Dante’s words

I often have discussions with my friends and family on this very topic, I even gave a talk on it once to a group of young adults for a Theology on Tap session, and for any one who was a fan of Seinfeld, this very topic was what the final episode was all about.

"The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." ~quote from Dante

We must pick a side, we must stand for something, if we don’t, if we sit on the sidelines, we are as guilty if not more so, than the person or institutions that committed the evil.

We have an obligation to speak out, to stand up and speak our mind, we are required by moral law to do something, it is part of our humanity. To do nothing is to reject our humanity, to forsake God and to make our very creation a sin.

I believe strongly in the concept of standing for my convictions, to stand strong in the wind of difference and to uphold the moral law. I have been accused of being pig headed or stubborn even told I just like to argue. Now I will not deny that I do like a good debate every now and than, with a person who is knowledgeable in the topic at hand, but the real purpose is to stand strong for what I know is truth, to defend it and to promote it. If that is pig headed or stubborn than Yes I am and I will be glad to say so.

All to often in today society we feel the need to not stand up for what we believe to not call out the moral wrongs in our society. We choose to live in houses with the drapes drawn and sit behind our privacy fences. We choose to live in a bubble and to allow life to go on with out our input. We do not want to get involved, we state its none of our concern, we lie to ourselves and tell ourselves that it doesn’t affect us. We feel safer in the “protective” bubble we have created. But this is a lie, a falsehood, one that will affect you, maybe not here and now, but it will…

For too long we have allowed this to happen, we have seen the affects take place in our schools, neighborhoods, parishes, stated and country. We have neglected to take responsibility for our communities, and the end result, our communities have failed. We have allowed them to fail, in fact by our living in that bubble we have encouraged them to fail. By choosing to do nothing, we are more guilty than the people who have raped our communities, by sitting back and saying it is none of our concern we committed the first crime, the greater sin, the sin of ignorance.

Dante is right, Hell holds a special place for those who sit back and do nothing in the name of not wanting to impose their moral law on others, or who choose to be accepting of all in the name of tolerance. Hell will welcome them with open arms, knowing that they can not resist Hell’s invitation, for they created it themselves,and they must be willing to accept and tolerate the Devil and his own, in the name of openness and acceptance.

We must remember that Christ did not tell us to accept all nor did he tell us to sit back and say nothing for fear of offending others. Christ’s own example tells us otherwise. Christ himself overturned the money changers tables. And he didn’t do it just for show, he did it because he was taking a stand for the lack of moral law he saw. Christ did not concern himself with worries about what his friends would think, or his community or for that matter what anyone would think. He took a stand for what he knew was right, just and moral. If he didn’t do that, he was no different than the money changers themselves.

I have a belief, or rather an understanding, If you truly believe in something, if you truly stand for something than you should have no fear of stating it openly and publicly, to stand on the roof tops and proclaim your stances to tell the world and to stand tall and proud. I do so, but I must admit, sometimes I to fail, sometimes I to hold my words, hide my convictions and allow societies laws to over rule the moral law, I allow sin to enter in to me through my inaction.

Paul