I was thinking about discrimination and judgment this past Easter morning in light of the Indiana law, especially as it seems that much of it is being done in the name of Jesus, and feeling some desire of my own to discriminate and judge, myself, as it is my personal feeling that Jesus Christ's ultimate message is not to shun gay people but, rather, about absolute "non-judgment" and absolute "unconditional Love".
Then I thought of all of the many ways I discriminate and judge, on a daily basis -- and of others I know who would never dream of discriminating against or judging gay people, but probably do so routinely in ways that we may not even be aware of.
Thus, this "Hierarchy of Non-Judgment".
It seems a perfect thing to post for Easter Day.
I'm certainly on this list. Are you?
If you are, and it's not where you want to be, perhaps we can all dedicate at least today to trying to move further down the list, possibly to the very end. It is a really, really hard exercise but I'm going to try.
What are your tough ones? Which other forms of discrimination and judging might be missing from this list? What other ordering might be more accurate? Can you imagine a world where almost everyone is at Level 1?
If we get there, when we have personally mastered all of our discrimination and judgment we can, with all integrity, criticize those who still practice it . . . but, of course, at that point, we won't want to!
"The HIERARCHY OF NON-DISCRIMINATION"
24. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who are different colors than me
23. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who are a different gender than me
22. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with a different sexual preference than me
21 . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with a different religion than me
20. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with different thoughts or philosophies than me
19. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with different physical or mental conditions than me
18. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with different physical or mental capabilities than me
17. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with different financial resources than me
16. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who from a different country than me
15. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who eat differently than me
14 . . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who sound different than me
13 . . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who move different than me
12 . . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with different political views than me
11 . . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with a different education level than me
10. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with a different experience than me
9. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people with a different age than me
8. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people from a different place than me
7. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who spend time with different people than me
6. . . I don't discriminate against or judge people who are at a different place on this hierarchy than me
5. . . I don't discriminate against or judge any animal species that is different than me
4. . . I don't discriminate against or judge any plant species that is different than me
3. . . I don't discriminate against or judge anyone who discriminates against or judges me
2 . . . I don't discriminate against or judge anyone or anything
1 . . . I don't discriminate against or judge