Cain killed his brother Abel
God asks Cain where his brother is. Cain answered that question with the bold counter question,
whether he is his brother's keeper. That question remains unanswered.
Social Community
There are very few hermits. The vast majority of people live in any community, a marriage, a family, a commune, a neighborhood, a school, the
working environment,….
In such a community, certain views on rules of conduct prevail,
norms and values. Anyone who does not follow those rules is a nuisance.
Often such persons are held accountable for their behavior and corrective measures may follow.
From this you can already sense that many are of the opinion that a person feels a certain
responsibility for his fellow man.
Parents and their children
Parents are expected to educate their children. The educators should set clear
boundaries with the prevailing norms and values: this is allowed, that is not!
'Free' education is no education. That is a form of mental child abuse,
because the children become socially maladapted.
To denounce
In a group, for example in a school class, in an army unit or in a company,
someone does something that everyone knows to be not allowed. For example, he steals
'from the boss'. The supervisor will find out who the culprit is.
Very often the perpetrator is covered by the classmates or the colleagues:
they keep the deepest silence. They call themselves solidary.
Do you recognize yourself in this? Is that herd behavior justified?
The vast majority of people want for themselves a society that is free
of crime. Everyone wants to be able to feel safe.
For example, you don't want to be robbed yourself.
Anyone who thinks about the said 'solidarity' comes to the conclusion that this form
of someone is unjust, counterproductive and even reprehensible.
It counteracts your need for security. The next time you will be screwed.
It is good to denounce a mistake. You can do that in steps:
you can address the perpetrator about his mistake and
challenging him to undo his misstep.
You can tell him you intend to "betray" him, rather, to denounce.
You can actually report it.
It is conceivable that you do not dare or cannot achieve that.
There are all kinds of motives for this. Then anonymous denouncing is a possible way.
Ultimately, the perpetrator attributed possible punishment solely and exclusively to himself.
You are not to blame.
Denouncing has a very negative ring, but who wants to keep liveable the society and
especially his own living environment, he must see denouncing as a very positive
contribution to that.
Apparently the author takes the view that therefore Cain's question must be answered with yes.