We sometimes dislike a man, or hate him, which is the same thing,
because he possesses certain peculiarities of person or conduct which
are different from ours, or has ideas that are different from those we
favor.
The man may be a perfect stranger to us, and we may know nothing about
his environments or conditions under which he lives, or the reasons why
he differs from us—we hate him all the same and take the other side of
the street rather than meet him face to face.
If we were to look into ourselves we might believe that this man we
dislike, has many reasons for not liking us.
We show prejudice when we judge any man. “Judge not, lest ye be judged,”
says Christ. You are not the judge of any man’s conduct, and to judge
him entails slander, backbiting, and conspiracies to his undoing.
You throw mud at another man. Why? Is it not because you have some spots
yourself and want to draw attention away from them?
You are afraid that if you boost the other man up you will lower
yourself. Hence you unload upon him some of your objectionable qualities
to lighten your load.
Every man who does this admits that the other man is better than he, and
hopes by adding his faults to that other man, to reduce the level to
somewhere near a balance. But experience demonstrates the contrary.
Even if a man should be as bad as you say he is, it is not your business
to correct him. You can not extract the fangs of a rattlesnake by
abusing him.
Look out for your own destinies and leave the judgment of your fellow
man to the judgment seat of God, where it belongs.