“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”. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King, Jr. brings to our attention the sin of indifference. King is implying that the silence/complacency of good people is just as bad as the actions of bad people driven by hatred. Noble Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel takes this idea one step further in his 1999 speech. While King is addressing a specific example of indifference in regard to the civil rights movement, Weisel addresses the general indifference of Americans in his speech. Weisel states that anger is more commendable than indifference because anger can be creative in moving a person to action in one form or another while indifference is to have no response. When reading this I have a mental picture of the indifferent person as a couch potato with a blank face void of emotion, watching the world fall apart on the news as he drinks his Pepsi; as though it were simply a movie. The indifferent person will watch the misfortune or suppression of others with mild interest and go on with his/her life unaffected. How can this be? Weisel says, “Indifference can be tempting -- more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person's pain and despair”. This is true. It is easier to ignore the problems of others than it is to help them. Helping another person who is a victim of war, a natural disaster, injustice, or any other misfortune will take our time, emotion, and possible our money.
Weisel makes a profound statement when he says, “In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman”. I know what it is like to be indifferent, I went through a season where I just did not care about anything; I was void of all emotion. That season of life was so strange, it was as though I were dead. I am thankful that it was a short season and it taught me how dangerous complacency is.
When King is addressing the silent Americans, he presents their argument that civil rights will be received in time. This is another mindset that is dangerous and King replies by saying, “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right” (paragraph 26). If everyone were to put off action (whether it is for progress, stopping injustice, helping someone in need) for a more convenient time, nothing would ever get done. The time for action is now because we do not know what the future holds and if we will have another opportunity to act. All of our esteemed heroes of history are remembered for being men of action, not men of silence and indifference. What will you be remembered as? Do you want your life to be indifferent and silent, for an indifferent life is silent. I want to be a person of action and if my actions influence the life of just one person for the better, then it is a life well lived.
-E
Enjoy the silence- pain like rain, -tears upon my window pane.
ReplyDeleteEyes wide shut, -obscure the view
Me, -the mirror, -the fools -and you.
All it is never always lost,
Worth a try, -a shot, -the cost.
All the things we know we should,
And would do –if, we knew we could…
Not only a sin, Indifference is prone to be manipulated. You can always propose that someone doesn’t care about your cause if they don’t agree with your solution, thereby striking an emotional chord in your favor by raising the question of apathy. It’s like saying,” if you don’t agree with the world carbon tax, you don’t care about the earth.” Or “if we just sit by and do nothing we are as bad as the terrorists.” I think the distinction should be made between people who are indifferent and people who have thoughtfully calculated that futileness of action in general or just oppose someone’s specific suggestion.
I wonder if MLK could separate the people’s advice of slowing down his timetable and his movement’s inertia relative to the inevitability of civil rights being received by the majority from advice to slow down so he didn’t get killed or start a riot over a comparatively lesser or premature issue. To be clear, they may have been saying that it was a good time to fight the fight for the cause but might not have been the right timetable for his personal well being. Had he been less ready and eager to fight, his life may have well been better spent at a later date than over negotiations of sanitation workers. Who knows what speeches he may have given or awareness he may have fostered. I wonder if in retrospect he would have found his own death untimely. I don’t believe so, it’s not indifference that stops Man/Bear/Pig, saves the world from global warming or invents the Internet. Excelsior!
Many of the individuals that we honor and respect in life do not have indifferent lives. MLK and Weisel both understood the importance of people to voice their opinions. They were both asking for Americans to step up and use the freedoms that the framers of this country set up for us and use our voices. Weisel was right when he said to have indifference is to have no response at all. If more people would stand up and voice their opinions and objections many things might be different in the United States today. With that said, we as Americans are shown by society that being indifferent is the appropriate way to act today. Many people feel that it is government job to take care of people that are having a hard time. That they pay their taxes and those funds should be used for people who are in distress. Or they think why help another country when we have so many people struggling here. We are also taught indifference by being taught that you should mind your business and not involve yourself in other people’s affairs. You can see this at our public schools when you students watch bullying and fights without telling any adult. If people weren’t so indifferent, people’s lives would be really impacted, but it probably will not happen anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you because knowing that something is wrong and not speaking out about it is just as bad as doing the wrong thing. The silence these people had because they were scared, Martin Luther King Jr. did not let get to him. He was brave enough to stand up for what he believed in for the sake of his people and future generations. Courage like this, only certain people possess. For him to have stood up against a whole country and be put to jail, shows he had an enormous faith in what he was preaching and was willing to go all the way with it. What Elie Weisel said is also very interesting. I think that indifference is not only not caring about what is going on around you, but also not caring about yourself. This is a strong word and I believe it ties in with the people who just sat there and watched segregation happen knowing it was wrong but doing absolutely nothing to stop it. They obviously didn’t care much to speak out about it, and not caring enough for themselves to do anything either. They just watched everything with indifference and being sad, but at the point of anger, it would have been a bit different. Maybe getting angry about it would have led to a outburst from someone or some action, it all depends on the person.
ReplyDeleteI love the quote that starts off the blog. I try to incorporate what he is saying there into my life, because it is so true. Sometimes not saying anything at all is just as bad as saying something hurtful. We need to be heard that’s why we were given voices, nothing would ever be done if didn't express how we felt. Like Weisel says nothing can be done with indifference, no motivation is created by indifference, if there is no anger, no debate, then there is no step forward, if everyone just kept their mouth shut and their mind shut where would we be as a nation or as a people, I can say knowingly that we wouldn't be where we are today. If we just pretended like we didn't see our friends or family in pain emotionally or physically then how would we know what to do if we ever came across those difficulties ourselves? For example if we just let Haiti deal with it when that earthquake struck then how would we expect to get help if we had a disaster of that magnitude? We need to acknowledge peoples misfortunes and help them through those misfortunes. Sure this is in convenient for us and our schedules but you will never regret the time you helped someone, only the time you didn't. Like Martin Luther King Jr. said nothing ever gets done if you wait around for the perfect opportunity, the only thing that you gain from procrastination is regret.
ReplyDelete