So Be It?

"To judge is to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premises. To criticize is to consider the merits and demerits of and judge accordingly." --Mirriam Webster's Dictionary

When you judge a pageant, a fashion show, or even a simple competition, criteria is always present. 25% for creativity, 25% for originality, 25% performance, and 25% audience impact. It takes a hard time to give points. It takes a hard time to decide who the winner will be. But along the process, the best performer wins.

In grading students at school, a grading system is also present. Rubrics are set to give fair assessments. A certain percentage is given to attendance, recitation, project, and examination. Teachers may consider students to receive a passing grade on behalf of their poor performance. But they do have action plans to know the reason behind the students' poor performances. With the help of the grading system, the teacher knows who tops the class. At sometime at least, teachers can never be biased.

In terms of judging an accused person, there is a judge and lawyers to charge the accused either guilty or acquitted. The systematic process of trial allows the accused to lay words defending his side. The process even take a long period of time.

But why is it that easy to judge a person the way he walks, talks, and acts? Why criticize a person from head to foot when you do not even know his personality, attitude, and real identity. Why give comments as if you were perfect to see his flaws? You give impressions that generalize the whole of a person. You see him this way and so he will always be this way. You can identify and count his mistakes and never recognize the good deeds he had done. With the errors you have seen, you look at him like he is the most notorious suspect in the whole world. You see him as the most dumbest student ever. You never listen to him because he knows nothing. You never asks him for pieces of advice cause he knows nothing. You never believes in every word he say. Do you know that these lowers one's self esteem? He wants to give clarification of his side for fair judgment but no one wants to listen. It is because they were already blinded by their misjudgement. They believe no other except themselves...

Is it right to infer judgment this way? So how can we ever achieve fair judgments? Can't we listen to the cry of the person involved? Can't we weigh things on both sides? Can't we try to ask what happened, how did it happen, and why did it happen? Can't we look at both sides in order to judge, criticize, and give comments fairly? Why keeping a border in your mind when you know you can exceed it? Why stopping from thinking when you can think things beyond your cognition? Why closing your mind from what reality presents? Why criticizing all of a sudden? Or judging without hearing both sides? Does it feed the hunger of a vengeful mind? Does it satisfy the crave of a deceitful heart? Or does it fill the thirst of an envious soul?

If competitions have criteria, grading students have rubrics, and on-court trials have lawful judgment, then why judging an individual can never be fair? We have mind to think. We have heart to feel. I guess it's time to make this possible-- to use both mind and heart to make everything fair without being bias.