society
When Comfort Becomes Complicity: The Hidden Violence of Neutrality. (How moral grandstanding silences empathy and what to do about it)
When Comfort Becomes Complicity: The Hidden Violence of Neutrality. (How moral grandstanding silences empathy and what to do about it)
By George Omagbemi Sylvester | Published on SaharaWeeklyNG.com
“Sometimes when you are not the victim you turn to be a priest.” The line is brutal in its honesty. It names a human reflex we would rather deny: WHEN PAIN IS NOT OURS, WE OFTEN SERMONIZE INSTEAD OF SYMPATHIZE. We reach for tidy morality plays, not messy solidarity. We become judges in robes we stitched for ourselves; confident, distant and wrong.
This essay argues that the priestly posture (moralizing from a safe distance) does real harm. Philosophy, history and behavioral science converge on one simple fact: NEUTRALITY and MORAL GRANDSTANDING in the face of suffering enable injustice. To resist that drift, we must choose courage over commentary, action over applause and responsibility over rhetorical righteousness.
The Priestly Reflex and Its Consequences.
It is tempting to stand safely on the pavement describing the flames rather than grabbing water. Archbishop Desmond Tutu warned against this pose: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” That’s not rhetoric; it is diagnosis. Neutrality is not a vacuum, but a shelter for the powerful.
Sociology and psychology explain how we slide into the PRIESTS PULPIT. After the 1964 murder of Kitty Genovese in New YORK (long mythologized as “38 witnesses doing nothing”) scholars Bibb Latané and John Darley designed experiments (1968–1970) that established the bystander effect: As the number of onlookers grows, the likelihood of help falls. We diffuse responsibility, assume someone else will act and talk ourselves into spiritual aloofness: “This is not my place.” The original Genovese reporting was later shown to be exaggerated in parts, but the experiments remain robust: diffusion of responsibility is real and deadly. When we are not the victim, the mind reaches for distance and the distance breeds sermons.
Philosopher Hannah Arendt offered a chilling lens: the “BANALITY of EVIL.” Much evil, she argued, is not spawned by theatrical villains but by ordinary people who outsource moral judgment to convention and bureaucracy. “The sad truth,” Arendt wrote, “is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.” The priestly reflex is precisely this quiet abdication an appearance of moral clarity that hides moral laziness.
In political life, the cost is stark. Martin Luther King Jr. warned, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The phrase is not a slogan; it is a systems insight. When we treat others’ suffering as a stage on which to display our virtue, we do not disrupt the system; we stabilize it. We offer commentary instead of consequences.
Moral Grandstanding: The Sermon as Performance.
Modern ethics has a name for the priestly reflex: moral grandstanding. Philosophers Justin Tosi and Brandon Warmke define it as using moral talk to impress others and elevate one’s status. It is the public square’s glittering homily, designed not to help the victim but to burnish the speaker. The result is predictable: OUTRAGE INFLATION, PERFORMATIVE PURITY TESTS and a CROWD that talks over those who are actually harmed.
Psychology adds more traps. Moral licensing whispers, “You’ve posted, protested or donated once, now you’ve done enough.” Empathy gap research shows our concern shrinks with distance, difference and politics. Paul Bloom, in AGAINST EMPATHY, cautions that unexamined empathy can be biased; he recommends compassion guided by reason. The point is not to feel less but to act more intelligently: to pair warm HEARTS with cool HEADS.
Economists Ernst Fehr and Simon Gächter showed that communities flourish when members are willing to bear a cost to punish WRONGDOING, even as uninvolved third parties. This “ALTRUISTIC PUNISHMENT” knits social order by signaling that injustice will meet resistance. In other words: the antidote to the priestly pose is accountable action, not decorative outrage.
Philosophy’s Demands: From Spectatorship to Stewardship.
Long before social media, Adam Smith described the “impartial spectator,” an inner witness that checks our ego and urges justice. Properly formed, this spectator does not excuse indifference; it rebukes it. Peter Singer sharpened the edge: “If it is in our power to prevent something very bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything morally significant, we ought to do it.” The drowning child in Singer’s famous thought experiment is not a metaphor to admire, but a command to act.
