“The most destructive criticism is indifference.”
–Edgar Watson Howe
There are two general ways that we can have a negative impact on society. The first and most obvious way is to engage in actions that are hurtful or detrimental to others. Such actions are often referred to as “sins of commission,” and we can all see their negative nature. The second and less obvious way is by failing to take positive actions to support efforts to make this a better world. Such failure can be categorized as “sins of omission.”
Just refraining from doing anything directly and deliberately to hurt others is not sufficient if we want to have a positive effect on society. We must also support efforts to make the world a better place in which to live. We may be concerned about the environment and world hunger, but unless we lend our support to individuals and organizations working to solve these important problems, our concern is not very productive. We may see problems in our communities that need to be corrected, but just recognizing them is not sufficient. Unless we take some action to call the problems to the community’s attention and offer our help in resolving them, our recognition of the problems does nothing to solve them.
Too many of us try too hard to avoid controversy. Nobody should seek controversy in and of itself, but when we fail to take actions that our conscience tells us we should take just because such actions are controversial, we are shirking our responsibilities as citizens. In the early days of the civil rights movement, many people who supported it in principle were unwilling to stand up and be counted. Too many of us try to straddle the fence too much of the time on controversial issues. We don’t want to take sides publicly even though we may privately have a strong opinion about who is right and who is wrong.
The big question is, “Do we have a right to dodge all controversial issues?” If everybody did so, no progress would ever be made and injustice would run rampant. We must recognize that there are people who are ready and willing to take advantage of the public’s apathy and inflict pain on others if they are allowed to do so. Because of the ongoing battle between the forces of good and evil in this world, society as a whole must remain vigilant in its efforts to combat evil in all forms. Are we not all members of society? Don’t we have a responsibility to battle our potential sins of omission as well as those sins of commission?
Think about it.
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Copyright 2026
Allen W. Smith
