Non-Judgment

We treat murder as something heinous, yet celebrate violence as something sacred.  Our actions do not match our words.  We love heroes with big guns, action movies, stand your ground laws, war, the Second Amendment, football, hockey, boxing, all sorts of violence.   We have strict laws about censorship on television regarding sex, but almost none for violence and gore.  That very glorifying of violence and might leads to judgment of the victims of said violence. 

We say it is wrong and the most vile and reprehensible of acts to kill another, but to abuse, beat, burn, scare, chase, harass, assault, rape, torture, belittle, degrade and devalue another are all an accepted and expected part of life. 

We judge when someone who experienced that sort of daily abuse when they respond to events in life with the exact conditioning they have learned for years.  The conditioning they have learned from us, all of us.  That it is part of life and if you are experiencing it, you somehow have brought it on yourself.  So they accept, they believe they deserve it, that they are victims.  I hear it all the time about battered women, sexual assault victims, anyone who we think "should" do something differently about their circumstances.  Maybe we think they should have dressed differently, not been in that neighborhood, not been drunk or high. 

They are conditioned, they are trained by years of repeated offenses to respond the way they do.  We did that.  We, as a society that celebrates violence and might above compromise and compassion. 

We can change and only by each one of us changing our own attitude and reaction to violence, to abuse, to the devaluing of another human being based on some judgment about their life, lifestyle, socioeconomic level, class, laziness, drug use, looks, gender, race, ethnicity, or education.  We can change the conditioning by responding with acceptance, with understanding that we might not understand someone else's situation, motivation, or feelings, but we can offer compassion, we can offer non-judgment.  We can start by just not judging.  Don't jump on the bandwagon.  Stay out of the fray.  Let peace and acceptance be your guides.