10-24-25

The world can look a little crazy out there right now…….everywhere you

look…….social media…..mainstream media……Hard to account for it……sometimes

it seems like civil discourse is a thing of the past…..but not really…..we can watch

pink haired nose rings and inflatable unicorn costumes at the so-called No Kings

rally and wonder where the sanity is, but they are still exercising their First

Amendment rights…..I support their right to be wrong, if you know what I

mean…..but I want to encourage you to remember that the public discourse is

only a discourse if the conversation goes two ways……in other words, we cannot

be silent…..the highly vocal freak show that is running the leftwing base right now

is intent on changing everything you and I know, believe and love…..the left would

tell us that right is wrong, and wrong is right, and women can be men, and that

the world is systemically racist, and that we need to pay more taxes or that the

Constitution is really up for interpretation…..You and I don’t agree with any of

that, which means that we have to speak out ourselves…..and we can do that

anywhere, everywhere and all the time…..we are not called to be conservatives,

and Christians, at only fixed times when we are most comfortable…..it’s a 24/7

job, a responsibility, a stewardship……because if we don’t speak up when needed

then all the wrong things happen…..and the pink haired nose ring unicorns win…..

What is really missing……what is needed more than ever…..is for good people to

speak up! Really speak up! And I’m not talking about riots…..I’m not talking about

chasing elected officials into the bathroom stalls or storming their offices…..I’m

not talking about showing up on their front steps…..it is actually possible to have a

solid, conservative, well-intentioned, cogent, thoughtful, authoritative

voice……sometimes alone, sometimes with others….without resorting to the

crimes and crazy antics we see on the left…..but we have to speak…..

Throughout history it is the failure of good people to speak that has allowed for

bad things to happen. …..don’t get me wrong, bad actors bear responsibility for

what they do……but good people who could have intervened and chose not to

because it was uncomfortable….because it was scary…..because it might hurt

their business….or their standing in the community…..they deserve some

recompense themselves. ….You’ve all heard the old quote, “the only thing

necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”…….so true.

But think of this…..what if it was you that was bearing the brunt of the actions of

the bad actors……what if it was you or your family facing some kind of adverse

action, public backlash, unjustified consequences…….who would speak for you?

There is a wonderful but sobering old poem by a German Lutheran Minister

named Martin Niemoller……Niemoller was originally a supporter of the Nazi’s as

they rose to power…..but when the Nazi party began to nationalize churches in

Germany in the late 30’s he spoke out…..Niemoller spent the years of WWII in a

concentration camp…..after the war he traveled the world speaking out about

…..well, speaking out……here is a quote from Niemolleer…..he said,

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

     Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

But the extended version of what Niemoller said is what really got me……he spoke

in the form of a question…..and really a confession……let me just read to you what

Niemoller said just after WWII:

“The persecution of the Jews, the way we treated the occupied countries, or the

things in Greece, in Poland, in Czechoslovakia or in Holland, that were written in

the newspapers. … I believe, we Confessing-Church-Christians have every reason

to say: mea culpa, mea culpa! We can talk ourselves out of it with the excuse that

it would have cost me my head if I had spoken out.

We preferred to keep silent. We are certainly not without guilt/fault, and I ask

myself again and again, what would have happened, if in the year 1933 or

1934—there must have been a possibility—14,000 Protestant pastors and all

Protestant communities in Germany had defended the truth until their deaths? If

we had said back then, it is not right when Hermann Göring simply puts 100,000

Communists in the concentration camps, in order to let them die. I can imagine

that perhaps 30,000 to 40,000 Protestant Christians would have had their heads

cut off, but I can also imagine that we would have rescued 30–40,000 million [sic]

people, because that is what it is costing us now.”

That’s sobering…..think about it….his biggest regret was not speaking up

sooner……But speaking up……that takes practice…..think of “resolve” and

“courage” as if they are a muscle group. If left untrained then they grow flaccid

and weak……it takes exercising your “resolve” and “courage” to be able to be

effective at employing them.

So here’s my advice on it……grab one topic…..just one to start with…..something

that you’re passionate about…..maybe its faith….liberty…..pushing back against

critical race theory….sharing your faith……expressing how much you love your

community, your state, your nation…..and then do this one simple exercise:

- Ask yourself: “What would I say if……?”

Take a little time to think about your answer…..maybe read up on comments

made by other folks who do a good job at addressing it……ask a friend or family

member…..and then just dialogue it in your own mind…..”what would I say if….?”

You don’t have to be famous……don’t have to be well educated……don’t have to

be an elected official…..or a business leader……In Acts 4 – Peter and John spoke to

the leaders of the day and it says that they were noted as speaking with authority

even though they were “unlearned and uneducated men”….just everyday folks

who spoke up…..but when they spoke, it changed the world…..when Peter and

John addressed the leaders of their day those same well-educated aristocratic

establishment leaders told them to stop speaking…..literally told them that what

they knew to be true was not true and despite the fact that those two men had

personally spent time with Jesus that they could no longer speak of it……well, that

didn’t fly and Peter and John bowed up and told them “I cannot stop speaking

what I have seen and heard”……they knew it….and they were going to speak

it……they had resolve, and they had courage, and they had a voice…….and listen,

Resolve and courage are things that become a part of your character…..you will

be known for them……or you can also easily be known for being without them……

One of my favorite authors happens to be from Alabama……Andy Andrews…..also

one of the best public speakers I have ever heard……amazing personal story…..but

he wrote a book that I love called “How Do You Kill 11 Million People?”

……referring again to the nazi extermination camps……A quote from Andy

Andrews is right on point for this discussion today:

Every man of character will have that character questioned. Every man of honor

and courage will be faced with unjust criticism, but never forget that unjust

criticism has no impact whatsoever upon the truth. And the only sure way to

avoid criticism is to do nothing and be nothing.

So there it is folks……liberals are shouting at the top of their lungs…..pushing

themselves into every corner of our lives……telling us that we have to always

believe that what is true is not true any more……do you have resolve and

courage……can you speak up……

What would you say if…..?

Just a thought….. you could just do nothing…..say nothing…..and when they come

for you……who will speak for you then?

And that’s a wrap for the Rightside Way!