“The only thing we have to Fear is
Fear itself!” - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, March 3, 1933
After the events in my home state of
South Carolina this past week, I am starting to realize that I Fear
the Fears of others.
I have become afraid of those who fear:
- racial equality
- Democrats, Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives....
- gender equality
- losing their “right” to own weapons that are for more than hunting a meal
- religious equality
- letting go of a cultural past and moving forward as a people/ as a species
- The Government
- ANYTHING DIFFERENT/ ANY CHANGE
Why can't we get past the negatives and
focus on the positives in life? Is it the media having to fill air
time, blowing the negative events in our word out of proportion? Is
it the internet continuing a never ending conversation regarding the
evils in our world thus creating a mob mentality? Is it just plain
Fear?
What has happened to Faith? I do not
just mean Faith in God, but Faith in ourselves and Faith in our
fellow humans. For most of us, wonderful things happen every day,
but they happen so frequently we take them for granted and neglect
them. Occasionally something bad happens and it's all we can focus
on for days or even years; I include myself in that “we.”
I believe that most of us want to live
in peace. Am I naive? Maybe I am a bit. Yes, I am aware that evil
exists in this world and that there has to be someway to defend
ourselves from it. But where does it end? I believe that evil is
purely the Fear carried in ones soul.
- The religious extremists who are blowing up people of other faiths are afraid.
- The homophobes bashing Gay Marriage (aka “Marriage”) are afraid.
- Those who wear a pistol at all times to “defend themselves” are afraid.
- The racially motivated man who killed nine people at a prayer meeting was afraid.
From what I can tell, Charleston is
handling this as best as can be expected. There has been no
retaliation or riots or exacting revenge. Instead, there are
expressions of faith, a joining of communities and an attempt to
understand and forgive. I pray to God that this will help.
As a child, when I had to deal with
bullies, I was told “bullies are mean because they are afraid.”
Have we ever really lived in a world
without Fear? Can we make it better for our children?
