Free People: Are Unafraid to Speak Truth to Stupid

Sometimes, people say and do the stupidest things (things that make you wanna make the face below...)

When I say "stupid," I'm not referring to a lack of education or ignorance.  I'm referring to the guttural stupidity that accompanies a lack of concern for other people.  Pathological dishonesty with no expectation of consequence.  Pure selfishness and a purposeful indifference to common decency.

It's alive and well in the damaged, hurting hearts of those who feel others should hurt, too.  It's there in the evil hearts, too, just for fun.

Any way you slice it, dice it, or recognize it, stupidity proliferates and thrives when we don't do anything about it.

If you aren't free, you'll be prone to silence.  I've been in situations like this--and I'm sure you have, too--where the behavior is so stupid and the offender is so difficult, that, though the answers and the recourse should be obvious, you're too paralyzed to act.

It requires guts to confront a superior, an elder, or a bully, so we let things pass in the name of martyrdom or in the observance of what has come to be "wussy forgiveness."

You know, wussy forgiveness.  The one where, out of the inability to speak truth, we just tell the behavior and the perpetrator "it's okay," and then we figure out how to make it "okay" going forward.

Stop calling stupid okay.  Stop calling evil okay.  It isn't okay.  And it won't be okay, no matter how many grace baths you give it.

Moses comes to mind when I think of this aspect of freedom.  God called long-forgotten, exiled-to-the-sheep, hobo little stuttering Moses to go and speak toPharaoh (the king) to tell him (yipe!) to free the Israelites.  At first, Moses resisted out of fear and insecurity, but he was his people's only hope.  So when he chose to obey, God's power came upon him, and he spoke freely to the most feared man in the land.  Pharaoh didn't listen, which was stupid.  He was too proud to listen to God.  Because he behaved stupidly, his people suffered for it time after time after time.  They were sick and couldn't drink their water, and their homes were overrun with frogs and locusts and other disturbances.  It eventually cost the kingdom lots of children, including Pharaoh's own son.

The world is full of people who charge full-steam ahead to do what they want, no matter what it costs or who it might hurt.  They might not stop because you tell them to, but you have to try.

We must feel the freedom to speak up in the little things.  We must feel even more urging in the big things, even when it's hard.

Especially when it's hard.

I think of the young girls violated by the Olympic doctor, and all of the opportunities that were missed to do something about it.  I think of the children and teachers who don't confront or turn in bullies, only to have school shootings or suicides result.  I think of the friends and family who sit idly by, watching spouses cheat or drink themselves into oblivion, only to have a family come to ruin.

Think of the destruction that could be spared all around if we stopped ignoring and making excuses for these blatant wrongdoings.

Free people don't make excuses for stupidity.

If you speak up, the person might not stop.  But if you don't, they absolutely won't.

Don't be afraid.  Don't be silent.  Be bold.  Have courage.  Be free to stand up to what shouldn't be.

You never know what or who you might save.