Letter to W&F Silence is the Enemy of Progress
May 25, 2023 11:35:47 GMT -5
via mobile
Admin, SharonArnold, and 15 more like this
Post by quentind on May 25, 2023 11:35:47 GMT -5
Silence is the enemy of progress
Dear Friends and Workers and all whom it may concern,
I’d like to think I normally have a quiet, reserved and non abrasive personality, but as of late I’ve had a personal conviction that hurts my soul if I continue in silence. Silence is the enemy of progress… this phrase came back to me from a high school project over a decade ago.
To give context, our Sociology teacher assigned a project on societal law. Our class decided to do the project as a whole group with one goal. Rampant illicit drug use was affecting our school and community. We wanted to make a change to encourage those affected to find healing and to protect future students. The first step to the change was to help everyone to confront the ugly and uncomfortable realities that surrounded them. Ultimately, our class drafted a bill that was passed by the Arizona State Senate (SB1377) that provided information, resources, and statistics on illicit drug use in schools. The bill’s purpose was to eliminate ignorance, oblivion, and denial of the issue because only then can there be true progress. We continued to push and seek help, and while it didn’t get far, our story reached across the nation and many others tried to copy the standard we were trying to set. Our Phrase for our project was, “Silence is the enemy of progress.”
My conviction is that phrase has just as much of an impact on the things that are coming to light around us today. Like many others, we are hurt, we are scared, we are angry and the reason is because we care. We care for our faith, we care for our family, we care for our friends. I feel as a whole we in this church are raised and encouraged to be silent. Silence does have a place when the time is appropriate, but it’s evident how dangerous silence can be when the time or condition is not appropriate. Jesus himself showed anger and spoke out against wrongdoings and called for changes.
In John 2 “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”
In Matthew 23, there are many verses that mention Jesus speaking against the Pharisees and Scribes. The 27th verse is powerful: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.”
By no means are we perfect, but in the unrelenting pressure to have the perfect outward appearance, we have created an environment that masks evil and allows it to flourish unchecked. The extent of this has had so much damage that is only now coming to light. There will always be evil surrounding us as Jesus warned but the cover ups, lies, and resulting protection of the evil by our spiritual leaders feels far worse to me.
I hate to blanket leadership under one umbrella because many are also furious in the events that have come to light and are calling for changes to rectify the neglect that has allowed these things to become so very rampant. The fact of the matter is there are hypocrites that Jesus spoke so strongly against and we need to address those hypocrites as Jesus did.
I’m aware changes may be in progress but that is only because we are calling for it. If we continue in silence as has been done in the past, we create a refuge for wolves and an endangerment for sheep, and it’s clear this is very much the current case. We need to hold accountable those that were made aware of evil and allowed the evil to continue without ramifications or alerting those in fellowship. This makes me think of those that have done and allowed this as hirelings with the sheep.
John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
While many in the fellowship may have good intentions, those in power who allow “wolves” to prey on innocent “sheep” are very much hirelings that have no true care for the sheep.
I’m so thankful for those that truly care and are trying to speak out to make healthy changes. Despite that, it is no wonder we have seen so many leave the meetings over the years and I have a new empathy for them. I don’t have any resentment towards those that have left the meetings but now deep compassion because I was unaware of the hurt they have felt. I’m thankful to have been made aware of that pain and want to call for the changes necessary to bring them comfort and closure on all they have experienced and faced. Thank you to all those who have fought to make necessary changes, I hope your strength can also give me the encouragement and strength to help where needed.
In this time it is imperative that we do not remain silent. I feel those in power that had a hand in covering up wicked crimes need to be removed from their position and report themselves to the proper authorities. This will not be an easy or pleasant experience but the hardest thing to do in life is usually the right thing. This is because it goes against our very human nature of protecting ourselves at all costs. It is also one of many steps to hold all of us accountable in doing what is right. Though impossible, we long to be like Jesus and Jesus fought to over throw what was wrong and speak out against wrongdoings and those in power where it’s evident they were not Godly people. While Jesus showed love and compassion he also lived His life to protect His sheep which I feel can be interpreted as not allowing a safe place for wolves amongst His people.
