Criticism is generally found in use with varying degrees & levels at individual, family, society, government; and in administration, schools, colleges etc. Citizens are up against the establishment seeking better services without blemish. Students in colleges & Universities are after clean administration and against hasty completion of syllabus. In family situations, husbands, wives & children are struggling to cope up with maintaining normal, happy relationships.

People just do not seem to live without it.

It is in other words, an act of examining or judging the ‘value’ and ‘merits’ of something; judging with severity, fault-finding etc. It may sound reasonable for one to criticize a thing or examine or judge the value and merits of something but it would be desirable to analyze from the point of whether he/she intends to uphold a good “moral standard” out of it; may be one wants to replace an ‘evil’ act with ‘good’ one that is useful for self, others or community at large.

We say that he/she is ‘critical’ about a thing, when there does not seem to be adequate reasoning to offer constructive criticism, rather such usage is employed just for criticism sake. Whatever may be the underlying reasons, the individual values, perceptions have influence on final judgment/criticism resultantly there is a basketful of opinions, ideas, remarks ; may be fault-finding ,which that have a bearing on individual thinking with or without societal approval.

Well, if it is criticism for criticism sake, you may realise - “Is it right for me to pull out the mote (speck of dust) in my brother’s eye when a beam is in my own eyes” ?

The people of the times had not spared RABBI, Jesus Christ who could not escape and had come under the scanner of criticism. Jesus Christ during his earthly sojourn healed a woman who suffered for 18 years with a bent back on a Sabbath day, a day not meant for work during those days. The self-righteous people who criticized Jesus Christ for healing the woman reasoned that there were other 6 days in a week for people on which they could get healed; for Jesus answered “thou hypocrite doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose your ox or ass from the stall and lead away to watering? A hypocrite is a person who pretends to have higher standards or belief than is the case, a case of double-standards, indulging in double-talk and who is inconsistent and insincere.

May be the one who criticized Rabbi, the master JESUS termed it a violation of law of the land for Jesus Christ’s act in a way challenged the law of the land in not looking into the human aspect involved in social lives of people around his times, as long as such acts replaced evil with good acts, acts that bring comfort and deliverance to people from captivity.

The woman got deliverance from the captivity of a bent back for 18 years. A question to ponder is whether the act brought about justice, deliverance from sickness, pain and people are able to lead normal lives. Or the law is supreme?

Another noteworthy act of criticism levelled by Scribes and Pharisees is against an adulterous woman who sinned during the times of Jesus Christ is found in The New Testament (The Bible) where we find that a woman was subjected to stoning for her sinful acts as per law and Jesus,when asked , questions the critics by calling upon them to let them first cast a stone at her who is sinless amongst them, questioning moral values, standards of people in general pointing towards double standards and the need for self introspection.

The different forms of government is also an area where the policy makers are in vulnerable position to offer & receive criticism ; oftentimes critical and devoid of ‘constructive criticism’ so much so at times they even bother to strain their vocal chords without reasoning. If only the general public, media, policy makers and others are sensible enough to exercise restraint with limited and appropriate usage of rhetoric, things would be quite different and better from what they are now . Well, if we agree that a ‘critique’ referred above is nothing short of a hypocrite, it has something to do with his/her tongue; for a hypocrite with their mouth destroys neighbors, for their utterances are like the piercing of a sword but the tongue of the wise is health for the utterances that cause pain (critical) are aimed at fault-finding rather than constructive criticism. Yes, just being critical for no valued reasoning can bring about strife and discord for it sows the seed of hatred in society. A perverse person soweth strife and it is desirable to cut down on being critical of things around us which calls for self-imposed discipline and a dose of self-control of the tongue.

If only we are to cut down on being critical for criticism sake, there are varieties of issues before different governments across the globe. The more important and challenging issues countries are facing at the moment are inequality in levels of income, challenges of economic development, corruption at high levels, malnutrition, ill-health, low levels of education, school drop-outs, poverty, terrorism, etc. The critical analysis of these, among others, will definitely pave ways for their eradication such that countries can work out for meaningful progress for the benefit of their citizens. This calls for united, concerted, coordinated efforts by nations with active support of the World Body to bring about good working relationships to root out top priority evils of society such as corruption, discrimination on the basis of caste, color, creed, malnutrition, poverty & disease.
Jesus, the master Rabbi had challenged the law of the land for such acts brought about some deliverance, changes for the better in the lives of people. Yes, Jesus Christ’s act definitely replaced an evil act of stoning a sinful woman by posing a question on their self-introspection. It is an eye-opener for us to even challenge an established norm, even laid out law if only such act can change the lives of people for the better as it happened in the person with a bent back for 18 years who received healing.

Dear friends, you may analyze from the above as to the situations where & when such criticism is warranted and when you think that the remarks, judgment made were ‘critical’ or was it ‘constructive criticism’. Do you think just being critical will serve the purpose?. Or will ‘constructive criticism’ yield effective results?

Critically Yours,

ARE YOU CRITICAL?