The Fourth Step of Twelve Step programs reads, "we made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves (pg.59)." This step requires a "fact-finding" and "fact-facing" process (pg.64). Clearly, when we begin by fooling others, we end by fooling ourselves. Objectivity is important, but difficult because of our inherent subjectivity.
Pirkei Avos 1:8 has some helpful advice for assisting our objectivity. The first section of the verse tells us that we are not to place ourselves as a lawyer.
The first section reads al taas atsmecha which can be translated as "do not make yourself" corchei hadayanin "an arranger of judges" or "an advocate who arranges pleas before a judge" or, in our parlance, "a lawyer." The awkwardness of this phrase indicates either a shortage of or embarrassment about the biased role of organizing information so as to persuade judges.
We are warned against being an advocate. I see several reasons. First, I am more likely to become biased. Second, I am likely to get emotionally attached to my viewpoint and dislike those who disagree. Third, and even more importantly, I am likely to begin "playing God" as I lodge with certainty that Reality ought to be other than as it is.
The second section reads "when the litigants are standing before you, let them all be in your eyes as guilty." This section would seem to contradict the advice given earlier in 1:6 "judge every person favorably." Is there a resolution to it? I think so. Just as in the first section, we are urged to not be biased because it will distort Reality, so in the second section we are assured that Reality is as it ought to be, i.e, God's in control. It is important to realize that the litigants are standing there for good reason, not because it is an unjust or random universe.
The third and final section reads "but when they are dismissed from before you, let them all be in your eyes as innocent, provided they have accepted upon themselves the judgment." Here the implied warning is to not obsess about the process. By letting go of it, by understanding that the process has been completed, we are relieved of our entanglement.
But what of the final contingency? Why would we be involved, in any way, to see that they have accepted upon themselves the judgment? Here, I believe, the warning is for us, not for them. If we see them "as innocent," we may be inclined to reach to avert their consequences with such a new view in mind. This final part warns of attempts against the benefits of the process of consequences.
