Judgment Vs. Truth

[Byzantine]

There's a difference between saying "What Jimmy is doing is objectively wrong regardless of his views" and saying "Jimmy is going to hell for what he's doing," isn't there? I mean, there's a way to say that what someone is doing is wrong without breaking the command not to judge, right?

[beatitude]

It's right to make that distinction, as only God can know a person through and through, and what the consequences of their actions will be. "Man looks at the outward appearance; the Lord searches the heart."

But it can be a bit more complex than that, as it's still possible to say something truthful ("What Jimmy is doing is objectively wrong...") with a judgmental attitude. Before speaking, you need to take a long honest look at your own motivations, and what the other person could gain from hearing your words. I used to know someone, a recent convert, who was always very keen (overkeen) to dispense spiritual advice and correct people when he saw them doing something wrong. Once he upset a friend by pitching into an ethical/theological discussion that was taking place on her Facebook wall, causing offence to her aunt. The aunt's view was objectively wrong according to the Catholic faith, but it wasn't this man's place to correct her so rudely and so publicly. It wasn't the right medium for it (Facebook, where a woman much older than him would be embarrassed in front of her family and friends?) and he wasn't the right person to do it (he'd never even met her). The best correction stems from a mutually trusting, truthful, and genuine relationship with another person, as these things will guard against harshness or judgmentalism.

[Basilisa Marie]

Right. We can't ever know if a person goes to hell - we can only hope that he or she goes to heaven. We can say that Jimmy's actions are objectively wrong. What we do about it depends on what the actions are and our relationship with Jimmy.