Comments on: If You Can’t Say Something Nice…

By: Wendy Scott

Wendy Scott — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:39:18 +0000

In reply to Haf Gaemer. There are sins, and then there are crimes. There's a difference, of course, and Bahá'u'lláh has specified crimes and their punishments, which are up to society, not individuals. It is hard to always follow the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. We often have to weigh in our minds what might be acceptable and what is not. And as He said, "Excessive speech is a deadly poison." At such times, it is often better to be tempered and deliberate and not say anything.

By: Wendy Scott

Wendy Scott — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 23:30:31 +0000

In reply to Steve Eaton. I remember my son saying when he started school back in the 80s that he had been taught to be kind but found many other kids had not, for the most part. It was hard for him to maintain that kind of good behavior in the face of what he found there.

By: Annata Even

Annata Even — Tue, 26 Jul 2022 06:51:17 +0000

Great article, I learned a lot of good things about life. A rule of speech worth learning.

By: Haf Gaemer

Haf Gaemer — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 16:58:19 +0000

So when someone does a bad thing.. worthy of comment. Like murders lets say.. is the first guy to suggest he’s an asshole is the actual real asshole or is it the guy who just chopped off a sweet old ladies head? If you can’t say something thing nice.. keep your mouth shut? What kind of cartoon world are you people living in? Disney, nor your Grandmother’s politeness have the solution. The solution is not in refusing to hate or to speak out.. it is in hating and speaking out about the right things.. Go stare at a flower, watch clouds change form, contemplate an ant hill.. do something other that requires you to be quiet. Silence really is golden if you can master the art.

By: Steve Eaton

Steve Eaton — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 22:59:21 +0000

This is such a good article! I do remember Thumper, and how
ashamed he looked, ears down I
think, when held accountable! Where are the bold moral teachings
in entertainment now? Moralizing
has been taboo for a long time, and
now we see the results! Even in our
young adulthood in the rebellious
1960’s, value judgments like Disney
had made were already considered
an outdated, restrictive, and actually
unhealthy nuisance. When those
young people became parents, they
didn’t have much to provide morally,
and the standards kept getting lower
every generation. Thank you for
helping in the renaissance, David!

By: Patricia Bastani

Patricia Bastani — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 16:20:33 +0000

Great article!

By: rodney Richards

rodney Richards — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 10:34:30 +0000

David, Spot on and I am very much still aware of my own unconscious, sometimes uncontrolled tendency to judge and speak – wrongly. For none of us knows what the next person has been through. Facebook is a perfect example – uplifting or devastating. So I have curtailed my comments greatly depite its delete and edit features in removing a post.

I still struggle with the Thumper Rule however in all situations. Even the Messengers and others called out and admonished evils. The eye of the beholder and one’s moral foundation are always in tension IMO, but the difference is the authority to speak out the truth, God-given for the Prophets, versus the right to speak out many persons think they have because of changing social norms.

By: Rosslyn and Steven Osborne

Rosslyn and Steven Osborne — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 07:30:40 +0000

Oh, how many times I have had to ‘check’ myself when reading a story of heinous cruelty, and about to leave a comment…David!
After browsing some of those left before I write, I shudder! At times I’d like to add my ‘two cents worth’, then I ask Baha’u’llah how I should respond. If the entire load of comments are stupidly derogative I will not bother, but so often I am guided to place a quote or seek to understand a full knowledge of a ‘story’ before I post a comment. Not always easy, but I try.
So thank you for this article David to help me to keep practising to say something nice or to not answer at all. :>)
Rosslyn

By: Samuel Du Bois

Samuel Du Bois — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 19:29:36 +0000

Yes, my parents also raised me with Thumper’s Rule! Thanks!

By: Bob LeBlanc

Bob LeBlanc — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 18:25:02 +0000

Thanks for this thoughtful article David. It’s good to hear this advice again and you’ve made my day better!