“The most deadly poison of our time is indifference” (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

Are you like me? I am often the person who chooses fight versus flight when it comes to standing up for something important to me. I have been judged and mocked as being too hard or mouthy or stubborn when it comes to something I perceive as important. I have been told to “let it rest” many times in my life, and, frankly, that would just make me more upset. I’ll give you a couple examples. 

I have had a turbulent few years regarding employment. I kept making the same mistake in taking the same type of job in the same kind of environment, and expecting it to be better that time because it was a catholic school or private organization. (I realize, in hindsight, that these choices defined insanity per Albert Einstein.) Every time I started being treated differently for following the rules and making sure I treated everyone the same, not excluding a favorite student in the school or something as being better than everyone else, the administration would start to push me out. If I would stand up for myself, I would be shot down, scolded, and forced out of the position. This mentality infuriated me. I would rail against that attitude and didn’t care if the admin heard me. To me, that is a great injustice to society. I don’t think everyone should be given a trophy, but I believe that expectations of behavior should be the same across the board, whether the student is one of the “good kids” or “bad kids”. 

Here’s another: I spent the greater part of my post-college life (10 years) as a music and liturgy person at my church. I was good, and still am, at that job. I made choices based on the rubrics and traditions of the church and not on popular opinion. I worked hard to serve the Church, probably to a fault since it took me away from family and hurt my mental and physical health. Everything was fine until a group of women decided they didn’t like how good I was at it all, at how much power I seemed to have, etc. They played a game for years to push me out and would run to the pastor every time I made a decision they didn’t like, while looking me in the face and making it seem like they agreed. I would fight on anything that went against how the Mass was supposed to be done. I knew what was considered sacred and not, I knew how to plan music for all liturgical celebrations, and I spent much of my time making sure all the Ts were crossed and Is dotted. (NOTE: my pastor was not around much.) I got to a point where I wasn’t being heard. My voice wasn’t resonating with the pastor because he chose to take the easier road. He chose to keep peace and stay indifferent, so I left. It was a hard decision but it was exactly what I needed to do in my life. I couldn’t bear to watch the liturgical life of the parish crumble because of the egos of a group of middle-aged women. I still get to fill this role, but as a volunteer in a different parish. God knew I needed to step back and away from that chaos. 

The word stems from the Latin ‘indifferentia’ which gave way to our English word from Middle English meaning ‘being neither good nor bad’. To be indifferent about something means that we do not have an opinion about a certain idea or object. It is not important enough to us to choose how we feel about it. Indifference is also associated with inaction. If you do not care one way or another, you won’t go out and act upon your feelings. Indifference is not always something that is bad. When we have an indifferent attitude about a type of food, that’s our opinion. It will not put a life in danger. However, when it comes to our faith, our belief, indifference can be deadly. 

Indifference, in this way, will kill anything that it touches. As St. Maximilian Kolbe said, “The most deadly poison of our time is indifference.” If we truly believe everything we say in the Nicene Creed at Mass every weekend, it should stir something inside of us when it is being attacked. In this day and age, Mother Church, and Christianity as a whole, is perpetually persecuted for being, for existing. The Church has many social issues that she is familiar with and willing to fight against, even if done in a peaceful & prayerful way. You can find them here: https://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catholic-social-teaching/seven-themes-of-catholic-social-teaching.   Life, the environment, the dignity of all peoples – poor and rich, regardless of race –  are all things that our forefathers and leaders have defined based on the teachings from Christ. We hear of indifference being a greater sin than many in the bible. Many saints have preached and lived a life against the mentality of indifference. Our Catechism even discusses it: “indifference neglects or refuses to reflect on divine charity.” (CCC #2094) Indifference in our feelings about our faith is a sin against God’s love. 

One issue that will always be a “hot-button” is the dignity of human life. Often this is seen in secular news as pro-life vs pro-choice issue. Using the idea of indifference being a sin against God’s love, imagine a baby, diagnosed with a rare disease. The child may not function like a “regular person” or look like everyone else, but does that mean they don’t deserve to live? How about an elderly person who is slowly losing their faculties. They know it is happening and the family just gets continually frustrated that the person cannot do for themselves anymore. Would Christ have treated that person as a waste and “pulled the plug”? Absolutely not on both instances! We are created from God’s image and are saved by His love. To treat another person as less is a sin. To be indifferent against those who treat God’s children as less is a sin. 

Indifference is a hardness of heart that allows you to be lukewarm. “I know your works; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15-16) Half-hearted faith is worse than taking a stance and it is almost nauseating to God. We must persevere against persecution. We need to fight for our faith, but do so in a way that shows dignity, always striving for a peaceful means to an end. As we hear in Paul’s Letter to the Romans, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all.” (Rom 12:17) However, losing your life for Christ, for the faith, for Mother Church, will always be better than giving in and conforming to society’s trending opinion at the moment. You won’t necessarily die standing up for your faith, but your life may change; you will be mocked, treated poorly. Life as a Christian is not one defined by indifference. It is defined by those who show up and live their faith every day.