Living In Fear

Posted by JCE

Without exception, all of us are controllable by fear. Through the history of human-kind leaders have utilized this fact to their advantage and it is still used today. We respond to fear, we make decisions based on fear, we allow fear to guide our lives. And in every single instance we are wrong for doing so.

Advertisers attempt to convince us that unless we purchase Product A our lives will be less meaningful, our self-worth diminished and we will be judged negatively by our family and friends. Politicians sprinkle panic driven words in their speeches hoping to secure our vote or support of a piece of poor legislation whose real benefactors are never divulged. Leaders at all levels of society will employ fear to retain their own power and keep their respective groups from revolting and yanking their precious power away - the most alarming of these is the use of implication that without them our 'worlds' would fall into an abyss of immoral, unethical, animal-like behavior. The irony is that we already live in such circumstances thanks to the guidance of fear.

Organized religion and politics are two arenas in which we see fear tactics routinely employed as a method of controlling the populace and are so effective that any dissenting views offered to debunk some of the misconceptions are often met with outrage. Religions gets higher marks in this area simply because they encourage weekly mind feedings of their fear inspiring doctrine whereas politics is not nearly as prevalent except among the most ardent of supporters. Each group has their own spokespersons and to list them all here would take up far too much space, but names like Bill O'Reilly, the Pope, The Phelps Family, and Ann Coulter come to mind.

Eradicating this methodology is impossible but it can be contained through education and conscious decision to avoid reacting to the triggers aimed at us daily. To some extent this is easier for some more than others and it is those who I wish to reach out to with this post. The rational, skeptical, reason driven section of society needs to understand that it is very much their responsibility to speak up with news stories or local rumors threaten to spiral out of control. The events of 9/11 are an extreme example and if you remember where you were when you heard the news, you most likely also began to hear speculation without evidence cropping up about you. The days that followed also produced a near mass hysteria and falsely targeted anyone who appeared to be of middle east decent and our president ultimately offered up the clearest example of fear driven thinking - war. As skeptics we must try, where we can to calm fears through the encouragement of reason. Keeping those around us from overreacting prevents the escalation of events driven by fear and may encourage others to also attempt reason.

From flu virus to vaccines to terrorists there will always be someone reacting and trying to scare the pants off of everyone else around them who does not react the same way. Skepticism remains the single most effective weapon in the war against fear. Use it wisely.