The Spiral of Silence

Scripture

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed.

~Proverbs 31:8, NLT

Quote

Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act. God will not hold us guiltless.

~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

As Sir Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor and theologian. Bonhoeffer understood that Hitler was a tyrant and he warned the Lutheran pastors when he spoke to a National Assembly on Reformation Sunday. They did not respond positively to his message. Although they could see some bad things associated with the Nazi movement, they also saw some good and they choose not to address the bad. One compromise lead to another and slowly they sunk into a greater bondage of fear. Martin Niemoller, a protestant pastor, put it like this: First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me. After the war, a German sociologist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann coined the phrase and the concept “Spiral of Silence.”

The concept simply states that when people fail to speak, the price of free speech goes up. As the price to speak rises, fewer and fewer are willing today the price and speak up at all, until the entire culture is silenced. Bonhoeffer believed and taught, “If you do not speak up, you are not being neutral, you are in fact contributing to evil.” Practically every liberal I know claims neutrality on one subject or the other. Isn’t it amazing, Jesus never taught neutrality. Jesus said emphatically, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” He also said, “It is impossible to serve two masters.” To cower down and refuse to speak up for the cause of Christ and His justice is to aid and abet the enemy. [Matt. 12:30, Luke 16:13]

The point I want to stress is the concept: the spiral of silence. It is happening today. This is what the cancel culture is all about, to silence the voice of the opposition. They achieve their goal through intimidation. If you dare to speak out today, you are labeled a racist, a bigot and a hater. If you open your mouth they will shout you down. I am a very small fish in a very large pond but I don’t care what kind of label they throw at me, I am speaking out until they lock me up. Washington D.C. is a cess pool, a stinky toilet. The Clintons and the Bidens are corrupt and Obama is a tyrant who desires to be our ruler. We are Americans: we fought a war to get rid of rulers. We don’t need a ruler, we need Revival. Speak up folks. They goal is to silence us.

Extra

I am behind folks and I don’t have my blogs written in advance so I am late again today. I have been on the go for over a week and have not had time to sit down and write. I am sure this blog has lots of errors. I cannot proof my on writing on the same day I write. If I wait a couple of days, I can reread and see the errors but I don’t have a couple of days so do the best you can.

God bless you and thanks for reading the blog.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *