Thomas Paine

Vince Tang
English 48A
Journal for Thomas Paine
November 15, 2011

Reading Quote:

“Hath your property been destroyed…your wife and children destitute of a bed to lie on, or bread to live on… Have you lost a parent or a child…? If you have not, then are you not a judge of those who have” (635).

Research Quote:

“By the time he arrived in Philadelphia… he had already had a remarkably full life” (629).

Summary of Reading Quote:

It is unfair for us to judge others without personally experiencing and having a true understanding of what we are judging.

Response:

To have a true understanding of another person’s situation is to be “in his shoes”. With that said, no one knows you better than yourself. We can say the same about members within a society. King George III cannot fully understand an American Revolutionary’s passionate pursuit to be independent of his government. In contrast, an American born cannot truly understand life in the society of the British monarch. Therefore, how can one judge the other and argue or take arms against what they do not know. Thomas Paine, however, was “…the right man in the right place at the right time” (629). His first thirty-seven years of life credits him as an experienced member living within the society of Great Britain. His new life and perspective in America credits him as an American Revolutionary. Paine’s actions are justifiable because he has the understanding and perspective of both sides.

Bringing all this together and looking through a smaller scale of an individual toward another individual, we should question ourselves sometime. Who are we to judge someone when we have not been “in his shoes”? In fact, who are we to judge anyone? We do not know a person’s past life experience, his present state, or his perspective of the future; his emotions and thoughts during these times we do not know. No one truly knows but that specific person. Thus, it is unfair for us to judge each other. Opinionating, on the other hand, we are all entitled to. It is natural for us to form personal opinions because they are merely personal thoughts from personal perspectives. We begin to judge when these opinions trigger emotional responses because it is then, that we start saying “that’s not right” or “your behavior is inappropriate”. All in all, we should not forget moral righteousness at the humanistic level. It is fair for us to judge upon these values because we should “Do for others what you want them to do for you…” (Mathew 7:12).