Thoughts From the Heart

The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing... The silence we keep in the face of evil is evil.

The writer is clear about it in Germany. They first came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I didn't belong to a union. They came for the artists; I didn't speak up because I wasn't an artist. They came for members of the press; I didn't speak up because I wasn't a member of the press. They came for the lawyers; I didn't speak up because I wasn't a lawyer. They came for the doctors, nurses, and health care workers; I didn't speak up for I wasn't a doctor, nurse, or health care worker. Then they came for me, and there was nobody left to speak up!

Silence that is cowardly appears to agree with everyone but, in the end, contributes to more division than unity. It questions nothing. It's more about safety than it is about growth. Sometimes, silence is not golden—just yellow.

And I can see why Jesus used the Jericho Road for the setting of the parable of the Good Samaritan: It's a winding, meandering road. It's really conductive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem which is about 1,200 feet above sea level. By the time you get down to Jericho, 15-20 minutes later, you're about 2,200 feet below sea level. That's a dangerous road.

In the days of the Jews, it came to be known as the Bloody Pass. You know it's possible that the priest and the levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. It's possible that they felt the man on the ground was merely faking, acting like he had been robbed and beaten in order to lure them in for a quick and easy robbery.

So the first question that the priest and the levite asked was: "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?"

But the Good Samaritan came by and reversed the question. "If I don't stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"

That's the question before us today. Not to stay silent or do nothing in the face of injustice and evil. If Good people do nothing and stand silent, what will happen to the U.S. as a people? That's the question that faces us as a "free people".

Joseph Smith 211195
NCCI
P.O. Box 1812
Macion, Ohio 43301