If the majority don't act to moderate the actions of a minority, they are complicit in the minority's actions.
It was only a minority of bankers who precipitated the banking crisis. But it was the banking system to which the majority also belonged, that permitted their recklessness. All bankers are complicit in the crisis.
It was only a minority of MP's who precipitated the expenses scandal. But it was Parliament, of which all MP's are members, that provided the framework in which it was possible. All MP's are complicit in the crisis.
It is only a minority of Muslims who are terrorists. But the one billion, non-radicalised Muslims are not exposing them, not handing them over to the authorities, not excluding them from teaching or preventing them from acts of terrorism. All Muslims are therefore complicit in the work of IS.
It is only a minority of Catholic Priests who have abused children. But the majority of the church remained silent, looked the other way, hid the problem. The Priesthood as a whole, and by extension, the Catholic Church and all it's people, are complicit in the abuse.
It is only a minority of people who are homeless in this country. But I have a spare bedroom, I have a voice, a vote. I have some money, some time. I choose not to use these to help, I have a different agenda, a different set of priorities. I choose to ignore, to pretend that I can't do anything. I am complicit in their homelessness.
Not only that, but I used a bank, wanted the best interest rate, didn't enquire into how that was being obtained. I voted for MP's but didn't complain when year by year their salaries were in effect, capped, exacerbating the temptation to make spurious expense claims. More, I haven't done nearly enough to break down the barriers of fear, in my town, between Muslims and others. In that way, I have contributed to the ghetto-isation of Muslim communities. Finally, I am part of the Christian Church, that has often sought more to protect its own interests, than to serve the interests of others. I too am a complicit majority.
Being the majority
I am a majority because I have a major share of the world's resources, education and health. Yet, I live in a world in which majorities have remained passive; silent or distracted by their own comfort, and which have thereby allowed the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, slavery, trafficking, FGM and poverty.
It is not enough for the majority to claim distance, to pretend separation, from the minority: “They don't represent us, we are not like them.” In which case, demonstrate your difference. Stop them, rise up together and put an end to the violence, the injustice, to whatever is besmirching the good name of your group. Otherwise you are party to the very violence and injustice you claim to be apart from. The truth is, majority is irrelevant, if it refuses to act. Democracy only operates, if the majority directs the agenda. Otherwise we abrogate authority, but not responsibility, to the minority who fill the vacuum.
Margaret Thatcher (though it breaks my socialist heart to admit it) was right when she said “There is no such thing as community, just individuals” What she meant was that without individuals taking responsibility and acting, community doesn't exist. There is no separate entity called 'society', 'community', 'the public'. It isn't someone else's job, it isn't the responsibility of some mythical 'other'. It is us. It is me. If I stay silent, I am culpable.
Mea Culpa.