Judgment

It seems funny to me that the term judge has come to have a negative connotation in our society. Or that by "judging" we are immediately viewing something as "bad." But doesn't it just mean weighing the pluses and minuses in order to reach a conclusion? Our minds instantaneously make judgments everyday in order to make decisions. So only the judgments that lead to positive conclusions are worth making?

It's interesting to me that as a society we "judge" homosexuals, or "judge" women for having abortions, but feel we don't have a right to "judge" an African culture for performing female circumcisions. Why is it okay to judge something in which someone's needs for pleasure are being met and nobody is getting hurt, or judge someone for making a decision that impacts her body, but not judge something that always causes pain and often leads to death?

How can we make progress toward a happier, healthier, safer, more equitable and more liberated world if we don't challenge tradition?

On a side note, this post is so different from the one I posted a few years ago entitled "problems." Amazing how as individuals our thoughts and philosophies can evolve....