"The Spiral of Silence," is a theory developed by German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in the 1970s, which explains how people fear social isolation to the point that they generally go along with what they think is the popular opinion — even if they object to that opinion themselves. Instead of speaking up, they remain silent. And their silence encourages others to remain silent. Even worse, as silence spirals down, the cost to those who speak up increases.
‘In her classic book The Spiral of Silence: Public Opinion – Our Social Skin, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann describes how our perception of public opinion through news and media can give a false impression that certain beliefs and attitudes are more unpopular than they really are.
Based on this false impression from the media and popular culture, people may not speak out their true views because they feel they are too unpopular and outside of the mainstream to be taken seriously.
This only leads to a “spiral of silence,” because individuals will fear social isolation and not want to speak their views, which only leads to more and more people believing their views are unpopular”.
Silence in the face of evil, is itself evil and results in disaster.
An estimated 35 million to 60 million people (Encyclopedia Britannica) died from World War II. Could many millions of lives worldwide have been saved if the silent 12000 Protestant pastors across Germany had stood up? Of the 18,000 Protestant pastors in Germany during the early 1930s, 3000 sided with the Nazis and only 3000 opposed Hitler and his Nazi regime. Naturally, the brave 3000 pastors were easily picked off by the silence of the 12000.
‘Letter to the American Church’ by Eric Metaxas is a recommended book for all to read and an essential message for those Christians who think we should do nothing during these perilous times or do a Neville Chamberlain by appeasing an evil monster (Adolf Hitler and Nazism, Munich 1938). The evil these days is a cleverly orchestrated massive movement, that has invaded many of the institutions of society with its sights on destroying Christianity and, with it, Western society.
Just as many in the German church of the early 1930s were oblivious to Hitler's desire to obliterate the church, so are many Christians asleep to the same atheistic objectives of atheistic Marxists who now use the tools of Social Justice, Political Correctness, Critical Race Theory, Queer theory and other Marxist theories, to attack the foundations supporting Christianity and thus Western society.
Karl Marx’s Classical Marxism failed; the Cultural Marxism originating in the 1930s from Italian Antonio Gramsci and the Frankfurt School of Germany has spread through the West like cancer, as it attempts to destroy the Judeo-Christian roots of Western Civilisation, with its “coherent intellectual program, a constellation of dangerous ideas.” Attorney Alexander Zubatov.
BE AWARE, as your family is firmly in its sights as one of its major targets to destroy. Are you going to be silent and just let it happen?
The Atheistic Marxist movements such as LGBTQ…….. (the letters keep growing) and Critical Race Theory (dividing us on racial grounds) appear as an impenetrable wall or a wave that will sweep us away if we don’t cower down to them.
We must not be silent for “While it’s easy to be held hostage to political correctness, we must never desist from pushing back against this devolving understanding of gender, which is shifting the progressive goalposts with no definable end in sight. People of conscience must unpack this cultural pathology for what it is: a Trojan horse to herald the death of kinship through ever-evolving sexualities”.
We must never forget that trusting in God, a shepherd boy called David took on what was believed to be an impenetrable giant called Goliath, whilst the Israelite soldiers cowered with fear. We all know how that ended, with a well-directed rock to the head. (1 Samuel 17)
Christian or non-Christian if you love your family and you want your children /grandchildren to have the same opportunities you have had, YOU are faced with a decision to make, and both options are painful.
“If I say the truth, I am going to get into trouble
If you abide by the lie, you will also get into trouble”
Dr Jordan Peterson
We all have non-threatening opportunities to speak up, whether it be —talking with our children/grandchildren, talking with neighbours, talking across the dinner table with relatives who disagree, daily interactions with people, speaking up on social media and writing to politicians. These opportunities matter.
We must break the spiral of silence, speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) and not be afraid to offend. As Thomas Paine (an American political activist) said, “he who dares not offend cannot be honest”
further
“Don't ever water down the gospel. If the truth offends, then let it offend. People have been living their whole lives in offence to God; let them be offended for a while”.
John MacArthur
At what point does our silence encourage people to go down a sinful path?
At what point does our silence support evil?
This quote is attributed to one of the brave 3000 German pastors who spoke up. The spiral of silence eventually cost him his life. This quote is at the core of Eric Mataxes' book ‘Letter to the American church.’ It is a book everybody should read, Christian or non-Christian and a MUST for anyone involved in Christian leadership in Australia, as the book could easily be titled ‘Letter to the Australian Church’.
“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil:
God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Preview of ‘Letter to the American Church’ by Eric Mataxes
Letter to the American Church | Special Guest Eric Metaxas | Woodway Campus
Comments