Share this Story : National Post Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

What we've lost (9): Moral judgement

The reluctance to judge arises from the attraction of evading responsibility for our choices

You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.

The past 10 or 15 years have not been kind to Canada. Along with a decline in prosperity has come an erosion of the things that made our society great, a decline of what held us together and made us the envy of the world: things like resilience, friendship and service. In this series, National Post writers consider What We’ve Lost.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.

Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.

Unlimited online access to National Post.

National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.

Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.

Support local journalism.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.

Enjoy additional articles per month.

Get email updates from your favourite authors.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account

Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments

Enjoy additional articles per month

Get email updates from your favourite authors

Sign In or Create an Account

It’s very judgmental, isn’t it? This National Post series on What we’ve lost?

What we've lost (9): Moral judgement Back to video

This newsletter from NP Comment tackles the topics you care about. (Subscriber-exclusive edition on Fridays)

There was an error, please provide a valid email address.

By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Platformed will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

Interested in more newsletters? Browse here.

Add to our list of manners, marriage and masculinity, that we have lost our confidence in making moral judgments.

Moral judgments are inescapable. Each time we act, we at least implicitly decide that this is either a good or bad thing to do, and then decide whether to do it.

We cannot get out of bed in the morning without engaging in moral judgment. It’s proper to be at work on time; honouring a commitment to visit my relatives is the right thing to do — therefore I get up even though I might welcome sleeping in. Driving to work in the early hours, before there is any traffic on a deserted residential street, we observe traffic laws, even though there are no police at the local stop sign. We judge it the right thing to do.

Moral judgments are fundamental to being human. Why then are we so reluctant to be judgmental, or ready to accuse others of that failing? The charge of judgmentalism itself is a form of judgment, sometimes harshly made. We can’t get away from it.

We can’t avoid making moral judgments, but we don’t like to be judged or, to be more precise, to be judged negatively. Everyone is happy to do well on an exam; no one likes to get a poor grade. Praise is always welcome; criticism can hurt.

As our culture has become more sensitive to the subjective, to the individual, the reluctance to suffer a negative judgement has become an aversion to making judgments at all. A negative moral judgment upon me might, after all, be correct, requiring some contrition on my part, and some change, perhaps even conversion. More comfortable to avoid it altogether by making judgment itself out of bounds.

What we've lost (7): Manners

What we've lost (8): Marriage

Advertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

READ THE ENTIRE WHAT WE’VE LOST SERIES

Moral judgments insert themselves into sensitive spheres of life. No one much minds being judged afoul of traffic laws, but being considered a bad husband, a negligent father? That hurts. But the man who abandons his family for a mistress is a bad husband and a bad father. He may indeed be a moral reprobate. He might therefore find a certain attractiveness in judgment suspended. A great many people find the suspension of moral judgment to be convenient, comfortable.

It is also true that judgments can be mistaken, or incomplete, or even cruel. There was an entry in this series on stigma. Stigma arises when a moral judgment identifies a particular behaviour, and those who engage in that behaviour, as worthy of disdain. That may well be hard on that person; perhaps culpability is hard to calculate. Better not to stigmatize, better not to judge.

Conservatives demand answers after details of Iranian missile attack on Canadian base in Kuwait emerge Canada

Conservatives demand answers after details of Iranian missile attack on Canadian base in Kuwait emerge

Man who murdered girlfriend gets reduced sentence partly due to his race News

Man who murdered girlfriend gets reduced sentence partly due to his race

Advertisement 2Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

Former president of national gay rights group resigns to take up fight against Muslim Brotherhood Canada

Former president of national gay rights group resigns to take up fight against Muslim Brotherhood

Judge slams Ontario lawyer for filing made-up legal quotes; lawyer says it's 'human error' not AI Canada

Judge slams Ontario lawyer for filing made-up legal quotes; lawyer says it's 'human error' not AI

