XXXIV: BE NOT JUDGEMENTAL

It’s the season of Christmas. The season of gaiety and gifts. To season to forgive and forget. The time, once again, to remember Jesus, his deeds and words. It was Jesus who once said, “Judge ye not others.” Do not judge others. Because, when we judge others, we become JUDGEMENTAL. We judge people in accordance with our moral preferences; our likes and dislike. Then, we cannot be IMPARTIAL in our judgments. We tend to be BIASED. We judge by our emotional tendencies. We turn to be TENDENTIOUS. Our SELF INTEREST creeps into our opinions. Our preconceived ideas decide our opinions. We become PREJUDICED. People, then, view us as PARTISANS. PARTISANS are people who are PARTIAL to a party or principle. They are BIASED; they are PREJUDICED and TENDENTIOUS. They have selfish interests. All the following words are the SYNONYMS of PARTIAL (having vested or selfish interest): TENDENTIOUS ATTACHED BIASED PREJUDICED PARTISAN The corresponding ANTONYMS can be: UN TENDENTIOUS UNBIASED UNPREJUDICED IMPARTIAL DISPASSIONATE DETACHED DISINTERESTED The last term, DISINTERESTED, is generally mistaken as UNINTERESTED. But DISINTERESTED, in fact, is not NOT INTERESTED, but NOT HAVING ANY SELFISH INTEREST, i.e., IMPARTIAL and DETACHED. We expect all JUDGES or, for that matter, ARBITRATORS (ARBITER) to keep DISINTEREST. An ARBITRATOR or ARBITER is a MEDIATOR, one who ARBITRATES or MEDIATES. He/she SETTLES DISPUTES. Here is an old ANALOGY: RACONTEUR: NARRATION ARBITRATOR: MEDIATION Just as a raconteur’s function is narration (telling stories), an arbitrator’s function is mediation. Here is another analogy: JUDGE: LITIGANTS ARBITRATOR: DISPUTANTS Just as a judge settles the quarrel between legally quarrelling parties (litigants), an arbitrator settles the argument between disputants. A RACONTEUR, whom we have met in one of the above analogies, generally narrates ANECDOTES. An ANECDOTE is a small interesting story. A RACONTEUR tells ANECDOTES, just as a JESTER (joker) tells JOKES. Hence, JESTER: JOKES RACONTEUR: ANECDOTES An ANECDOTE is a small story or joke, just as a SNACK is a small MEAL, or just as a SKIFF is a small BOAT, or just as a DART (arrow) is a small MISSILE, or just as a SKIT is a small PLAY. Hence, ANECDOTE: NARRATIVE (story) SNACK: MEAL SKIFF: BOAT MISSILE: DART SKIT: PLAY As I said at the OUTSET of the post, it’s the season of Christmas and it’s also a season of holidays. So, my posts to the blog will be a little irregular. Before I sign off today, let’s also have a look at the ANTONYM of OUTSET. Outset means the STARTING point, the BEGINNING, the COMMENCEMENT, the ONSET. The ANTONYM, therefore, must mean the ENDING point, the CONCLUSION. Hence, OUTSET x TERMINATION That’s all for the day. HAPPY X’MAS to everyone. Enjoy your holidays.