To talk or not to talk; to pay taxes or not to pay . . . .

Religion Dispatches

Julie Ingersoll writes about opposition to the anti-bullying, day of silence just observed at schools across the nation.  Her observations about the conflicting commitments and complications are reminiscent of our classroom discussion about Thoreau's non-tax protest.  Students asserted that not paying taxes was doing nothing, or very little, to make his position known and to change government policies.  Here we have silence as a mode of claiming freedom of expression and demands that students speak rather than remain silent in protest of bullying.  In addition the suggestion that other students stay home in order to be sparred the pressure of being in the same room with silent classmates has the consequence of reducing funding for that day.

All of which highlights the complexity of democracy which is not as simple or as clear cut as asking everyone who agrees to raise their hands.