We live in an age that regards the identification of sin as the worst of all sins. As Regis Nicoll points out, “Today instead of 10 commandments, there is just one: thou shalt not judge.” Even within Christian circles, it is common to hear the phrases “Don’t judge” or “I’m not judging.” So afraid are we to commit this transgression called judgment that we hesitate to call out even the most blatant of wrongs.
When we allow fear to eclipse our responsibilities to admonish grave wrongs and encourage virtue over vice, we abandon duties central to Christianity. Instructing the ignorant and admonishing the sinner are spiritual works of mercy that we seem to have abandoned due to the misguided notion that it harms rather than helps our neighbor.
While it is true that, as Alice von Hildebrand argues, judgement can become sinful, and that puritanical attitudes have historically led to overemphasis on shame, the antidote is not to deny the reality of sin altogether. Virtue is found at the midpoint of two extremes. It is our duty as Christians to care for the spiritual health of our society by speaking the truth about practices that do not uphold human dignity. Even—or perhaps especially—when our neighbor does not recognize that an act or behavior undermines her dignity, our duty to speak out remains.
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