Are people only as good as the company they keep?

The prostitute thread led me to wondering what you all think.

Since I am a parent and older now, I do believe it to be true. People are only as good as the company they keep. There are always exceptions of course. In the case of family, one doesn't always have a choice.

I think it depends. My mother has kept some pretty bad company in her life with a few friends, but they're all people she tries to help and you can't fault a person for that. She believes in not giving up on people...to a point, but it takes a long time to get to that point.

I admit that I am often tempted to judge people by the company they keep. If someone is totally abhorrent in character or has loathsome views, I have a hard time understanding how a decent person can tolerate it.

Okay, this was clear back in the 70's when I lived in Austin, Texas. Since I didn't hate blacks and didn't hate gays, I happened to have a male friend who was BOTH, and Lordy, were people judgemental towards me for it! And, to make it worse, I was from ~ gasp! ~ CALIFORNIA! So I didn't stand a chance. And was all that biasness towards me warranted? Nope!

But there are certain kinds of people that I refuse to allow into my life. I do not want to be associated with them.

There was a time I hung out with racist, anti gay rednecks in Mississippi, some I suspected of being in the KKK. But, they were my relatives - couldn't always avoid it.

Then in the counter-culture days of the late '60s and early '70s I would be seen with druggies, some into meth and heroin. I wasn't into those specific drugs but did grass and psychedelics, so how could I be too judgmental. Hell, I even knew ppl strung out on cigarettes - just tried to avoid them in enclosed spaces where their drug polluted the air I had to breathe.

While we usually elect to hang out with ppl into our own values and enjoyments, sometimes you will find a person you like with disparate habits and still enjoy their company on things you have in common.

So, while I have kept company with prostitutes, druggies, adulterers, ppl of color, homosexuals, artists and musicians I do try to avoid lawyers and corporate executives.

I know that is un Christian of me. But, I ain't Christian (tho I have hung out with them.)



Matthew 9:9-13: As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

Depends. Sometimes people have a different relationship with a perceived jerk or creep. You should judge it on a case by case basis.