Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged....

In the middle of West Virginia there is the small town of Elkins, current population around 7,800 or so. It sits near the edge of the Monongahela National Forest and is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. (And on a side note, "Monongahela" is one of the coolest names ever. And it's even cooler if you can pronounce it-which I can. Anyway, I digress...)

I had the opportunity to visit Elkins about ten years ago, give or take. Actually, I had the opportunity of going to work in the Elkins Walmart (I was working for a company that distributed music, books, and movies to Walmart and they needed me to go do an inventory count). There are a lot of stereotypes about the kind of people you'd expect to see in a Walmart in the middle of West Virginia, and I have to admit there seemed to be some basis in truth to those stereotypes. I was doing an inventory scan in the electronics department when a customer came in and started looking around. He was wearing denim overalls (I can't remember if he had a shirt on or not), was chewing on a piece of straw, and spoke in the thickest West Virginia drawl that I've ever heard. I wasn't sure what he was looking for, but I was pretty sure it had to be something cheap. Maybe a $2.00 VHS movie or something like that. I remember thinking to myself that he looked dirt poor, didn't smell much better, and that if I ignored him maybe he would realize that I didn't actually work for Walmart and he'd go and find someone else to help him. He then came up to me and said (and again, you have to hear this in that very thick accent):

"I need one of dem dare memry cards for a PS2"

Wow...not what I expected to hear at all. How in the world did he even know what a PS2 was, or that they needed a memory card, or how in the world could he afford one? After all, he was standing in the middle of Walmart chewing on a piece of straw, right? Wrong...I was completely and embarrassingly wrong, and had based my assumptions just on what I saw on the outside. Kind of like when Samuel went looking for a person to replace Saul as king:

And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

 There's been a lot of discussion the last day or so about the Supreme Court decisions on the DOMA and California's Prop 8. And there's been even more discussion on the many challenges that are facing our country and our world. I'm not going to debate those here (at least not in this post), but wanted to give a word of caution about judging those who hold very strong, emotional, and personal opinions on both sides. It is not our place to judge what is in the hearts of those with whom we may agree or disagree. We may discuss and/or debate, but remember the counsel given in Doctrine & Covenants 121:41-42 (and I don't think this applies exclusively to holders of the priesthood):

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained...only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

Or in other words, we can disagree with one another without being disagreeable. We should sincerely seek to understand the foundation upon which another has based their opinion(s), and use that as the beginning of any discussion. Now don't get me wrong-I am not advocating that we give up fighting for issues that we feel strongly about, but we can do that without the animosity, vitriol, and hatred that seems so common place lately (and that goes for both sides).

President N. Eldon Tanner spoke of this on April 8, 1972 (and it is even more applicable now than maybe it was then)

Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged  (this is the link to the entire talk)

Our news media today also seem to be interested mainly in controversial subjects or someone who is being attacked; and regardless of the ninety-nine good things one may do, it is the one weakness or error that alone is emphasized and heralded to the world.

We are too prone to listen to, accept, and repeat such adverse criticism, such maliciously spoken or printed words, without stopping to realize the harm we may be doing to some noble person; and, as is done so often, we excuse and justify ourselves by saying, “Well, where there is so much smoke, there must be some fire,” whereas in reality we are adding to the smoke, when the fire referred to may be only the fire of malice started by some envious person.

Sometimes even when our friends are accused of wrongdoing or gossip is started about them, we disloyally accept and repeat what we hear without knowing all the facts. It is sad indeed that sometimes friendships are destroyed and enmity created on the basis of misinformation.

If there be one place in life where the attitude of the agnostic is acceptable, it is in this matter of judging. It is the courage to say, “I don’t know. I am waiting for further evidence. I must hear both sides of the question.”

Only by suspending judgment do we exhibit real charity. It is hard to understand why we are ready to condemn our neighbors and our friends on circumstantial evidence while we are all so determined to see that every criminal has a fair and open trial. Surely we can try to eliminate pride, passion, personal feeling, prejudice, and pettiness from our minds, and show charity to those around us.