Can people that have done evil in the past be forgiven and truly have a change of heart? I believe that 100% as we can see the story of Paul/Saul. However we live in a society where there needs to consequences to actions. We can make a choice but we can’t choose our consequences. I hope all those that have committed grave crimes and those that have covered them up truly can have a change of spirit but also there needs to be a consequence to those actions. This is perfectly acceptable when a doctor that has committed a major malpractice, the doctor is stripped of their ability to ever practice again. Will the doctor ever make that mistake again if they were given the chance to continue? Probably not but they made a choice and now they have to live with their consequence. They can mean well but they have proven with that mistake they can’t ever be trusted to practice medicine again and therefore will have to give up that career path and seek something else. A Pharmacist who sells drugs illegally and is caught will never be allowed to work in that line again, again their licensing is stripped and all privileges taken away. Would they have ever done it again? Maybe, maybe not, we wouldn’t know because they are never given the opportunity to do so again. They have to pay their consequence because of the action they made. Those in a position of power in this church that have abused it, broken laws/committed crimes, covered up crimes, and/or maliciously lie need to be stripped of that, step down, and possibly removed. The choice has been made, where are the consequences? There is no accountability, no punishment. Can we forgive? Can they change? Absolutely to both, but a choice was made where it’s evident that trust can’t be given and thus comes the consequences of removal of any ability to ever make that mistake again.
We wouldn’t be in this extremely uncomfortable situation today if this wasn’t the result of years of cover ups, lies, abuse and repeat offenders. Why are we allowing repeat offenders multiple opportunities to keep offending? This is so damaging to the fellowship that we can have, and is deeply concerning for me. It is perfectly acceptable for unpleasant consequences to be given to Godless actions. Matthew 18 is full of wonderful scripture. Look to Matthew 18:6, But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. This is plain and clear how much childrens lives are valued to the Lord and how serious He is on hurting children and the consequence deserved in doing so. Not only are crimes against children so harmful but denying them their truth in their experiences and covering it up multiplies the pain. More so, the thought that victims may be shamed and ostracized for even mentioning their experiences puts a sick pit in my stomach.
I wish to make progress in returning to Jesus and His teachings. I simply love and care for all of God’s people, especially children.
Silence is the enemy of progress.
With much care, Quentin Duane
Dear Friends and Workers and all whom it may concern,
I’d like to think I normally have a quiet, reserved and non abrasive personality, but as of late I’ve had a personal conviction that hurts my soul if I continue in silence. Silence is the enemy of progress… this phrase came back to me from a high school project over a decade ago.
To give context, our Sociology teacher assigned a project on societal law. Our class decided to do the project as a whole group with one goal. Rampant illicit drug use was affecting our school and community. We wanted to make a change to encourage those affected to find healing and to protect future students. The first step to the change was to help everyone to confront the ugly and uncomfortable realities that surrounded them. Ultimately, our class drafted a bill that was passed by the Arizona State Senate (SB1377) that provided information, resources, and statistics on illicit drug use in schools. The bill’s purpose was to eliminate ignorance, oblivion, and denial of the issue because only then can there be true progress. We continued to push and seek help, and while it didn’t get far, our story reached across the nation and many others tried to copy the standard we were trying to set. Our Phrase for our project was, “Silence is the enemy of progress.”
My conviction is that phrase has just as much of an impact on the things that are coming to light around us today. Like many others, we are hurt, we are scared, we are angry and the reason is because we care. We care for our faith, we care for our family, we care for our friends. I feel as a whole we in this church are raised and encouraged to be silent. Silence does have a place when the time is appropriate, but it’s evident how dangerous silence can be when the time or condition is not appropriate. Jesus himself showed anger and spoke out against wrongdoings and called for changes.
In John 2 “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise.”
In Matthew 23, there are many verses that mention Jesus speaking against the Pharisees and Scribes. The 27th verse is powerful: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.”
By no means are we perfect, but in the unrelenting pressure to have the perfect outward appearance, we have created an environment that masks evil and allows it to flourish unchecked. The extent of this has had so much damage that is only now coming to light. There will always be evil surrounding us as Jesus warned but the cover ups, lies, and resulting protection of the evil by our spiritual leaders feels far worse to me.
