If all paths are equal, name one person in your life to whom you would recommend the path of FEAR.
There are some much better paths to take than others. And there are a fuck ton of paths. Your Judgement gives you the ability to pick the best path. "Well, I wanna head Lovewardly, but maybe I wanna take a more compassionate, than humorous, route here," cannot be said without your divine gift of Judgement.
I think where people get hung up is that they see judgement as punishment. Judgement can lead to punishment, but it can also lead to you having a salad instead of a sundae. There are a lot of things you use your judgement for.
Our ability to judge healthy and unhealthy people to be around, or jobs to be in. Our ability to give the perfect gift to a lover. Our ability to step up and eliminate or ease another person's suffering. Our ability to buttress a weakened ally. Our ability to parent.
If a man comes to your door, looking to babysit, and he's carrying his rap sheet, and it's 4 miles long, all rape... you gonna let him babysit the kids? Of course not. Why? Because you are exercising Good Judgement.
You are not only judging his previous actions, but you are judging him, as a person, to the extent of assuming you can predict his future actions. And you are doing everything right. It's called Pattern Recognition and it is a core element of intelligence.
This world gets ugly at times and shielding the young from that ugly might be one of the highest manifestations of Love. The Ideal Parent seeks to perfect their judgement regarding the protection and growth of their child. The Ideal Parent does not truly live by the notion that all paths are equal.
In the name of every idiot who took his coat off to cover a puddle for a chick to walk across, I shout into the unlistening night. ALL PATHS ARE NOT EQUAL!
Steer your ship. Get good at it. Not all the rocks are avoidable- but many are. Stay Lovewardly.
You can judge a dude to be probably gay. You don't have to condemn him for it. You don't have to let all the stories you've heard about evil gay people dictate your interaction with him. But you might judge that starting off with "Howdy, faggot," is not going to win you hearts and minds. This is a useful judgement to make.
Bias is a habitual tendency for our mind to travel in certain directions. There are good and useful biases. I am biased against those that seek to poison and destroy my brothers. It's called Love. It is useful to be biased toward the notion that gravity will still be a thing when I wake up tomorrow. Saves all kindsa prep-work.
Any system of Judgement seems impossible without some fundamental biases. Our job is to figure out which of our biases are no longer useful to us for optimal Judgement. Find new ones that enable and empower us. We must sit in judgement of the base man so that the superhero can be built from him.
Emotion doesn't mix well with Judgement. It tends to increase both condemnation and counterproductive bias, as well offering other handicapping features. "Rush to judgement" or stagnation can occur. Emotion can tint your whole worldview. Judgement is best performed through the clearest of optics. Just remember- Love is no stranger to clouding a man's goggles.
He who abandons Judgement, and truly lives as though all paths are equal, is flotsam on the waves. I am not flotsam. Got me a galleon. I dodge rocks and keep Lovewardly.
You are far more powerful than they will ever tell you.
