When is silence a sin?

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Hello, my name is Will and I could really use some advice on something.

Today at work, one of my coworkers made a pro-euthanasia statement, but, being too afraid to say anything, I just sat there silently. Am I guilty of a sin of omission?

Thanks and God Bless.
Will.
 
There are many levels of sin of omission. The more obvious would be where we are commanded to do it but didn’t. In some situations, there may be grey areas. In your case, whether you were directly in the conversation, or the speaker addressed everybody in the room or you were just eve dropping. Sometimes common sense would dictate our action.

I would say if your opinion is bring solicited and you purposely keep silent, then that would be a sin of omission. In other word, it depends.
 
You are at work.
Work is a place for working. it is not a place for people to discuss hot-button issues. The workplace would be a better place if people would just shut their yaps about everything that doesn’t fall into the category of “work related conversation” or “neutral, pleasant conversation”. Since many people do not seem to understand that work is not a good place to announce their personal controversial views on politics or other social topics, I have generally made it a point to ignore 95 percent of such remarks I hear at work, the more so as I get older.

I could see speaking up if someone was being bullied or some unfairness was going on, but if a person just wants to express some controversial view over lunch, I think the best response most of the time is going to be just ignore it and change the subject to the weather or sports.

So no, I don’t think you committed a sin of omission in this particular context of work.

If you are not comfortable with the fact that you didn’t say anything, then the next time co-worker says something you really don’t agree with, you can just say, “Well, I don’t agree with you on that” and then change the subject or leave.
 
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I wasn’t even being talked to directly. It was directed at another coworker. I just happened to be in there too.
 
I think, “Go forth and teach ye all nations” - instructs us to address sin and ignorance in others, as well as ourselves.
 
I got into a heated euthanasia debate at work one time (me against, her pro). She had seen a beloved family member die painfully (the hospital where they died massively dropped the ball on pain management).
She was really mad at me and in near tears. The bystanders didn’t think I was rough on her, I really tried to be delicate and reflecting of her feelings, but I didn’t back down, either.
Honestly, it depends on the context. Sometimes a person drops a conversational bomb at a time when calm discussion is not an option–you have to go off break, or it’s just a bad time.
You could consider saying – “we should discuss that sometime, I’m curious to hear your opinion on it”. Or something.

Best of luck
 
MountCarmel said:
I think, “Go forth and teach ye all nations” - instructs us to address sin and ignorance in others, as well as ourselves.
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Again, work is not the place to be preaching and teaching, unless you work as a priest/ religious/ minister etc, or the issue is directly connected with your work, or you see some big wrong going on directly related to your work (such as bullying, fraud, etc.)

You can “teach all ye nations” at work by your good example, without having to engage with your coworkers on every aspect of non-work-related life.
 
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thistle said:
That would mean we should be going into every strip club everywhere daily to address sin.
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Or it could mean we should be lecturing our workmates about not only euthanasia but also about their drinking, fornicating, materialism, and failure to attend church, which sounds like a great way to make yourself unpopular in a hurry and get fired while everyone ignores you.

“Addressing sin and ignorance” needs to be done with common sense and in the context of whatever you are in a place to do and what your job actually is. I can see the euthanasia discussion being very pertinent if the person works at a nursing home or a hospice. Not so pertinent if the guy works in a coffee shop.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
“Addressing sin and ignorance” needs to be done with common sense and in the context of whatever you are in a place to do and what your job actually is. I can see the euthanasia discussion being very pertinent if the person works at a nursing home or a hospice. Not so pertinent if the guy works in a coffee shop.
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I totally agree.
 
I just try to ignore these topics at work. The people in my work group are all very “progressive” politically, and they bring up controversial topics all the time. Trump is constantly in the news, saying and doing controversial things. I just observe, and since I feel that I am badly outnumbered, and several of my co-workers are anti-Catholic (no anti-Catholics like former Catholics!) there’s no way I’m going to discuss any topic like this at work.
 
No, unless you happen to working in one of course, then perhaps you should first address your own spiritual situation, first. [It is not a like-with-like situation.]
 
I’ve never discussed euthanasia or abortion from a religious standpoint.
Pro life positions can be argued successfully from the secular viewpoint
 
0Scarlett_nidiyilii said:
I’ve never discussed euthanasia or abortion from a religious standpoint.

Pro life positions can be argued successfully from the secular viewpoint
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I think that discussing anything that one has strong personal values about is dangerous to discuss at work. At work we are paid to perform our job functions, and we have an ethical and moral responsibility to perform them to the best of our ability. Anything that has the potential to detract from that, such as intimate relationships and non-work related discussions are potentially hazardous.

What would be the goal of arguing a pro-life position with a co-worker?
 
That’s a fair question.

It goes back to context–the situation was that it was during some downtime, there was plenty of time for everybody to be heard, and when the subject opened, I felt it laid on my heart to speak up.
It was definitely a risk on my part (very liberal workplace), but I didn’t open the topic, someone else did, and the situation was one where silence could have been interpreted as agreement.
But you need to use your judgement and you need to read the situation…
 
In a work place where staff are quite familiar with each other, I think it is quite easy to know where each stands on a particular issue.

I used to work in a rather big institution before I quit, holding quite a senior position. I was already in the Renewal then, thus most of my action/decision were relatively unconventional compared with the secular practices then. I noticed my staff tend to know what I would do given a scenario, and my decision was often according to my personal belief, unless it was in conflict with the institution.

So in some ways, silence can be understood if we stand out in our action.

God bless.
 
WillW said:
Hello, my name is Will and I could really use some advice on something.

Today at work, one of my coworkers made a pro-euthanasia statement, but, being too afraid to say anything, I just sat there silently. Am I guilty of a sin of omission?

Thanks and God Bless.
Will.
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If it was me,

Here’s 4 scenarios

Paraphrased

1.“If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.” . IOW A gives B no warning. A & B are both screwed. Both die

2.“But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you will have saved your life.” . IOW A gives B warning. B ignores the warning. A lives B is screwed.

3.“if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you have not warned him, he shall die for his sin, and his righteous deeds which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.” . IOW A gives B no warning. A is screwed. B is being B and is screwed and ALSO, his good works are not remembered

4."Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man not to sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live, because he took warning; and you will have saved your life.” . IOW A warns B and B listens and changes, A & B live

Therefore, putting this as God sees it
I would do all I can to be in scenario 2 & 4 and avoid #s 1 & 3 at all cost

But that’s just me.
 
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