When Labels Become Walls

I’ve been sitting with something that’s been bothering me for a long time, and it ties directly into what I wrote in my previous blog post, "The Work Begins With Us". In that post, I talked about how quick we are to judge others before we’ve taken an honest look at ourselves. Today, I want to take that same principle and apply it to something that seems to be getting worse in our culture: the way people judge religious individuals and entire faith communities based on labels, assumptions, and the actions of a few.

This isn’t about defending any particular religion. It’s about defending fairness, nuance, and basic human decency.

“They All Believe That”

One of the most prominent patterns I see is when a denomination’s leadership releases a statement or maybe a doctrinal clarification, a political stance, or a cultural commentary and suddenly every person who identifies with that faith gets lumped into it.

If a Christian denomination’s board publishes something controversial, people assume every Christian agrees. If the LDS Church releases a statement, people assume every Mormon believes it word-for-word.

But that’s simply not how real life works.

Churches, like any large community, are made up of individuals, people with their own minds, their own convictions, their own interpretations, and their own lived experiences. A board statement represents the board. It doesn't magically overwrite the personal beliefs of millions of people who happen to attend a church with the same name on the sign. 

Yet, society treats these labels like they’re airtight containers.

If the institution says it, then you must believe it. If someone else in your faith does something wrong, then you must be just like them.

It’s lazy thinking. And it’s harmful.

When One Person’s Hypocrisy Becomes Everyone’s Burden

Another thing that grows out of hand is how quickly people generalize when someone who claims a faith acts in a way that contradicts it.

• A Christian cheats on their spouse? “See, Christians are hypocrites.”

• A Mormon gets caught in a scandal? “Typical. They’re all like that.”

• A pastor misuses money? “Organized religion is corrupt.”

But let’s be honest: hypocrisy isn’t a religious problem. It’s a human problem.

Every belief system, every ideology, every political group, every workplace, every family has people who fail to live up to the standards they claim to hold. Yet, for some reason, when it comes to religion, people are eager to paint the entire group with the same brush.

And here’s the irony: Calling someone a hypocrite based on what you think their beliefs are, especially when your own beliefs don’t match theirs, reveals a lack of moral compass in itself. Its judgment built on assumption, not understanding.

The Weight of Labels in Today’s World

We live in a time where labels are everywhere. Some we choose. Some are slapped on us by others. And some are weaponized.

• Religious labels

• Political labels

• Identity labels

• Cultural labels

• Generational labels

And these labels come with preloaded assumptions—stereotypes that people don’t even question before applying them.

The fact is, they all have real consequences:

• People lose jobs because someone assumes their faith makes them “unsafe” or “biased.”

• Friendships end because someone reads a headline about a religious group and decides they suddenly “know” what their friend believes.

• Families fracture because labels become more important than relationships.

• Public discourse collapses because people stop listening and start categorizing.

Labels can be useful for understanding. But they become dangerous when we use them to replace understanding.

Judgment thrives in the absence of self-reflection.

In my earlier blog, I talked about the importance of looking inward before pointing fingers outward. That message applies here more than ever.

It’s easy to condemn an entire faith group when you haven’t examined your own assumptions.

It’s easy to call someone a hypocrite when you haven’t acknowledged your own inconsistencies.

It’s easy to generalize when you haven’t taken the time to understand.

The work begins with us, meaning me, you, and anyone who claims to value fairness, compassion, or truth. If we want a world where people are treated as individuals rather than stereotypes, then we have to stop participating in the cycle of lazy judgment.

At the end of the day, every person you meet is more than the label they carry, whether they chose it or not. A religious label doesn’t tell you someone’s heart. It doesn’t tell you their struggles, their doubts, their convictions, or their journey. It doesn’t tell you what they truly believe. And it definitely doesn’t give you the right to assume the worst.

If we want a healthier society, one where people can disagree without dehumanizing each other. We have to start seeing people as individuals again. We have to stop letting labels do the thinking for us. We have to stop judging entire groups based on the actions of a few.

Unity doesn’t mean we all believe the same thing. Peace doesn’t mean we all agree. Respect doesn’t require sameness. 

What it does require is:

• humility

• listening

• the willingness to admit that we don’t know someone just because we know the label attached to them.

And maybe, if we can start there, we can build something better—together.

-- Justin Bailey