Silence is NOT Consent
There are those in this world, who will spend much time teaching you what is right, and holding you accountable for it, before it is revealed to you that they have been taking the entire time. Sometimes that taking is a violent brutality that you simply don't, in your innocence, know the words for. Furthermore, as you figure it out, you discover they have told themselves that you never would, and only deny your attempts at acknowledgement. This is called denial. When they blame you for it, and they will, it is called gaslighting. This denial, in legal terms, is called WILLFUL NEGLIGENCE, and can be very tricky to prove, rendering many "silenced". As time passes, they hope you will succumb to it having been consensual, and self-abusive. DO NOT buy into that SHIT!
This often happens in Christianity, and MOST often to actual TRUE believers. The sword you carry for believing, and being taken from, is that you truly ARE better than them. They take from you b/c they stopped believing, and they want to feel what it is like again, and WISH they could believe like you, so they TAKE it, and refer you to God & the scriptures over and over again. Sometimes they even quote scriptures of redemption, in the process. There DOES, however, come a point when redemption, is BEYOND fulfilled, and piss poor ethics of not sharing the beauty of your soul with you have been reflected & proven. Good news, there is scripture & action for that as well. It is called retribution. Several scriptures refer to it, in fact, although you really only have need of one. Two are:
Jeremiah 51: 56 A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.
Isaiah 59:18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.
You see there? The Lord is NOT so passive in what has been done to his loved one, and will likely include her in the retribution of their enemies. Maybe I AM Christian, after all. Sometimes I just really don't feel so nice, and I am not stupid as to the reasons for that, as some would tell themselves.
Another good one is in Isaiah 35:4"...with DIVINE RETRIBUTION he will come to save you..." I am liking this more and more. Also, just b/c YOU have told yourself you aren't his enemy b/c you go to church every Sunday, does NOT mean that you aren't his enemy. His retribution will STILL hit you. I'd say "good luck", but considering my experience with a certain church over the last 15-20 yrs, I'm not sure I mean it.
So you see, silence is, in fact, NOT consent. Silence is an indication of deep abuse, and profound betrayal of everything you ever thought was real. Silence is excruciating pain of lies, brutality, and violence UNEXPRESSED. There is NOTHING consensual about ANY kind of silence. It is indicative of internalization that one may or may not survive. Silence is the most serious kind of symptom of abuse. When someone is done talking, you are likely not prepared for the actions they will take. It is done, and whatever is coming, is going to hurt.
Amen.