Thursday, May 29, 2014

'Silence Is Guilt'

I have sensed, through the course of ministry, a fast growing trend in our society to cover guilt with silence -- such that the Churches now have a saying here: "Silence is guilt".  I never heard that one before -- although it was Dryden, in the 17th century, who said: "Secret guilt is by silence revealed." The natural response to guilt (or perhaps not) is: "I'm terribly sorry." That was the old-fashioned response. It involves risk, but it may be the best way (for mere expedience) to go: one could get it in the neck, but it tends soon to pacify. In many cases such an "I'm sorry" response, too, means that one has addressed the guilt with the person concerned. Even that doesn't seem to happen much today. OBSERVATION: Silence is of course a right -- and yet that does not in all cases (or in most cases) morally justify it. In some cases now, silence may in fact be used as evidence of guilt (last year, controversially, the Supreme Court in the USA so ruled).

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