Speaking Up

Written by Rev. Martin Niemoller, from Shen

First they came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me,
and by that time there was no one
left to speak up for me.

According to Shen, we vote every day, with our intellect, our keyboards, our voices and our pens. We should speak up against something that is wrong. Be it in politics, religion, government policies and anything involving anyone who themselves are unable to voice out for any reason.

It rings clear to our biblical imagination of God as the God of the helpless.

Psalms 146:9 says "The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked"

Isaiah 1:17 "Learn to do right!, Seek justice, encouraged the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead for the case of the widows"

If the church do not speak up, who will?