Posted by
James Biga on Friday, October 30, 2009 10:05:01 AM
Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow.
-Elie Wiesel
Preface to "Night"
History has proven this comment to be correct. Time and time again, evil rises to consume humanity. It often involves the death of thousands, if not millions, of people. It succeeds because human beings allow it. In fact, human beings are the tool that evil uses. Human beings allow themselves to be utilized by the evil. Some are used because they convince themselves there is power to be gained. Others are intentionally or naively ignorant that it is actually evil.
Fortunately there are people willing to stand up against this evil. These people suffer humiliation and sacrifice all that they have to fight this evil. They are ridiculed and debased by those who perceive they have "something to gain" from this evil. They are considered "whatever"-phobes at best, and "nutjobs" at worst by those who don't see evil as it is.
There is tragedy to be found in these groups of people. There is, though, another group of our fellow human beings that live the most tragic of lives. They are the ones that Mr. Wiesel references. Those who keep silent.
There are many "justifications" for keeping silent. Most reasons revolve around fear. Fear of death, fear of humiliation, and fear of losing what they have. In the battle between "Fight or Flight", flight appears to win a majority of the time. In order for evil to grow, not only does it need "soldiers", it needs cowards. In other words, people either fight for it, or people do nothing to prevent it's march forward. This puts the people of silence, by default, on the side of evil.
Fear has been used by numerous tyrants throughout history. It is a very effective tool. In the last century men like Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, and others of lesser grandiosity used it to advance their own power. Millions died because of this fear. The Middle East and Africa are full of "leaders" who maintain a grip on power through fear. Millions die or are thrown in prisons to be tortured in order to tighten the grip fear has on people. Watching people die often cuts the tongue out of people. Hearing the stories of torture does the same. Evil relies on this.
If you have nothing worth dying for, you have nothing worth living for. This is considered an oversimplified statement. It may be, but it is still true. Remaining silent as evil marches on makes a person's life worthless. Tragically, the person being silent realizes this. They live the most miserable of lives. They allow their fears to dictate their actions or inactions. All of their responses, if there are any, are based on short term "security". Not only do they eventually lose their material goods anyway, they lose their humanity a piece at a time until they are nothing.
There will come a time in the not so distant future, where speaking or writing as I just have will be considered "illegal". The relativism and multiculturalism that is overtaking the present Western World will destroy those who still believe that there is Good and Evil in this world.
The very idea of Evil has been ridiculed by many in the public realm already. It is considered an archaic idea held by the ignorant. This is not true. There is Good and there is Evil. If I limited myself to Newspapers and Television News for information I would be seriously distraught. It would appear that evil has already consumed a majority of the planet. I do not believe this. The talking heads have been taken over by evil in many cases. They are being used for their ignorance though many voluntarily signed on. As long as we still hear these voices, then evil has not yet won. The moment these voices stop, I will know evil has won.
To all my fellow human beings who sit on the sidelines and take the scraps that evil tosses your way. You will face a very harsh reality in the end. The loss of your own soul and sense of self will be the most tragic of them all. You will have to face the fact that millions of human lights were extinguished because you looked the other way.