The wisdom of man

As I peruse the many newspapers that are on the web, at least those which are not charging for their service, I enjoy reading the comments made to certain articles. I have been attracted mainly to those articles that report on people who have gotten themselves in some type of legal trouble.

Then I read the comments and I wonder just how many people out there are perfect. From their comments I would imagine that many of them are as they denigrate and verbally punish the offender written about.

When I was growing up I did many a foolish thing, heck, even as an adult I have done many foolish things, but I grew up in an era where people who did foolish things were allowed to get on with their lives, after paying some type of penitence. Now days, it appears that this is an impossibility. It makes me cringe when I read the comments that not only are vicious, but are also of pure condemnation for the offender.

I guess it makes the commentator feel better about him/herself, but I know that in their lives they have dark secrets they don't want the world to know. While it is good to catch people who are doing things contrary to the law, it is also good to understand that we don't know the reasons surrounding the offence. I try not to judge for I am in no position to do so. I can suggest and hope to change a persons attitude or desires to do something, but I am not a judge. I may not have done what others have, but I am not a judge. Scriptural wisdom tells us not to judge unrighteously least we be judged the same way, but man's wisdom is not God's wisdom and so men will continue to judge another's actions while ignoring their own dark sides.

We want the world to think we are a fair and forgiving nation but in fact we are neither fair, nor forgiving as we are quick to judge and demand more than a pound of flesh for an offence. May God have mercy on someone that screws up in life because man surely won't.