Silence: Its Mystique, Comfort and Price

We are children of a civilisation that attaches great meaning to silence. If speech is silver, silence is golden. Silence implies consent… If we searched our memory, we could list dozens of proverbs that exalt keeping silent. In fact, the virtue of silence (of keeping quiet, of holding one’s tongue) concerns individual maturity. Where and when this maturity is to be shown is determined by our civil and individual position within the crowd.

Is Silence Always a Virtue?

Where social relations are concerned, there can be no such exaltation. How can it be a virtue to prefer silence in a society where the concepts of rights, law and justice have been eroded to the utmost? Where unjust and unlawful practices continue unabated, silence is a pathological case. It is precisely here that the truth turned into a maxim by the saying “He who stays silent in the face of injustice is a mute devil” describes the devilishness of silence as opposed to its virtue.

Sometimes silence is also adopted as a way of staying away from problems and thereby calming the soul. In a period in which unjust and inequitable practices have reached the heavens, dozens of people have died, thousands have been condemned to hunger and misery, universal rights have been trampled at a stroke, every sphere of freedom has been interfered with and prisons are overflowing with political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, we must ask how humane or appropriate silence is as an attitude.

Is It Possible to Waive Individual or Social Rights?

We must distinguish the individual from the social. Giving up our individual rights when the occasion calls for it is an important choice and deserves respect. But expecting others to give up their rights is downright disrespect and a denial of rights. Of course, we must also bear the following in mind. If the idea of waiving individual rights that fall within the realm of law becomes widespread, the way is opened for serious indifference among people, which in turn leads to the same lack of reaction to violations of social rights. Considering this aspect of the matter, it also becomes important that the person concerned scrutinise carefully their individual right to waive.

Individuals who face human rights violations, unjust trials or arbitrary practices and stay silent allow this situation to continue and these practices to affect large numbers of people. For a sense of justice and freedom among people to be effective and lasting, it is vital that individuals maintain their commitment to protecting and defending justice. In a society where injustice reigns, people’s silence makes the problems grow even larger.

Staying Silent or Taking Sides? Why Do We Stay Silent?

While a heap of human rights problems lies before us and thousands of people struggle to breathe beneath it, staying silent also means lending a shoulder to injustice. In such a situation, taking action and fighting injustice benefits not only the individual but all sections of society. This struggle is essential for social change, transformation and prosperity. Of course, in doing so it is also extremely important to avoid violence and remain committed to the rule of law.

So why do some people choose silence? What is the meaning of the silence of writers, thinkers, opinion leaders, politicians or ordinary citizens who do not speak up in the face of social problems? I suppose we can make the answer to this question visible around two concepts. The first of these is “mystique”, the second “comfort”.

The Mystique of Silence

When we see how people, in the face of injustice, lawlessness and cruel practices, create an atmosphere of mystique for themselves by staying in the background, and how this mysterious state gives them a zone of comfort, we can also understand what a blow silence deals to society, to victims and to faith in justice.

Silence always has a mysterious side as well. One wants this mystique to be seen as a sign of being strong, of being right or of holding the initiative. Crowds often fall for this perception. Yet silence is also directly related to fear, to neighbourhood pressure, to cunning and to hypocrisy.

Some professional perception acrobats, for example, tend to use silence as a political method. For those who adopt a reclusive stance, on the other hand, this state may be preferred as an honourable attitude. Many other meanings like these may stem from the mystique of silence, and it is not at all easy to determine accurately which of them deserves respect. Even if we could make this determination accurately, it would not change the fact that silence taking refuge behind a cloak of mystique causes a social cost.

The Comfort of Silence

On the other hand, the mysterious atmosphere we have mentioned also gives the one who stays silent a wide zone of comfort. Within this comfort zone, keeping out of trouble and playing the three wise monkeys despite being aware of the unjust, unlawful and tyrannical practices taking place must be very pleasant for those who have turned down the voice of their conscience.

Not speaking up while injustice, inequality and human rights violations cause some people to suffer and even die also carries the meaning: “I see no problem; the current situation can continue.” A person who does not stand against injustice with their hand, their tongue or their heart has inevitably chosen to be one of those who commit injustice with their hand, their tongue or their heart. Between these two, there is no attitude that could be called neutrality.

The Price of Silence

Although everyone bears responsibility for taking a stand against social problems and playing as active a role as possible, those in the position of intellectuals, writers, thinkers, opinion leaders and the like should first of all take on the task of leadership.

We can say that with today’s means of communication it is possible to reach every section of society. Taking action before the problems grow any larger, before more people are wronged and more rights violated, and before faith in justice is wounded any further, is a human, conscientious and public-interest responsibility. It makes no difference whether you relate this responsibility to the ongoing criminal trials, to the failures of governance and the suffering revealed by the earthquake, to the elections now at our door or to some other problem area. For thousands of innocent people are dying, struggling to breathe and waiting for someone brave enough to echo their voice, not only under the rubble of the earthquake but also under the rubble of the economy, of law, of discrimination and of intolerance.

Developing an emotional or intellectual empathic capacity in the face of problems of rights, law and justice that cause great trauma in society will be a serious source of stress for the human soul. That is certain. One way to escape this is to position oneself in the opposing camp (the front of tyranny that recognises no rights, law or justice); the other is to surrender oneself to the mysterious and comfortable atmosphere of silence.

Since the opposing camp is already the source of oppression and lawlessness, there is no need for any explanation to characterise its attitude. As for those who adopt as a method the enjoyment of the atmosphere of mystique and comfort gained by staying silent, they will surely have an account to give and a price to pay in return for the price paid by the victims.

The price of silence will be paid not by those whose rights are trampled, the oppressed and the wronged, but by the powerful who are the perpetrators of the tangle of problems before us, by those who applaud them, and by those who, though aware of what is happening, enjoy themselves in their mysterious and comfortable zones. We must spread this awareness to every section of society.