A Time to Judge

Posted on June 3, 2019 by Robert Ringer

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It has long been my contention that the lie-laced, entitlement-based, infantile grievance protests of college students is part of a much broader problem — the complete breakdown of Western civilization.  Specifically, I’m referring to the disappearance of the longstanding certitudes and values that made America the strongest and most civilized nation in world history and brought about the emergence of anarchy to fill the void.

While anarchy, in its purest form, is the most certain path to freedom, the reality is that it does not work for people who believe in the principle of non-aggression and want only to be left alone.  The reason anarchy doesn’t work in actual practice is because there will always be those who believe aggression against others is justified by their noble aims.  Such a belief is a clear sign of a psychopathic personality, so it’s not difficult to understand why the Democratic Party is now the party of anarchy.

It’s also not difficult to understand why knowledge-challenged college kids are caught up in a game of “monkey see, monkey do;” i.e., they are merely mimicking adults — especially those on the Radical Left who believe that people who disagree with their anti-Western way of life must, at the very least, be silenced.  Even better, they would like to see them punished.

Liberal fascism recognizes no laws, especially when it comes to free speech.  Liberal fascists believe that both lying and the use of violence are justified in order to achieve their moral ends.  This arrogant, sanctimonious view of life goes back at least to Vladimir Lenin and, even before him, Karl Marx, who organized it into a philosophy and gave the Bolsheviks a blueprint for revolution.

Increasingly, I hear people lament the fact that there are no longer any rules or certitudes guiding people’s conduct.  They do not understand how it came to be that everything that was once considered moral, admirable, and normal is now looked upon as immoral, contemptible, and abnormal.  And vice versa!

What makes the desecration of Western values possible is that Americans have become so weak and fearful of backlash from the Radical Left that they are afraid to speak out.  As a result, nothing is off limits, not only in America but in all Western countries.  Virtually everything is acceptable, no matter how vulgar, immoral, or anti-freedom it may be, because people no longer have the courage to judge.

Out-of-wedlock childbirth is okay, because we dare not judge.  Infanticide is okay, because we dare not judge.  Allowing foreigners to live in the United States without documentation is okay, because we dare not judge.  And so on … you know the list.

Worst of all, the minority now rules the majority, and they do so through loud, hateful, threatening rhetoric that is intended to intimidate those who stubbornly cling to Western values.  For example, about 4 percent of the population identifies as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, yet they have the power to close down a business if the owner refuses to violate his religious beliefs and cater to their wishes.  But, of course, we dare not judge them.

Ayn Rand had a diametrically opposed view of all this when she said, “The precept: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’ . . . is an abdication of moral responsibility:  It is a moral blank check one gives to others in exchange for a moral blank check one expects for oneself.”

Rand went on to say, “There is no escape from the fact that men have to make choices; so long as men have to make choices, there is no escape from moral values; so long as moral values are at stake, no moral neutrality is possible. To abstain from condemning a torturer is to become an accessory to the torture and murder of his victims.”

Translation:  Judge and prepare to be judged.

There’s no question that history is filled with injustices.  Torture, murder, and slavery are an integral part of human history.  But today something different is happening.  As chaos and lawlessness replace Western values, one senses a growing concern among mainstream Americans.

When a society abandons its certitudes, when radical ideologues are allowed to impose their beliefs on others, it loses its will, its moral fiber, and the consensus needed to defend itself against those who would destroy it.  When a nation’s generally accepted code of conduct is replaced by the belief that it’s wrong to be judgmental toward those who are a threat to civilized culture, when law-abiding citizens allow students to riot and quash free speech, when they apologize to criminals and glorify them as victims, it’s an open invitation for barbarians to walk untouched through the front gate and force their uncivilized way of life on others.

What’s the endgame of all this for those with untoward intentions?  First, a population can become so apathetic, so submissive, and so guilt ridden that it not only is afraid to pass judgment but it abandons its own certitudes.  Second, if allowed to go on long enough, the endgame can be a police state as a result of people becoming so frightened and desperate that they are willing to give up their liberty in exchange for safety.

We’re coming up on the 50th anniversary of Woodstock, and how well I remember how the hippies of the sixties made the abandonment of certitudes sound so wonderful.  There were no absolutes, they assured us.  Everything was relative.  Drugs, free love, and destruction of “the man’s” institutions were the wave of the future.

Well, the future has arrived, and it doesn’t look all that great anymore.  What it looks like today is nonstop victimization, perversity, hatred, and violence.  Maybe it’s time for civilized people of goodwill to wake up and have the courage to start judging — and prepare to be judged.  And, of course, push back.  Freedom is not free.

Robert Ringer

Robert Ringer is an American icon whose unique insights into life have helped millions of readers worldwide. He is also the author of two New York Times #1 bestselling books, both of which have been listed by The New York Times among the 15 best-selling motivational books of all time.

16 responses to “A Time to Judge”

  1. kauai_mike says:

    I remember the Robert Ringer who wisely advised us to not waste resources trying to change the behavior of others. To instead focus on matters within our individual grasp and control.

    • MrLucky1966 says:

      I do understand where you're coming from but the paradigm has changed much radically since the 1970's and `1980s'. There is a time where people of like minds need to ban together if it is for the values we all hold dear for Western Civ and as libertarians and conservatives. "If we don't hang together, we will hang separately" as Ben Franklin puts it. I know many times people ban together into force-able interference groups and we are at this point because of them. Sometimes we need to adopt the rules of the enemy to fight back, as in any war, the enemy dictates the rules. If I may, I believe in the Book on Ecclesiastes (sp) in the Bible where there is a time for everything as the circumstances dictate. If I may use another comparison, it's like a militia where need need to come together for the common good and goal and after we win, hopefully, we will disband and them go our individual ways and lives again and resume a "terminate but stay resident role." I for one don't want to lose our liberties, culture, country and have the left turn us all into Tortoise Soup.

