“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged...”

If you have ever been falsely accused of something and have had your reputation sullied, you have some inkling of what it is like to be found guilty until proven innocent. Imagine what it would be like to be found guilty of a crime you didn’t commit.

Since 1989, there have been tens of thousands of criminal cases in which prime suspects were identified and pursued - - until DNA testing proved that they were wrongly accused. The Innocence Project has used DNA to exonerate another 240 people falsely imprisoned; 17 of them were on death row, awaiting execution for a crime they did not commit.

In many of these cases, the scientific evidence refuted the testimony of eyewitnesses, police and jailhouse snitches. Often prosecutors were found guilty of misconduct for suppressing evidence once they became convinced that the defendant was guilty.

Human judgment is notoriously flawed. Given the same set of facts, two people can arrive at opposite conclusions. Those who disagree may attribute false attitudes and motives to one another. Our memories can play tricks on us and, when faced with contradictory evidence, we may discount it and defend our preconceived notions. We enjoy sitting in the judgment seat.

Knowing our tendency to make errors in judgment, Jesus urged His followers to be cautious in finding fault with others. He flat out told the Pharisees not to judge others when they were guilty of the same offences. He came down hard on their hypocrisy. He made a sharp distinction between their critical, judgmental thinking and the cautious discernment He expected His followers to use.

In John 7: 24, Jesus said, “Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” To judge righteously, we must weigh all the evidence, set aside our own biases and motives and judge others as we would want to be judged. “For with what judgment ye judge,” He said, “ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.”

If Christ were alive today, I suspect He would be concerned about the judgmental spirit that permeates our culture, especially our TV newscasts.

Case in point: Richard Jewell, the security guard who was falsely accused of setting off a bomb during the 1996 summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Case in point: the trashing of the Duke lacrosse team by newscasts before the teammates had a chance to prove their innocence.

Case in point: Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, who was falsely accused of the anthrax attacks.

Court TV even changed its name to Tru TV with a small disclaimer at the bottom of the screen stating, “all suspects are innocent until proven guilty.”

A judgmental spirit has made the “blame game” one of America’s most popular past times. When things go wrong - - and they surely have - - there is a tendency to believe some one else is to blame. That may be true in some cases, most notably the current financial crisis where there is plenty of guilt to go around. In such cases, the public outcry may be justified, but there is a risk in seeing our selves as victims. As long as we’re focused on fixing the blame, we’re not fixing our problems. In pointing a finger at others, we have three fingers pointing at ourselves and that means we can’t get a firm grip on the matter. If we do nothing but complain, we bear some of the responsibility for what happens next.