Edmund Burke is often misquoted, but his verified counsel is tougher and truer: “WHEN BAD MEN COMBINE, the GOOD must ASSOCIATE; else they will FALL one by one.” The instruction is collective. Association (organized, disciplined, sustained) is the opposite of priestly posturing. It is solidarity operationalized.
How the Priest Shows Up Today.
Victim-blaming in public discourse: We search for the victim’s mistake to absolve ourselves. Did they dress wrongly, protest poorly, speak too loudly? The “PRIEST” asks how the hurting invited their hurt.
Policy debates as morality theater: We score points; THE POOR PAY COSTS. When food, housing or migration becomes a backdrop for brand-building, real families become scenery.
Neutrality masquerading as professionalism: Institutions hide behind “PROCESS” while harm compounds. Procedure without courage is ritual; priestly incense masking the stench of neglect.
What To Do Instead: A Brief Ethics of ANTI-PRIESTHOOD.
Move first, MORALIZE LATER. When harm is clear, action precedes analysis. Call the ambulance, secure the scene, offer the seat, share the meal, transfer the funds, sign the affidavit. Discuss theory after the danger has passed.
Center those harmed. “Nothing about us without us” is more than a slogan; it is a safeguard. Design responses with, NOT FOR, the people affected.
Invest where it hurts (aA LITTLE). If help costs nothing, it usually changes nothing. TIME, MONEY, RISK and REPUTATION are CURRENCIES of real SOLIDARITY.
Build associational power. Burke was right: ORGANIZE. JOIN UNIONS, CIVIC GROUPS, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCHES, LEGAL DEFENSE FUNDS, FAITH COMMUNITIES. Lone priests deliver sermons; communities deliver outcomes.
Measure outcomes, not applause. Swap “DID I SOUND RIGHTEOUS?” for “Did we reduce suffering? Did we increase safety, freedom and dignity?”
Choose principled dissent over fashionable outrage. King again: courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over it. When your coalition is wrong, say so. When the headline is misleading, correct it; especially if it flatters your side.
Practice disciplined compassion. Bloom’s caution matters: PAIR FEELING with FACT. Target aid where it works; test programs; correct course. COMPASSION without COMPETENCE exhausts.
The Civic Stakes.
History is merciless to spectators. Societies do not collapse in a single dramatic act; they erode by a thousand small abdications: someone else will speak; someone else will vote; someone else will resist. The priestly reflex institutionalizes those abdications. It trains a generation to curate moral identities rather than carry moral burdens.
We can do better. The first step is to retire the pulpit we drag everywhere. The second is to recover the oldest civic technology human beings possess: showing up. Aristotle wrote that we become just by doing just acts. Not by liking just posts or issuing just statements; but by DOING.
A Final Word to the “Priest” in All of Us.
You and I are not exempt. We are all, at times, the safe commentator, the tasteful neutral, the careful non-participant. Let us give that figure a new liturgy”: When a NEIGHBOR SUFFERS, show up.
When a stranger is targeted, STAND NEAR.
When a rule shields cruelty, BREAK the SILENCE and sometimes the RULE.
When your comfort depends on someone else’s risk, TRADE your COMFORT.
The work is not glamorous. It will not feel like a sermon. It will look like grocery runs, witness statements, donated hours, early votes, shared platforms and hard conversations with your own allies. It will feel small; until it doesn’t.
The line we began with remains our warning and our way out: SOMETIMES WHEN YOU ARE NOT THE VICTIM YOU TURN to be a PRIEST. The task is to turn, instead, into a neighbor. Let the record show that in our time the bystanders learned to MOVE, the neutral learned to CHOOSE and the preachers without practice learned to put their hands to the FIRE.
~ George Omagbemi Sylvester
society
Africa Gospel Film Project Launched to Train a New Generation of Christian Filmmakers Across Africa
Africa Gospel Film Project Launched to Train a New Generation of Christian Filmmakers Across Africa
Abuja, Nigeria – January 2026 — Gospel Cinema International has officially announced the launch of the Africa Gospel Film Project (AGFP), a bold, multi-year capacity-building and film production initiative designed to equip African Christian filmmakers with professional skills, spiritual depth, and global distribution pathways.
