Seeing something that you believe is wrong? Should we speak up? What if speaking up has consequences? Maybe destroys a relationship, career, livelihood, freedom or life? Or should we let things slide? Anyway, everyone has their own beliefs & opinions. Speaking up will anyway change nothing. Just be silent & try to improve yourself. Why bother?
This is a question of ethics & our decision here has repercussions for society.
Is it ok to idly stand by & watch someone getting assaulted? Does our mind change depending on the identity of the perpetrator & victim? Religious identity, gender, age, class, profession etc? Does it change by species depending on the human or animal or bird or reptile or insect species? Does our own mind's subscription to these identities affect our mind's thinking? This attachment is called Paasham, the word for a rope or an emotional bond. These bonds are temporary & existent only for this life.
Or maybe it is merely a different opinion based off consumption of different source material over time? This is called the Shabdha Pramaanam, acquiring knowledge through a trusted word. But this can be dangerous if our trusted source is not really trustworthy.
Keeping quiet when encountering wrong-doing is wrong. Doing nothing will embolden the wrongdoer & make things worse. For a truth-seeker, a debate is the right approach when encountering a different opinion. This will depend on how strongly we are attached to a belief & how much energy we have. Sometimes, an innocuous comment can cause our mind to respond strongly, if our attachment is strong.
This idea has naturally made its way into religious beliefs too. Krishna sharply criticizes Balarama's prior neutrality in the Mahabharatha, when he finally tries to get involved when his favorite pupil, Duryodhana is killed unfairly. Krishna also has a suggestion in the Bhagavad Geeta in the Mahabharata. Just do what needs to be done but with a steady mind without allowing emotions & mind to affect you. When you try to do the right thing, you must be prepared to lose most battles. But you keep going nevertheless. Doing nothing is Tamas. Doing something is Rajas. Figuring out the right thing to do & doing it fearlessly is Sattva.
However, in most parts of the world, merely speaking up can lead to loss of life, limb, liberty, career, livelihood or worse, attacks on family. This has been the case in most of history. In a difficult environment, do not sacrifice yourself unnecessarily. Russian intellectuals used a technique called Samizdat, being careful with words & presentation to critique the totalitarian Communism that brooks no dissent. It is prudent to be as careful as possible. Migrants from free societies to totalitarian countries have formal recommendations to never speak anything on politics & religion, even in private forums. For us small people without money, power or fame, no one will care & we'll be on our own.
There is a religious cautionary tale as well. In Biblical beliefs, the one who is quiet in the face of wrongdoing goes to the worst part of the fiery hell for eternity. The missionaries interpreted this differently. If you are unable to distinguish between an opinion expressed by a holy text & take it as absolute truth, you may end up committing atrocities. This is the danger of the trusted word, the Shabdha Pramaanam. If you see 'idolators' & 'non-believers' with their 'wrong' beliefs, how can you remain quiet in the face of their wrongdoing? Shouldn't you bring them to the 'one true light'? The result would be unspeakable brutalities, inquisitions & Auto-Da-Fe burning of the heretics at the stake. In Auto-de-fe, the priest would pray for their soul. Since the heretics were burned as mortals, God, at least spare them the worst part of hell & put them in a less fiery part of hell.
In Biblical theology & related religions, fire is used as an instrument of punishment while in Hindu theology, it is a cleanser. In Zoroastrian theology, it is a symbol of purity. In Biblical, all humans born before the Redeemer would go to hell, since the Redeemer hadn't taken the sins of mankind on himself yet. Even the best humans would go to the outermost circle of hell, owing to the original sin which makes all humans sinners. This is again in contrast with Hindu theology, where all humans are divine & would eventually merge with the divine, since there is nowhere else to go, like a wave that eventually calms down & merges with the ocean.
For people in free societies, do your best to promote & preserve free speech. Free speech includes the right to mock & abuse anything & everything. Your detractors can simply mock you back or ignore you. Violent action in response to words should be put down with a heavy hand. The people have to build & preserve an open free society. The free society will then protect you. Dharmo Rakshito Rakshitaha. If you protect Dharma, Dharma will protect you.
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