Appalling Silence

I feel energized by the challenge that confronts me from the following quote.
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"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people" Martin Luther King Jr.
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Why do I feel challenged by this? Because I do truly believe that if we are silent about a wrong that we see, then we become guilty not for its inception, but for its continued life. We become complicit in promulgating the wrong we otherwise do not approve of.

But, there are so many wrongs, which do we fight against? We need to pick the most important ones first. Every day hunger kills small, innocent children - - pretty important. Every day children are passed along from grade to grade without being taught - - pretty important, but perhaps not as instantly critical as hunger. Every day otherwise decent people 'break into' the U.S. to work to send money to where ever home is - - not good, but also certainly not quite as important as starving children.

Well, all things have some importance, but we absolutely must find the things that are MOST important and do something about them. If we don't, then Dr. King's professing our need to repent is true and accurate.

One more thing ... I am very saddened by the repeated reference to Dr. King as an 'agitator' (with negative inferences) by a dear friend that I otherwise admire greatly. Yes, he did agitate us. He agitated decent people to not stand by and accept the unfair oppression of brothers and sisters by other brothers and sisters. It just isn't right to allow it.

But much like a washing machine, without an agitator, your clothes don't get clean and soon you start to stink. America needed a dose of clothes cleaning. Still does. We needed an agitator, and we still do. You, go and BE an agitator for the cleaning up of some wrong in the world. Pick what is MOST important and dig in on fixing it. Our repentance will be demonstrated by the loving words and actions of the good people that will not accept the hateful words and actions of the bad.

-jb