WestJet, Porter fined tens of thousands over delays, not giving flyers enough food and drink News

WestJet, Porter fined tens of thousands over delays, not giving flyers enough food and drink

Pope Francis famously asked, “Who am I to judge?” It was in relation to a question regarding homosexuality, and his answer was lauded as a model of tolerance. Yet the Holy Father made plenty of moral judgments. It is essential to the mission of his office. He spoke frequently in moral terms about climate change, or the arms trade, or economic greed, or hostility to migrants. Judgments there were most often lauded too. Some judgments are more welcome than others, especially when a negative judgment falls upon impersonal social phenomena.

Man, being a moral being, has a certain amount of moral energy. If it is diverted from the traditional fare of, say, the Ten Commandments, it gets channeled elsewhere. A government that is loath to promote traditional mores in family policy will happily commandeer the policy apparatus to inveigh against impaired driving — or plastic straws.

William F. Buckley, Jr., scion of the comfortable class and conservative Catholic, noted that in the 1950s, when sailing as a young man on the open ocean, it was routine to throw all garbage overboard into the sea. By the 1980s, sailors would, he observed, happily fornicate while smoking pot, but carefully carried their waste ashore.

Fornication has disappeared from our common vocabulary, and marijuana is now near-obligatory, it seems, in public spaces. But litter is rare. Moral energies do not dissipate but are diverted.

The Epstein saga, now unfolding across the globe, was in part a matter of a certain class of people not wanting to render moral judgments on sexual matters. That reluctance to judge is now subject to a severe correction, with emailing the man now judged to be morally contagious. We have lost our balance in making moral judgments.

We judge because we can choose. The reluctance to judge arises from the attraction of evading responsibility for our choices. A culture confident in its capacity to make good moral judgments is a culture more capable of being truly free and virtuous.

Next up in What we’ve lost: A normal life

Share this Story : National Post Copy Link Email X Reddit Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.

Collecting travel rewards? Avoid these mistakes for a better payoff In the world of travel points, hoarding is a trap and 'earning and burning' is the only winning strategy 11 hours ago Travel

Collecting travel rewards? Avoid these mistakes for a better payoff

In the world of travel points, hoarding is a trap and 'earning and burning' is the only winning strategy

Endy's first Toronto warehouse sale offers up to 60 per cent off mattresses and more Take advantage of limited-time deals from March 12 - 15 20 hours ago Deals

Endy's first Toronto warehouse sale offers up to 60 per cent off mattresses and more

Take advantage of limited-time deals from March 12 - 15

Is the Thuma Classic Bed worth it? Testing the bed frame made from upcycled wood I love this bed frame and that it’s GREENGUARD Gold certified 21 hours ago Sleep

Is the Thuma Classic Bed worth it? Testing the bed frame made from upcycled wood

I love this bed frame and that it’s GREENGUARD Gold certified

Advertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.document.addEventListener(`DOMContentLoaded`,function(){let template=document.getElementById(`oop-ad-template`);if(template&&!template.dataset.adInjected){let clone=template.content.cloneNode(!0);template.replaceWith(clone),template.parentElement&&(template.parentElement.dataset.adInjected=`true`)}});

Every major comedy tour coming to Ontario in 2026 — and where to get tickets Featuring Mat Rife, Nate Bargatze and Darcy & Jer, plus more comedians touring Ontario this year 1 day ago Entertainment

Every major comedy tour coming to Ontario in 2026 — and where to get tickets

Featuring Mat Rife, Nate Bargatze and Darcy & Jer, plus more comedians touring Ontario this year

Planning a staycation? These stylish hotels are an easy weekend getaway from Toronto From all-inclusive packages to hip motels, these local spots deliver unique experiences just outside the city 1 day ago Travel

Planning a staycation? These stylish hotels are an easy weekend getaway from Toronto

From all-inclusive packages to hip motels, these local spots deliver unique experiences just outside the city

© National Post