When Good Men and Women Do Nothing

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”
—Edmund Burke

I’ve heard and read some comments lately that indicate the Internet is a dangerous place and blogs are even worse. We should stay away from it at all costs. There is also the idea that a blogspot page is not an appropriate forum for expressing testimony or talking about the Book of Mormon—the pearls before swine attitude. Being the codependent person that I am, I took some time for deep reflection. Here’s what I came up with.

Technology is a great blessing and a boon to the faithful, to those who use it for good and pure and positive purposes. The Church has multiple websites (which nixes the argument that this is not an appropriate forum). Genealogy has made huge strides with the advent of computer, software, and the ability to post information on websites. Like all other technological advances, the Internet is simply a tool. In and of itself, it is not good or bad. The value judgment rests in how it is used.

Like so many other blessings given to mankind, the Internet may also be twisted and perverted by evil hearts and minds. The same can be said about almost everything we see and use in our daily lives. Few would think a baseball bat something to be avoided and kept out of our homes at all costs, and yet it has been used at times to purposefully harm others. What about cars? What about books? What about belts? Even something as innocuous as a toothbrush, in the wrong hands, can become a weapon of evil and destruction. So the argument that the Internet can be a dangerous place, while true, is not relevant. Everything is dangerous.

A corollary to this is the idea of proportionate of use. Something becomes evil when more people use it to harm than to uplift. This same argument would use the Crusades to condemn Christianity.

How many times have we read in the scriptures that God preserved a city or a people for the sake of a few righteous souls? If every good and pure heart refrains from using this tool we call Internet for positive purposes, then indeed it shall become a tool of the devil. But what would be the result if instead of avoiding the Internet, every faithful, good-hearted person with access to it began to post positive, uplifting thoughts and stories? What would happen if every Christian with a computer began to bear testimony of Jesus Christ on the Internet? What if random surfing brought not a preponderance of porn, but an inundation of insight, a plethora of positiveness, and a torrent of testimony.

I believe that the Lord will bless and magnify every good and positive voice that speaks in this arena. I believe that as long as good men and women stand up and speak out, the Lord will not allow the filth to consume us.