Karma

Over the last year or two, I have noticed the tendency of younger people to use the word "karma" as a vindictive comment about someone else's behavior or action. Let me say that I am neither a theologian nor a psychologist, just a person who wonders about how our language and belief systems change because of misunderstandings.

Every time I read a Facebook post that says someone is getting a karmic payback, I have to wonder if the commenter realizes the meaning of karma. If the poster is a Christian, then a non-Christian belief is being used to kind of wish evil on another person based on the poster's personal viewpoint. If the poster truly believes in karma, then wouldn't saying someone else deserves bad karma be inviting the same back on the poster?

Christians believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of sin. They don't believe that a person's sins or bad karma cause one to be reincarnated as a lesser form of life. Christians are taught that people reap what they sow, but that is a different concept than karma which presumes reincarnation.

I think all this judgmental karma talk is a way of making oneself feel better or superior to the person who has been perceived as having committed some kind of faux pas. The thing is, everyone has different beliefs, mores, morals, emotions, and motivations for his/her behaviors. The only one who truly knows a person's heart is the Lord. The rest of us really aren't qualified.