to all those silent friends

Some claim that silence is a form of violence.

While others view silence as a source of great strength.

It can be both, depending upon its usage.

"Lying is done with words and also with silence."
Adrienne Rich

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
For our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.

We can be at peace soaking in the quiet stillness of dead silence.....our own silence...that which allows us to connect with everything and also to disconnect. We can place that healing silence upon ourselves. We can go there to store up internal energy needed to face our daily lives. It can be a good place a place that gives us strength.

This is necessary at times for our mental health and it can be the cause of a wonderful rejuvenation of spirits and optimism. It can give us strength in the face of weakness, we can find solace and peace there. It can also cause wallowing and sadness if silence is put to use as a place where we lick our wounds.

Silence, like i said above, can be violent and strengthening both depending upon which end of the silence you are on and who is creating the silence. Is it you being silent with yourself or with others?

For when you are silent with others it is always violent.

Silence is never really silent, there is always some static getting through, some rejection, some issue, some leakage that percolates and oozes out in the deafening dun. There is no such thing as deafening silence for it really means disapproval and the person who is subjected to the silence knows they are being violated.

Today, in our society, silence has become a tactic used by those not wanting to defend their views. It is easier to stop talking to opponents for then the silencer does not have to confront any uncomfortable truths that may be difficult to face. By using silence as a tactic the uncomfortable truth is covered over, put away, ignored, but not forgotten.

Lawyers have a term for silencing their opponents. They call it SLAPP(Strategic lawsuits against public participation), sounds violent just on the face of it doesn't it? It becomes a game as they force defendants to spend more and more money by stretching out the litigation and silencing them as a result.

"SLAPP suits threaten the very foundation of citizen involvement and public participation in democracy. "Americans by the thousands are being sued, simply for exercising one of our most cherished rights: the right to communicate our views to our government officials, to 'speak out' on public issue," state Pring and Canan. "Today, you and your friends, neighbors, co-workers, community leaders, and clients can be sued for millions of dollars just for telling the government what you think, want, or believe in. Both individuals and groups are now being routinely sued in multimillion-dollar damage actions for such 'all-American' political activities as circulating a petition, writing a letter to the editor, testifying at a public hearing, reporting violations of law, lobbying for legislation, peaceful demonstrating, or otherwise attempting to influence government action."
http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/1997Q2/slapp.html

Silencing the opponent in this manner puts the issues in the closet. Not to be discussed, not to raise red flags, made to disappear. Whenever i use that term "made to disappear" i remember Argentina.

In Argentina, during the 1970's, there was a period of widespread military repression on the civilian population. Under the pretext of the "war against subversion" the military and police authorities developed a campaign of terror. All civil rights - freedom of expression, justice, association, the vote - were eliminated. Thousands of citizens were unjustly put in prison where they endured inhuman conditions and lived under the pain of torture and the fear of death.

Argentinian mother's walked in silence at the Plaza de Mayo so their children, who had "disappeared," would not be forgotten. So that someday those who participated in the kidnappings would be held accountable.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending upon which side you are on) when the issues become too pressing to suppress they bust out into the open pushing back on those trying to withdraw. They don't go away they eventually have their day and they will be considered.

People in general don't like being lied to.
They don't like to be thought too stupid to discover the truth.
They don't want to be silenced.