the danger of judging others

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The Danger Of Judging Others

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The more we judge others for their circumstances, the more we are likely to suffer from those same circumstances.

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: The Danger of Judging Others

The Danger Of Judging Others

Page 2: The Danger of Judging Others

I Grew Up With A Single Mother, On A Street Where All The Other Families Were Still Two-Parent Families

Eventually, it became apparent that the other families in the neighborhood did not approve of my family.

Page 3: The Danger of Judging Others

One Day, I Was Out On The Front Lawn And The Neighbor’s Father Was Out Fixing A Flagpole. I overheard him saying in reference to me,

“The reason we are so happy and have such good kids is

because we are moral. We do not believe in things like

divorce. Our kids will always do better than that sort of kid and

always be much happier because we set such a good

example.

As a 12 year old boy, doing voluntary yard work on my mother’s house, I

took this very hard.

Page 4: The Danger of Judging Others

After My Mother’s Second Husband Died, We Moved To A White Collar Neighborhood

An old sorority sister of my mother’s, Diane, lived a few houses down from us.

Apparently Diane, in addition to the rest of the “picture perfect” families, felt uncomfortable having a

single mother on the street.

Page 5: The Danger of Judging Others

Though My Mother Pretended That It Didn’t Upset Her, I Knew It Did

My mother never had a ton of boyfriends. However,

everyone in the neighborhood still seemed to think that she was a bad

influence because she was a single mother.

Page 6: The Danger of Judging Others

I Was Invited To Dinner One Night By A Woman Down The Street

I was around 12 years old, and my sister, who came along, was about 5.

When I entered the house, she said that if I was going to have dinner at her house, that I needed to go home, shower, and change clothes first.

This hurt my feelings, but I ended up running home and showering.

Page 7: The Danger of Judging Others

When We Sat Down To Dinner, It Got Even Worse

“If you do not wipe your mouth off when you get food on it we will

never invite you over to eat again,” she said to me.

I spent the rest of the night in silence and fear. I was never

invited over again.

Page 8: The Danger of Judging Others

I Remember Her Son, Sometime Later, Saying Something To Me Like:

“My mom says not to talk to you because you are trash!”

Later, her elder son , who was around my age, stole a skateboard off of my front yard and smashed it to pieces with a sledgehammer.

Page 9: The Danger of Judging Others

His Friends Later Confessed That The Son Had Actually Taken And Destroyed The Skateboard

I called his parents and demanded that they pay me for what their son had done. It was an expensive

skateboard.

“My son says he did not do it and, even though the other kids say he did, we believe our son. We are not

going to pay for it.”

However, even after several of his friends had told them that their son was responsible, he still denied it to them. They believed him, and told me they would not pay for any of it.

Page 10: The Danger of Judging Others

About A Year Later, The Daughter Of These People Became Pregnant

In the conservative area we lived in, this was unspeakable.

Furthermore, when the baby was born, it turned out to be black, although she and her boyfriend were

both white.

Page 11: The Danger of Judging Others

This was the biggest scandal I had known growing up.

Page 12: The Danger of Judging Others

In Almost Every Case Where Someone Has Been Judgmental To Me, Their Own Identities Have Been Comprised In The Same Way

The lesson that I take from this is that we must realize that any judgments we make, may come

back on us one day.

I have also realized that no person is perfect and we are all

hypocritical sometimes.

Page 13: The Danger of Judging Others

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby Depicts A Man Who Buys An Expensive House To Seduce The Girl Of His Dreams

• Gatsby has an affair with the married Daisy Buchanan before going off to the army.

• He cannot forget Daisy and begins to fantasize about being with her constantly.

• As she comes from a wealthy world, he feels that the only way he can win her is by becoming very rich.

Page 14: The Danger of Judging Others

Daisy Is Married To Tom, With Whom She Has One Child

Despite the fact that they both commit adultery, they refuse to leave each other because they will not risk

losing their lavish lifestyles.

Page 15: The Danger of Judging Others

In Order To Become Rich, Gatsby Engages In Bootlegging

Even though he becomes very wealthy, and hosts very large and lavish parties, he does not make any true friends. Also, when Daisy finds out about how Gatsby made his money, she loses respect for him.

Page 16: The Danger of Judging Others

There Are Many Morals To Be Learned From The Great Gatsby:

• Acceptance cannot be bought.

• People cling to status, and in doing so, ignore the rest of the world.

• People are often extremely hypocritical

Page 17: The Danger of Judging Others

I Have Learned From My Experiences Growing Up In That Neighborhood

The more we judge others for their circumstances, the more we are likely to suffer from those same circumstances.