- Feb 5, 2002
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DIFFICULT MORAL QUESTIONS: Our reticence to speak out is understandable. Our hearers will frequently take offense. But fear shouldn’t dictate what we do.
Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890), “Christ and the Woman at the Well” (photo: Public Domain / Public Domain)
Q. I teach at a Catholic high school. I just graduated from college, so I am close in age to the students. I recently overheard a student talking to her friend about a cute jacket she was wearing, and the friend said she got it in the men’s section (the girl isn’t gay or anything, she just thought it was cute — even I sometimes wear my brothers’ old hand-me-downs). But then the girl said, “Boys can wear girl clothes, too.” Although I don’t think they should, I didn’t speak up and correct her. Another time at Halloween a girl said she dressed up “as a Playboy bunny” and again I didn’t speak up. Did I commit a mortal sin by not speaking up in these situations? Am I obligated to go back and repair the situations by speaking what I believe to be true? — Maria
We’ve all experienced this — staying quiet when we could have said something on a controversial matter of importance.
Continued below.
Is Remaining Silent About Sin Mortally Sinful?
Carl Heinrich Bloch (1834-1890), “Christ and the Woman at the Well” (photo: Public Domain / Public Domain)
Q. I teach at a Catholic high school. I just graduated from college, so I am close in age to the students. I recently overheard a student talking to her friend about a cute jacket she was wearing, and the friend said she got it in the men’s section (the girl isn’t gay or anything, she just thought it was cute — even I sometimes wear my brothers’ old hand-me-downs). But then the girl said, “Boys can wear girl clothes, too.” Although I don’t think they should, I didn’t speak up and correct her. Another time at Halloween a girl said she dressed up “as a Playboy bunny” and again I didn’t speak up. Did I commit a mortal sin by not speaking up in these situations? Am I obligated to go back and repair the situations by speaking what I believe to be true? — Maria
We’ve all experienced this — staying quiet when we could have said something on a controversial matter of importance.
Continued below.
Is Remaining Silent About Sin Mortally Sinful?