I hate to blanket leadership under one umbrella because many are also furious in the events that have come to light and are calling for changes to rectify the neglect that has allowed these things to become so very rampant. The fact of the matter is there are hypocrites that Jesus spoke so strongly against and we need to address those hypocrites as Jesus did.
I’m aware changes may be in progress but that is only because we are calling for it. If we continue in silence as has been done in the past, we create a refuge for wolves and an endangerment for sheep, and it’s clear this is very much the current case. We need to hold accountable those that were made aware of evil and allowed the evil to continue without ramifications or alerting those in fellowship. This makes me think of those that have done and allowed this as hirelings with the sheep.
John 10:12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
While many in the fellowship may have good intentions, those in power who allow “wolves” to prey on innocent “sheep” are very much hirelings that have no true care for the sheep.
I’m so thankful for those that truly care and are trying to speak out to make healthy changes. Despite that, it is no wonder we have seen so many leave the meetings over the years and I have a new empathy for them. I don’t have any resentment towards those that have left the meetings but now deep compassion because I was unaware of the hurt they have felt. I’m thankful to have been made aware of that pain and want to call for the changes necessary to bring them comfort and closure on all they have experienced and faced. Thank you to all those who have fought to make necessary changes, I hope your strength can also give me the encouragement and strength to help where needed.
In this time it is imperative that we do not remain silent. I feel those in power that had a hand in covering up wicked crimes need to be removed from their position and report themselves to the proper authorities. This will not be an easy or pleasant experience but the hardest thing to do in life is usually the right thing. This is because it goes against our very human nature of protecting ourselves at all costs. It is also one of many steps to hold all of us accountable in doing what is right. Though impossible, we long to be like Jesus and Jesus fought to over throw what was wrong and speak out against wrongdoings and those in power where it’s evident they were not Godly people. While Jesus showed love and compassion he also lived His life to protect His sheep which I feel can be interpreted as not allowing a safe place for wolves amongst His people.
Can people that have done evil in the past be forgiven and truly have a change of heart? I believe that 100% as we can see the story of Paul/Saul. However we live in a society where there needs to consequences to actions. We can make a choice but we can’t choose our consequences. I hope all those that have committed grave crimes and those that have covered them up truly can have a change of spirit but also there needs to be a consequence to those actions. This is perfectly acceptable when a doctor that has committed a major malpractice, the doctor is stripped of their ability to ever practice again. Will the doctor ever make that mistake again if they were given the chance to continue? Probably not but they made a choice and now they have to live with their consequence. They can mean well but they have proven with that mistake they can’t ever be trusted to practice medicine again and therefore will have to give up that career path and seek something else. A Pharmacist who sells drugs illegally and is caught will never be allowed to work in that line again, again their licensing is stripped and all privileges taken away. Would they have ever done it again? Maybe, maybe not, we wouldn’t know because they are never given the opportunity to do so again. They have to pay their consequence because of the action they made. Those in a position of power in this church that have abused it, broken laws/committed crimes, covered up crimes, and/or maliciously lie need to be stripped of that, step down, and possibly removed. The choice has been made, where are the consequences? There is no accountability, no punishment. Can we forgive? Can they change? Absolutely to both, but a choice was made where it’s evident that trust can’t be given and thus comes the consequences of removal of any ability to ever make that mistake again.
We wouldn’t be in this extremely uncomfortable situation today if this wasn’t the result of years of cover ups, lies, abuse and repeat offenders. Why are we allowing repeat offenders multiple opportunities to keep offending? This is so damaging to the fellowship that we can have, and is deeply concerning for me. It is perfectly acceptable for unpleasant consequences to be given to Godless actions. Matthew 18 is full of wonderful scripture. Look to Matthew 18:6, But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. This is plain and clear how much childrens lives are valued to the Lord and how serious He is on hurting children and the consequence deserved in doing so. Not only are crimes against children so harmful but denying them their truth in their experiences and covering it up multiplies the pain. More so, the thought that victims may be shamed and ostracized for even mentioning their experiences puts a sick pit in my stomach.
I wish to make progress in returning to Jesus and His teachings. I simply love and care for all of God’s people, especially children.
Silence is the enemy of progress.
With much care, Quentin Duane