Fear Does It Again
There are real consequences when we are overcome by fear.
It dawned on me recently that the fear that motivated people to do all kinds of irrational and harmful things in 2020-2021, is back at work on this side of the election of Donald Trump for U.S. President.
Unless you were one of the perpetrators, you recall the pressures that were placed on people, including employment determining mandates, to behave in ways that we would not have behaved without the pressure point of fear. We were told that if you did not wear a mask people would die. If you did not get vaccinated people would drop dead in the streets. You were told to pressure your family members to comply or be shunned. The number of people who severed family ties because they had relatives who would not get vaccinated is criminal. I am sure you can add more to this list.
The reaction by the Left to the election of Donald Trump is eerily familiar. We are watching the outcomes of taking God out of the public square and building a political ideology on fear. People are being told, sometimes by so-called experts and professors, to sever ties from family members over the holidays if they voted for Trump. They are, after all, Very Dangerous PeopleTM. Single, angry women are promising to shoot white men if they come near them on the streets. They are giving their young teenaged daughters IUDs. They are going to medical clinics to get their tubes tied. They are setting up their cameras in selfie mode so they can scream like infants into the void and post it on TikTok. Some are promising to resurrect ancient, Italian poisons so they can kill the Trump-voting members of their family.
There are consequences to being conquered by fear. Fear is a powerful emotion, and in the hands of the wrong people, it is a powerful weapon.
God designed us so that the reaction and emotion of fear can be lifesaving. It is rational to run in the presence of a charging bear, or an angry clown wielding a chainsaw. Fear, in its right place, is not only self-preservation, it is rational.
But we have been given another capacity: reason. Human beings have, and should cultivate, the ability to reflect on a situation, make good judgements about risks and rewards, think about acts of virtue and courage, and come to conclusions untrammeled by fear. Reason enables us to break out of groupthink and propaganda and take a look at things as they really are. Reason even enables us to work on our own self-regulation and self-control when it comes to responding to situations we dislike.
One of the consequences of being seized by fear is that people become susceptible to conspiracy theories. This is ironic, because “conspiracy theorist” is a slur often slung by the Left on the Right, often with the slimmest of justifications. Yet, the Left is consumed with conspiracy theories about the Right and its political goals. Just in the last month I have heard personally, or watched people (I know and don’t know) online say they believe that Trump and the Right will:
Ban abortion.
Round up African Americans and put them in concentration camps.
Prosecute women who have abortions, specifically put them in prison or give them the death penalty.
Resurrect institutional racism.
Put their political opponents in jail.
Trample the rights of Americans.
Encourage Antisemitism.
What is ironic about this list (which could go on for pages) is that that not only are they all false, but many of them are true of the Left. They already do many of these things. If the Left accuses the Right of doing something cruel, you can bet real money that they are already doing it.
It would not take much effort to do a little research, break out from a small media bubble, and discover that the conspiracy theories just are not true. Then, you have the option to believe something true instead of something false.
Fearful, we become less self-aware. Self-awareness is a basic component of emotional and rational maturity. It is easier, however, to refuse to look within and do the real work of addressing my emotions and presuppositions. For example, many village atheist types spent the last 20-30 years telling Christians they were “flat earthers” for denying or arguing against evolution or the favorite scientific theory de jour of a handful of media darlings. That same group of people have, without hesitation, accepted, and become violently in favor of, the most unscientific of notions that a boy can become a girl by inverting his penis and a girl can become a boy by chopping off her breasts. Turns out, it was never about the science for them.
People with power have the incentive to use falsehood and fear to get people to do and say things that benefit them and harm the masses. Fear creates in us a false sense that we need to “stick together” and reject those who deviate from the official line. We become fundamentalists and easily engage in witch hunts, labeling and canceling people who disagree with us. Fear, then, becomes a vicious cycle of false self-preservation. We cannot allow dissent. Contrary ideas are viruses to the organism. And when this takes hold, the powerful grow in power and the masses grow weaker and poorer (emotionally, socially, financially).
We watched this cycle of fear do its worst in 2020-2021. We are watching it all over again.
For your part, refuse the fear. Refuse the falsehood. Refuse the manipulation of those in power. Love the truth and find freedom.
Love this!!!