  2. JurassicRick says:

    Years ago, things were never like this. Nothing close to it. Now, anything goes, do your own thing, don't judge, don't offend, no rules, everything is beautiful in its own way,…… Everything that is good and right is now considered bad and wrong and everything that is considered to be bad and wrong is now good and right. Where have we gone wrong? Why is this happening? I believe it is entropy, the process where everything is in a constant state of breakdown and deterioration. And now you are seeing it in Western civilization, the breakdown of morals, values, and decency. It is ubiquitous. You can see it everywhere. There is a fitness center I go to whose logo is "No judgments". I told the people at the reception desk how much I objected to that logo and added my own using Ayn Rand's quote, "Judge, and prepare to be judged". They just gave me a dumbfounded look and didn't know what to say.

    This article is absolutely excellent. While reading it, I couldn't help being constantly reminded of RJR's masterpiece, How You Can Find Happiness During the Collapse of Western Civilization. This would be a great addition to an updated edition of the book if such were ever to occur. A new chapter in it might read, "See? I Told You So!" And there you have it. Thank you, Robert, for writing this great article.

    • JF1017 says:

      I have to giggle at the fitness center's "judgment free zone" schtick. After all, if one didn't judge him or herself to be flabby, overweight and out of shape, they would have no customers!

  3. JF1017 says:

    “The precept: ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’ . . . is an abdication of moral responsibility.." Guess what – Jesus agrees! The problem with this quote is that it is not the full sentence, "Judge not, lest ye be judged using the same measure…" Jesus was VERY clear in stating that people MUST use both wisdom and discernment – they need to judge – but they also need to live up to the standards they expect others to abide by. And the excuse "I'm only human" didn't fly either – that was the precise reason you needed to be judgmental! Otherwise, you were on the same level as every other animal, and your life (as well as the lives of those around you) would be dragged down as well.

    • JurassicRick says:

      And guess what, folks. There will be a Judgment Day in the end for all. Get ready!

    • PaulHerring says:

      Ultimately Jehovah is the judge. By what standards? By those he sets forth in the Bible. Discernment is a form of judging, but more in the sense that certain actions we ‘judge’ should be avoided. Or even people we've discerned mightn't be good to have close association with because these simply don't/won’t observe the standards, values or mores originally defined in the Bible for people to live by.

      Robert here referred to the “complete breakdown of Western civilization”. He also said: “As a result, nothing is off limits, not only in America but in all Western countries. Virtually everything is acceptable, no matter how vulgar, immoral, or anti-freedom it may be, because people no longer have the courage to judge.”

      Where does this all leave us? Long ago the Bible at Jeremiah 10:23 said: “I know, LORD, that our lives are not our own, that we’re not able to direct our paths.” (Common English Bible). So is it any surprise that we humans are in the trouble we’re in? Now the effects of leaving God out of the picture are really being felt and we’ve nowhere else to go. Every form of human government has been tried and found wanting. Yet we must have government to deliver the essentials for peace and security, namely, roads, schools, hospitals, and laws for the wellbeing of its citizens.

      By contrast, the Bible speaks of God’s kingdom for which we were taught to pray in the Lord’s Prayer. This isn’t some shadowy thing which, in effect, the churches have labelled ‘as laws within our hearts’. No, it’s a government as real as any we’ve experienced, but ruled by God and Jesus Christ. Daniel 2:44 tells us what it will do.

      Why not read its uplifting and inspiring words as so many others have to their benefit?

      • MacyK25 says:

        Anyone who sets store in the "Bible" is stupid, lazy and unthinking. I've read it. It is hogwash and mythology. Grow a brain!

        • PaulHerring says:

          Well MacyK25, that's telling me! Of course, you have a right to hold an opinion but let's not confuse opinion with fact. On the Bible: you said 'you've read it'. All good. But if we were to read US Constitutional Law (or Australian where I’m from) that too might be all good. But would we understand it and would one reading be enough to pick up on its core or central message? Hardly.

          But look, I’m not here to debate this. RJR’s main point was about judging. You’ve seemingly judged me as ‘unthinking, stupid and lazy’ and that I should “grow a brain!” A bitter pill indeed. Still, making judgement calls is part of life. For me, 40+ years of Bible study has made it possible to discern that there is a solution to the world’s ills apart from man’s rule. With more than 8m others across the world, I believe that to be Biblical theocracy.

      • MacyK25 says:

        Good ol' Jehova.

    • MacyK25 says:

      Good ol' Jesus.

  4. karllembke says:

    "How dare you judge me!"
    "Well, I identify is a judge."

  5. JurassicRick says:

    Remember Sammy Davis's act in the late 60's? Here come da judge, here come da judge….

  6. larajf says:

    Thankfully my college aged daughter has a good head on her shoulders. I want to tell her to give up on college and just start a business, but she's still not seen the light yet. (oh and she's stubborn…don't know where she gets that from since I still have mine)

  7. SteveV2000 says:

    The "Woodstock Hippies" were idiots. I'm a member of that generation but knew BS when I smelled it, and those jerks were pure BS. When my fellow-students shouted down B.F. Skinner and prevented him from speaking at my university — BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T LIKE HIS THEORIES — I knew they were a bunch of a**holes. What I didn't know was: that was the beginning of the end of the USA. Doctor Spock's pervasive permissiveness coupled with an easy childhood in the 1950s and 60s has led to multiple generations of ignorant boobs.