Africa is home to over 600 million Christians, yet African faith-based films remain significantly underrepresented in global catalogues. AGFP was created to address this gap by training filmmakers, producing premium-quality faith-based content, and strategically connecting Africa’s Christian film ecosystem to the global market.
The project will launch its first phase with a 6-Day Immersive Filmmaking & Spiritual Formation Program, scheduled to hold April 13–18, 2026, in Nigeria, followed by the production of an 8-episode faith-based series later in the year.
“Film is one of the most powerful tools shaping culture and belief today,” said Bright Wonder Obasi, president of Gospel Cinema International. “Africa Gospel Film Project is not just about making films—it is about shaping storytellers who understand both excellence and spiritual responsibility.”
AGFP will focus on:
Professional training in screenwriting, directing, cinematography, editing, producing, and acting
Deep spiritual formation and mentorship
Collaborative production and international distribution pathways.
Gospel Cinema International is a faith-driven film development organization committed to training, producing, and distributing impactful Christian films that shape culture and inspire faith globally.
Applications and partnership discussions are now open.
For applications and information:
visit www.gospelcinemaint.com
Email [email protected]
Follow @gosplecinemtrybe across social media for updates.
2027: Group Urges Information Minister Mohammed Idris Malagi to Contest Niger Governorship
A group known as the Niger Progressives & Prosperity Promoters (NPPP) has issued a strong public appeal urging Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris Malagi, to contest the 2027 governorship election in Niger State.
In a statement dated January 27, 2026, signed by Dr. Ibrahim K. Mohammed as convener, the group criticized the current administration under Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago for what it described as excessive international travels, unfulfilled agreements, and lack of tangible development in areas like water supply, jobs, agriculture, security, and infrastructure, despite the state’s abundant resources.
The statement described Malagi—a former governorship aspirant in 2023, media entrepreneur, and federal minister—as the ideal candidate, highlighting his calm, strategic, results-oriented leadership style, national experience, and ability to deliver without theatrics or corruption.
It emphasized that the call transcends party lines and urged youths, elders, professionals, farmers, and community leaders to rally behind competence for Niger State’s progress, describing the moment as a critical crossroads where delay risks further decline.
Full Press Statement:
Enough Is Enough: A Clarion Call on Mohammed Idris Malagi to Step Forward in 2027.
There comes a moment in the life of a people when patience expires and silence becomes betrayal. Niger State has reached that moment.
Our state stands at a dangerous crossroads rich in land, water, and people, yet poor in outcomes; blessed with opportunity, yet trapped in underperformance. What we suffer today is not a lack of promises, but a surplus of them. Not a lack of travels, agreements, or signatures, but a tragic absence of results.
For three years, Niger State has been subjected to a governance style that prioritizes junketing over delivery leaders hopping from the USA to the UAE, from Russia to China, Brazil to South Africa, Egypt to Singapore. From Lagos State to Dangote multi billion agreements, signing glossy Memoranda of Understanding that never translate into water in our taps, food on our tables, jobs for our youths, or dignity for our people.
Agreements without impact are not achievements. Frequent flights without measurable outcomes are not leadership. Sophisticated paperwork masking systemic corruption is not governance. Niger State does not need a globe-trotting signatory-in-chief. Niger State needs a governor.
Why the Call Is Now Unavoidable:
This is why the call across Niger State is no longer cautious or quiet. It is bold, collective, and unmistakable:
Mohammed Idris Malagi must hear the cry of the masses, the unpaid pensioners, the poor farmers that have not seen fertilizer for their farms, and the teeming unemployed youths to contest for the Governorship of Niger State in 2027.
This is no longer a suggestion. It is a call to duty. The people are tired of leadership that manages decline instead of driving development. Tired of carefully crafted speeches that produce no schools, no hospitals, no security, no water, and no agricultural value chain. Tired of a system that looks sophisticated on paper but is rotten in practice.
Niger State must break free from this cycle.
What Niger State Needs Now Is Calm, Astute, and Results-Driven Leadership.
Mohammed Idris Malagi represents a fundamentally different leadership model one rooted in calm authority, strategic thinking, and execution, not noise, lousiness or theatrics.
His leadership style is not impulsive or erratic. It is measured, deliberate, and intelligent. He listens, analyzes, decides, and delivers. He does not confuse activity with productivity or visibility with value. He share responsibility and respect views and dialogues.
