Someone Else Will Do It

Leon
Originally uploaded by panic-embryo

The fallacy in thinking someone else will do it, is someone else may not.

It really doesn't matter what the situation is. It can be at church. It can be at work. It can be in a meeting. It can be an idea. It can be in your personal life. Anything.

You know when those moments arise. You know when you should speak up. You know when you should take action. When you start trying to convince yourself someone else will say it or do it, resist the urge to be idle. Don't wait for someone else speak up or take action.

Pastor Martin Niemoller lived in Nazi Germany and in the beginning he supported Hitler's rise to power. The poem, First they came... is widely attributed to Niemoller. I think it sums up apathy and the dangers of thinking someone else will take action or speak up much better than I.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

Then they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
I did not protest;
I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out for me.