More: The maxim of the law is: ‘Silence Gives Consent’. If therefore, you wish to construe what my silence ‘betokened’, you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.
Cromwell: Is that what the world in fact construes from it? Do you pretend that is what you wish the world to construe from it?
More: The world must construe according to its wits. This Court must construe according to the law.
Cromwell: I put it to the Court that the prisoner is perverting the law — making smoky what should be a clear light to discover to the Court his own wrongdoing!
More: The law is not a ‘light’ for you or any man to see by; the law is not an instrument of any kind. The law is a causeway upon which so long as he keeps to it a citizen may walk safely.
This is a selection from a scene in A Man for All Seasons in which Saint Thomas More is being tried. He had refused to take the oath of supremacy, recognising the Pope as the head of the Church. He had kept carefully silent on his own views but Cromwell was determined to condemn him anyway. Silence didn’t save him. Silence wasn’t enough.
Silence has come up in politics again recently, especially in the United States as monuments come down and cities are left in disorder. Many people are silent — not daring to reveal what they really think openly for fear of reprisals. Even people ostensibly on the side of the rioters can land themselves in trouble if they don’t support them in the “right” way. Those who oppose them have more to fear and many leaders have shamefully caved to their demands.
When it first began there was at least one slogan and sign I saw stating “Silence is Violence”. Whether official or not, every corporation and major public entity was compelled to show their colours and I can think of few who didn’t side with the forces of chaos. More recently Facebook has found itself in trouble for not policing its users to the satisfaction of the mob. Although already draconian with policing its users, there was still too much independent thought going on. They attracted this attack despite donating ten million dollars and openly siding with the group. Imagine if they’d merely been silent?
I’ve written on a similar topic before discussing how the silence of too many has led us to the situation we live in now. That it began with small matters but grew into larger matters as those with authority, refused or lost the will to exercise it. They simply became silent and let it go. It is true that silence when hearing something disagreeable to you can be interpreted as consent but ultimately this is never enough for the devil or his minions. This is in the very nature of the devil because merely turning against God has never been enough. He has already lost but he remains obsessed with dragging as many souls as he can down with him into the pit.
This is why people are starting to wake up to the spiritual aspect of what is going on in the world. Barely a decade ago, there was an unspoken “live and let live” rule between differing ideologies that I was generally onboard with. This has changed very rapidly and especially since Donald Trump’s election in 2016. This is now to the point where your very livelihood is threatened, not just for remaining silent but for not publicly voicing assent.
In Saint Thomas More’s time, his enemies at least had enough respect for the law to convict him through perjury but now the law is becoming worthless. The term anarcho-tyranny has been used to describe how authorities selectively enforce laws depending on the person that has run afoul of it. Unless you have a lot of money and power, you are unlikely to survive public resistance — especially in the United States. But also of course on Cuck Island, which was once known as Britain. In the linked case at least, the man to his credit didn’t apologise.
The point here is not to despair to reinforce the need to resist. I don’t encourage people to go out of their way to get themselves in trouble but I do believe all need to speak up when they have to. Whether it be in the company of friends or when compelled to by a situation you may find yourself in. Silence at best cedes ground to the enemy. If you are at a dinner party and someone defends this you should openly reject this. This may get you into trouble but it has the effect of giving courage to those around you who have up to this point remained silent.