Silence: When silence becomes complicity in evil

Source: Martin Luther King Jr.'s cry from Birmingham jail

I have been disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions... But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church... I had the strange feeling that we would have the support of the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some few have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed. In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern."

(Dr. Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham Jail, August 1963)

Explanation: When clergy preferred the tranquility of stained glass windows over justice

In 1963, four African American girls were murdered in a terrorist bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King, a Baptist minister who fought for civil rights between 1955 and 1968, participated in protests against racial segregation and racism in Birmingham and was jailed for it, as he was on twenty-nine other occasions. In his letter from jail, he wrote, among other things, about the silence of the Christian church and the silence of rabbis, who hid behind the windows of their houses of worship. Many, even those who did not favor racial segregation, stayed silent under the pretext that this was not a 'religious issue.' Five years later, just days before his assassination, Dr. King would mention this again, this time more bluntly: the hateful words of those who opposed desegregation would one day be forgotten, but the silence of those who supported it from afar and in silence would never be forgotten.

Perspective: The courage to break the silence: Between the silent majority and the active minority

We often stand before wickedness, foolishness, or wrongdoing and keep silent—afraid of getting hurt, perhaps not believing we can make a difference, or simply unwilling to meddle in other people's affairs. The majority just prefers to stay with the majority, where silence becomes far more comfortable, even if it is immoral. Admittedly, the moral decision is difficult, since there are times when it is better to remain silent, whether because speaking out only causes harm or because it is already too late to speak; even so, the moral choice remains imperative.

All over the world today, people are taking to the streets in demonstrations, protests, and demands of their governments. In Israel, people demonstrate against and in favor of the government, for and against the return of hostages in exchange for ending the war and releasing murderers, and across the globe people stand and call for justice, welfare, peace, liberty, and the rule of law. Yet in far too many places, the masses have no voice—in totalitarian regimes and in the face of giant corporations—for fear of death and imprisonment. The truth is that it does not take vast multitudes to change reality; a handful of activists is enough, in the words of American anthropologist Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Consider how few Jews there are on this earth we inhabit, and how profoundly we have altered its course.

Going Deeper: How economic hegemony silences our inner voice

Aviad Kleinberg, The Sirens' Song (blog):

Without a model of moral excellence that makes us people who have no price tag, everything has a price. The hegemony of the free market disintegrates communities and commodifies everything. The prophets of capital's open society, with high praise of individualism on their lips, foster a society where the individual of strong principles, possessing arete (moral excellence), is ground down, dissolved, and made a slave to the tyranny of fashion and the molders of public opinion. He does not stand outside the chorus not because he lost his courage, but because he can no longer think except according to the rules manufactured for him by the masters of commodities. He loves what he is told to love. He loves his master; he will not go free. No spirit rises within him anymore.

Here is the advice of the Chinese sage Lao Tzu to the ruler: "In governing people, the sage empties their minds and fills their bellies; weakens their ambitions and strengthens their bones. He keeps them without knowledge and without desire, and ensures that the knowing dare not act" (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching). Most of us, it turns out, are well pleased with this arrangement. But whoever still feels will through the clouds of satiety in their gut, whoever dreads that we might lose the capacity to think and want otherwise, knows instinctively that virtue is once again required of us.

For virtue to become possible, a community must rise anew in whose eyes commitment to genuine choice is bound up with commitment to community. A demanding task awaits its members: fill people's minds, strengthen their ambitions, make them knowledgeable; stop talking so much. Dare to act.

Culture: From 'The Wave' to the Warsaw Ghetto: When the few dare to break the silence

In 1981, the film The Wave was released, based on a true story. A California high school teacher sets out to prove that anyone can be sucked into evil, and creates a fictional underground movement in his classroom that terrorizes the school, with only one female student speaking out against it. The film holds up a mirror to its viewers, demanding engagement, independent thought, and above all taking a stand against those who stay silent, who in practice allow violent and extreme leadership to go on leading. That was how it was in Nazi Germany: the silent majority enabled a violent minority to act, bringing about one of the greatest catastrophes in history.

Many other books and films present different pictures, fictional or historical, of defying the Nazis at the risk of one's life—for instance: Jacob the Liar (Becker, 1963; Kassovitz, 1999), Schindler's List (Spielberg, 1993), Inglourious Basterds (Tarantino, 2009), Transatlantic (Winger, 2023). And of course, life itself, in the renowned uprisings of the Warsaw Ghetto, the Vilna Ghetto, and many others.