Quakers & Bearing Witness
The Quakers teach us the value of bearing witness. This tactic is offered as guidance for good people who need to prevail over bad. It is a method of manipulation which, so far as I can see, can not be abused. In a dispute or when something untoward is likely to occur, it is helpful to have a witness. In a private phone call with a crim one is wide open for the crim to say things which they would never say in front of a witness. For example, intimidating threats. With a third party present, an unknown quantity to the criminal, threats are less likely to occur. Violent people are less likely to be violent when there is somebody else there. Similarly with dodgy lies and mind games. Taking a witness along in difficult situations is likely to help good prevail. This is a pacifist method used by Quaker activists, and also by groups like Greenpeace. When the whalers know someone is watching, they can’t get away with their crimes. Choose the right witness – they don’t have to know about the badness which they are inadvertently preventing, so long as the manipulation is done for honourable ends, a little politicking can be justified. But the moral argument is different in every case and is only debated inside the spirit of the person who is using the witness. Respect the witness.
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