The Case for Elitism

While sitting in church last week, I heard the following from the pulpit: “So don’t judge others, because you’re not better than they.”[1]  This statement implies, simply, that if you were better than others, judgment would be permissible.  Allow me to come back to this principle later.  The speaker’s intent, however, was to convey her feeling that no one was better than anyone else, so no one should judge anyone else.  This theme, common in many church sermons, is categorically false.  I am quantifiably better than some people, and you are as well.

Allow me to use two historical figures of note as examples: Adolf Hitler and Mother Teresa.  I know that these examples are extreme, but even Christopher Hitchens, who vehemently argued against the canonization of Mother Teresa, would probably agree that when it comes to being a decent, good human being, Mother Teresa was flat out better at it than Hitler.   For example, Adolf Hitler killed somewhere between 11 and 17 million Jews.  Mother Teresa killed 0 Jews.[2]  Even if Adolf Hitler discovered penicillin AND produced the TV show “Saved by the Bell”, Mother Teresa would still be a better person.  

Now that we have established that there is indeed a scale, with Mother Teresa being somewhat closer to the ideal of what a good person would be and Hitler being further away from this ideal, the only question that remains is determining where in the middle do we fall.  Coming back to my first point, the logic of the statement, “Judge not, because you’re not better” (if you will allow me to paraphrase) touted so righteously by the speaker dictates that I am allowed to judge and ridicule my peer should I be able to determine that I am closer to the ideal on this scale than he.

That’s great news because we actually want those better than us to judge us.  It’s how we become better people.  There is such a thing as positive peer pressure.  If I had a friend[3] who decided to use heroin, I would attempt to use our relationship and my positive influence to induce him to stop.  Fear of judgment stops many from doing morally questionable things.  If we were to stop all judgment, think of the growing number of nose pickers we would find in church. 

When I introduced this thought to others, they told me that the true meaning behind this saying is that one person is not more “valuable” than another.  Once again, they are using the wrong terminology and the underlying meaning is lost in the verbiage.  Were I to “own” another human being, that person’s value would be established based on a myriad of categories including what type of jobs I would need that person for, my previous personal relationship with that person, that person’s size, strength, etc. 

What they are trying to say is that one person’s intrinsic spiritual worth is not greater than another in the sight of God.  We need to change our religious lexicon to reflect the true meaning behind our statements, because I am definitely better than other people and I’m tired of the funny looks I get when I point that out in church.

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[1] The real quote was “Don’t judge others because you aren’t better than them.”  But I refuse to begin my premise with such a blatant grammatical error. 

[2] The number of Jews killed by Hitler and Mother Teresa are both estimates.

[3] I know it’s difficult to believe that someone who would spend time to write an entire paper proving that he is better than others would actually develop friendships, but it happens.