Not Speaking Up
The South African cleric and activist, Desmond Tutu once said: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” This sounds right, doesn’t it? Until you realize the truth of what this post says: “If a quote could summarize the current political zeitgeist, especially on social media, it would be this one. Today, politics permeates virtually all aspects of our lives, and many people feel pressured to make public political statements .” And: “Mob justice, groupthink, and ill-conceived policy making are just as likely to be symptoms of a ‘silence is violence’ mentality as is the encouragement of good people to do the right thing. ” Instead, argue the authors, political neutrality should be a perfectly acceptable option. They cite two benefits of neutrality. First , jumping into a controversy where one doesn’t really understand the topic or its finer points can cause as much (or even more) damage than staying neutral. Besides, ...