Makes no sense to silence dissenting voices

Below is the Thinking Anew column in today's Irish Times

Michael Commane
"He is unquestionably disheartening people by talking like this."

Any idea who might have said this and who was being talked about?

Surely it's the advice given by ordinary decent people, telling their listeners not to heed the words of the 'trouble maker'.

It's the sort of 'advice' that is always wheeled out to 'warn' people not to listen or pay any attention to someone who may be expressing an opinion or idea that might well upset the status quo.

The quotation above is slightly “doctored” to hide its historical context. Here it is as it was written.

"These leading men accordingly spoke to the king. 'Let this man be put to death: he is unquestionably disheartening the remaining soldiers in the city, and all the people too, by talking like this. The fellow does not have the welfare of this people at heart so much as its ruin.' " (Jeremiah 38: 4)

Of course we can always find the relevant quotation whether in the Bible or the Quran to suit our activities no matter how crazy they are.

Nevertheless this jumped out at me when I was looking at the texts, which will be read in churches tomorrow.

The quotation from the Prophet Jeremiah was written close to three thousand years ago. To put it in context, Jeremiah is approximately a thousand years younger than the human remains, that were found in Cashel Bog in County Laois two years ago.

Most likely Jeremiah was born near Jerusalem about 646 BC. He lived through the tragic years of the ruin of the kingdom of Judah.

So whatever way we look at it, it is a long time ago and what mesmerised me about the quotation was how apt and relevant it still is today.

Those words could be used by a US president, a British prime minister, a pope, a trade union leader, a CEO of a multi national corporation, by a party leader, anyone in a position of authority, whether legitimate or not.

Not so long ago a taoiseach warned people of the perils of talking down the economy. And today politicians warn us to be quiet as we prepare to return to the financial markets.

The words spoken about Jeremiah are the sort of words used by the powerful to keep people under them, the masses, the proletariate, whatever you want to call them, in control, keep them quiet and submissive. They were words used in an attempt to keep the Prophet Jeremiah quiet and they are the words used today to keep 'trouble makers' quiet.

Those words will be read in churches around the world tomorrow. The words read in church are read to inspire us, to make us think, to invite us to question the status quo and force us to parse every word that we hear from those in authority.

And then we come home from church and are expected almost to bow our heads and accept all the words and ideas we hear from authority, whether State or church. Any signs of the slightest insubordination or free- thinking and those words spoken by the leading men to the king about Jeremiah will be addressed to us.

At the MacGill Summer School this year Fine Gael TD Eoghan Murphy spoke about the reality of being a back bencher and how he has to kowtow to the party whip.

He criticised how independent action is discouraged and dissent severely punished. Then again, if he were a government minister, would he express such ideas?

We seem to live in times of shocking 'orthodoxy' where the slightest move away from the 'leadership' involves castigation and disapproval. Today authority seems to be centralised in such an unhealthy way that people can easily feel alienated. And that's the case in church and State.

Systems that invoke the party whip and excommunication surely have lost aspects of their credibility. Silencing dissenting voices is never the answer. One is reminded of people like Mandela and Solzhenitsyn.

When Barack Obama first appeared on the scene he was loved and admired because of his willingness to question the status quo. That aura, that mystique has gone and we seem to be left with some sort of automaton, who does exactly what is expected of him.

Imagine the hope that could be generated if Pope Francis decided to re-examine the case of the Irish priests who have incurred censure for reasons of their theological thinking and public utterances.

Jeremiah came under the cosh of the ruling authority close to 3,000 years ago. Today we honour and admire him, indeed he is put forward as a 'role model'

But what about the 'trouble makers' of today'?

Does anything ever change?