At the national level, Malagi has demonstrated a deep understanding of how power, policy, and institutions truly function not in theory, but in reality. He has mastered the ability to articulate vision clearly and earn public confidence without intimidation or propaganda.
He has the discipline to operate under intense pressure while maintaining clarity, composure, and direction. With the capacity to move complex systems from decision to implementation, not endless committees, fraudulent entities and excuses. This is executive leadership, this is governor-level competence. Niger State does not need a power monger who monopolizes authority at the expense of good governance. It needs a leader already tested by complexity.
Niger State cannot afford anymore four years of experimental governance. Another cycle of foreign trips with no domestic impact. Another administration that signs agreements while communities remain abandoned. Another sophisticated corruption network dressed up as reform of “New Niger” an agenda of multiple corruption must not be allowed to continue, to be governed by a system that looks modern but delivers poverty.
A Leadership Moment That Cannot Be Deferred is now.
At crossroads, delay equals decline.
Insecurity deepens while opportunities slip away. Public trust erodes while governance becomes increasingly disconnected from lived realities. Incrementalism is no longer an option.
Niger State see in Malagi as the next governor that will be Prepared, not rehearsing; Decisive, not tentative; Calm, not chaotic; Nationally respected, yet deeply rooted in local realities; Bold enough to reform systems, not merely administer decay.
Mohammed Idris Malagi fits this moment not by coincidence, but by competence.
Beyond Party Lines, For Niger State
This clarion call is not anchored on any political party. It is anchored on capacity, courage, and commitment.
Political parties are vehicles. Leadership is the engine.
On whatever platform the people choose, Mohammed Idris Malagi represents a unifying option one capable of bridging zones, generations, faiths, and political divides. This is not about comfort or convention; it is about survival, progress, and dignity.
To Mohammed Idris Malagi: History Is Knocking
History does not knock endlessly. When it does, it demands a response.
This is not about personal ambition. It is about responsibility to a state at risk of prolonged stagnation. The people are watching. The moment is ripe. The call is clear.
Mohammed Idris Malagi, Niger State calls on you to contest for Governor in 2027.
Step forward. Offer your service. Accept the burden of leadership.
The Movement Starts Now
This is a call to youths and elders, professionals and farmers, traders, artisans, traditional rulers, and religious leaders across Niger State:
Rally around competence, not convenience.
Choose results over rhetoric.
Demand leadership, not excuses.
Let it be said that when Niger State stood at a crossroads, its people chose direction over drift, courage over comfort, and leadership over illusion.
2027 must be the year Niger State takes its future back.
And that future must begin with decisive, calm, and competent leadership.
society
Primate Ayodele Begins Annual 21-Day Thanksgiving With Visits to Members, Police Stations, Others
Primate Ayodele Begins Annual 21-Day Thanksgiving With Visits to Members, Police Stations, Others
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has kicked off his annual 21-day Thanksgiving programme for 2026.
The 2026 edition of the three-week programme began on Monday, January 26, 2026, with visits to the homes of church members, especially those residing within the Lagos and Ogun States axis.
During the visits, Primate Ayodele shared personal moments with members, cracking jokes and praying with them. He also presented gifts, including cash and other material items.
Many of the members received him with joy and humility. Beyond visiting church members, he also financially and spiritually blessed people within their neighbourhoods.
On the second day, Tuesday, he visited more members in their homes and extended his visitations to public officials, including the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Government, as well as police stations, among others.
According to the prophet, his decision to personally visit church members in their homes is to show them how important they are to him and to celebrate them wholeheartedly. He explained that some members live in distant locations, and the annual Thanksgiving programme gives him the opportunity to know where they live and personally support them where necessary.
“This is a programme that is very personal to me. I am not a church leader who enjoys staying on the pulpit alone. I am not a pastor whom members only see on the altar. I love to relate with my church members because they are family to me. Apart from creating time to have one-on-one interactions with them after church services, I want to know them beyond the church, and this is why I engage in this annually.
“Some of them live far from the church. This gives me the opportunity to experience the sacrifices they make to render service to God and to support them according to my capacity.”
The programme will continue until Sunday, February 15, 2026, and several philanthropic activities are expected to take place before its conclusion.
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