QUESTION:

I wonder about the silence of many of us, especially our leaders in the face of evil around us. Don’t we have a responsibility to speak out at these critical moments of history? If we don’t speak now, when will it be possible? – Job C.T.

ANSWER: Saji Mathew Kanayankal CST

In the present world we witness many kinds of injustice and evil around us, especially the oppressive activities of autocrat leaders prompt us to think about the meaning of our life and existence. When evil takes place around us what should be our attitude? Of course, many of us do not willingly join with it nor do we promote it, but do we speak about it or do we stay silent?There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, but might we be erring on the side of too much silence? Indeed, silence is a virtue and it is good to be silent, but when we keep mum at a time that requires us to speak out, silence becomes an evil. Silence is good but it becomes bad when we keep aloof as the time needs our voice. What are the things that matter in our community, state, country, continent and the world at large that we have been silent about? Since it is very challenging and dangerous to call attention to evil, most of us are forced to be silent in the face of evil. How should we respond to it when we witness something wrong?

TO BE SILENT IN THE FACE OF EVIL IS EVIL
The saying attributed to German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act,” is relevant to our time too. We have many instances wherein we are afraid to speak the truth and witness to justice at the moments of injustice and atrocities. When we keep silent in the face of injustice and evil, one way or another we join with the perpetrators. Indeed, we do not take part in any of the unjust activities directly, but our silence and indifference indirectly help the evil to pervade in society. Bonhoeffer warns from the past to the present time of spiritual slumber. For him, the followers of Jesus – the Christians- should not be silent in the face of social evils. The Church has a moral responsibility to act in favour of the oppressed and the poor. Secondly, he speaks in the context of the Nazi’s totalitarian regime, where the fundamental rights of human beings were neglected and many crimes against humanity have taken place.
If we keep a kind of ‘prudential silence’, in a way we do agree on the atrocities and crimes. There is no doubt that passivity is a kind of approval. However, the gospel demands us to refrain and desist from keeping silent and speak up and act courageously when we encounter injustice. Our passive silence may motivate the perpetrators to continue their unjust activities. As it is said; “Silence becomes the universal crime of decent people.” Each time when we encounter evil, whenever we speak against it, our burden will be doubled. Staying silent is a way of avoiding conflicts and unnecessary drama but then, we are sending a wrong signal. Refusing to speak against injustice might translate to accepting the status quo. Silence is also a means of communication. This should not discredit the importance of keeping silent. Silence works best in moments of anger or when one is unsure of what to say. However, keeping silent amidst injustice only allows injustice to prevail. In the words of Thomas Aquinas, “Nonaction is a kind of action.Omission is directly opposed to justice…because it is nonfulfillment of a good of virtue but only under the aspect of what is due, which pertains to justice.”

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF AN INDIVIDUAL
The evil doers create a kind of mass attention for their version of truth and justice and they create a sort of opposition with false propaganda. The “other” can become an object of hate and/or demonization by the individual evil-doers and their radical leadership. They propagate that the ideals of the group are much more important than the rights of an individual and create a kind of self-accustomed victimisation. In the process of victimisation, there will be many colourful narrations explaining how they were victimised in the past by the then rulers. This victimisation aims to make them feel that they have lost something, and the thing they have lost is taken by a specific enemy, mostly some minority-out group. The Nazi regime made many fake stories against the Jews through propaganda which triggered the ego of German nationalism. The spread of many fake stories through the social media is the modern form of those Nazi propaganda. With the help of the blind supporters, they may realise their hate-filled goals and will carry out their evil plans often through apparently good methods.
Evil can be prevented only through a proactive approach to the individual. Whenever God calls us to stand up against evil, it is our moral responsibility to respond to it faithfully. For such an esteem response one should overcome his/her fear, insecurities, and ego and should open to listening to the voice of one’s conscience. We should not forget that every individual has his /her voice in society and it should be pronounced properly. In many cases people feel overwhelmed or powerless in the face of injustice, believing that their actions will not have a significant impact. This feeling of helplessness can lead to silence or dissent. Though people can give some explanations, they are not morally justified. We should never neglect the opportunity to voice our opinions on injustice and discrimination in our society because, unless common people and leaders object vociferously to any act of evil and violence, even when it is an aberration, a society or a nation can be whipped into evil. Elie Wiesel, a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor says, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must – at that moment – become the centre of the universe.”

VIRTUE OF FORTITUDE IN THE FACE OF EVIL
There can be a variety of reasons for the majority to be silent at the face of evil. Sometimes they are afraid for their lives when they buck the frenzied evil-doers. People may fear reprisals and harm as the result of speaking against the unjust authorities. The expected personal consequences withdraw one from speaking when justice is challenged. Many others are indifferent to the suffering of others. As far as one is not sensitive to the pain and trauma of the other, it is easy and safe to evade conflicting situations as far as it does not touch him. It is the easiest way to avoid conflict in one’s life. We become passive as far as the problems do not affect us directly.They might not feel personally affected by the injustice or may not believe that their actions can make a difference. If truly humanity is all about being there for each other, why do people tend to shy away from lending a voice to issues that affect other people or groups of people? As long as one fails to speak up against little things, he or she is exposing their human rights to being trampled upon in the future. If little issues are often overlooked, they aggravate into bigger societal issues. In many cases, we can see a kind of unholy nexus between the power holders. When people who hold offices with some responsibilities are motivated by personal goals or self-interest, or if they benefit something from the existing system of injustice, they may have some vested interests in maintaining the status quo. The silence of many religious leaders in our country when autocracy creeps into every system and administrative organisms, prompt us to think about this unholy nexus.
Even when the majority fail to respond as per the need of the time, we have few examples like Fr Stan Swami or bishop Rolando Alvarez. Bishop Alvarez, who challenged the autocratic regime of Daniel Ortega, the president of Nicaragua, was sentenced to more than 29 years in prison, alleging that he had committed “crimes of conspiracy to undermine national integrity and propagation of false news through information and communication technologies to the detriment of the Nicaraguan state and society.”When promulgated the judgement, the judge also added that Bishop Alvarez would be fined and stripped of his Nicaraguan citizenship.While he was forced to detain the state, he refused to board a flight to the United States with other prisoners who were detained for criticising President Ortega and stayed back in his native country. He is in prison still now. As he repeatedly says, in the face of the atrocities of Ortega and the compulsion from different parts of the government he always looked into the voice of his conscience and followed it without fail. He is daring enough to face its consequences as well. Speaking up boldly against such kind of unjust rulers is a sign of one’s commitment to society. While doing such a right thing as per the call of conscience, despite the external pressure and suffering, one can surely experience inner peace and calmness. It is important to always do what is right and not to get into the comfort of the temporal goods and benefits. Let me conclude these reflections with the words of Dr. Martin Luther King; “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the vociferous and discordant clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silent of the good people.”