It's not true, however, at least not literally true. (See this helpful article if you don't believe me.) It does come up a lot, however, and that is the larger point to be made.
The antidote to fear, which leads to dis-couragement, is to be en-couraged to love. This takes us to the heart of the Biblical promise, that to love God and to love neighbor leads to full and abundant life. Fear, on the other hand, leads to death.
It's helpful to reflect on two Greek words, I think: paranoia and metanoia. Metanoia is usually translated into English as repent - it's also a big Biblical word. It's about a change of mind. Paranoia is when we are out of our minds - when we revert to our reptilian brains and response to danger in a binary way: fight or flight.
Fear is a part of life. We teach our children and our children's children to be careful in a world that can be quite dangerous. We try also to teach them to face their fears, whether or not we happen to be people of faith shaped by the Biblical narrative. We want to en-courage them; not dis-courage them.
But I've come to believe that keeping people afraid is a path to gaining and keeping power. This is the way of fascism, rather than liberal democracy. You can sow fear to gain control of people. And I think this is where we are as a nation right now. Perhaps the only thing right now that people on the right and left have in common is that we are afraid, and acting out of that place of fear. We are, surely, afraid of different things. But in our fear we become reactive and polarizing and binary. We lose our capacity to think creatively, and to love our neighbor as self,
I've stopped watching cable news almost completely over the past year. I don't know if this is the right thing to do for anyone else. But I came to believe that I was not more informed in doing so, only more frightened on a daily basis. I now receive my news via print journalism almost exclusively.
When I was watching cable news I watched CNN primarily. I felt it was the best of three bad choices. The worst, without a doubt, is FOX, the official propaganda tool for the far-right. Truth is not a concern; only sticking to a false narrative and repeating it over and over again. Friends should not let friends watch FOX - it leads to brain decay.
But since I've already insulted those who watch the most "popular" source of news, I'll add that I gave up on MSNBC years ago, because even though I thought they were more "accurate" they were not reporting news; they were (and I think mean to be) the counterbalance to FOX. So I settled "in the middle" with CNN. But every single day they had this "breaking news" that wasn't breaking news at all but it ratcheted up the angst. They, too, are in the fear-mongering business.
I want to repeat that I don't know if I've made the right call and I'm not advocating that others make the same choice. I also am aware that giving up on cable news but doom scrolling on Facebook may not be the way forward. But what I have observed in my own body is that I could feel "worked up" just by trying to be informed, and so I have made a conscious choice to be informed by various print resources. I don't even know if it's helped, but I think it has. I feel I can think more clearly; I can explore things on my own time and in more detail. I don't want to be simply "reactive" to propaganda; I want to find the truth. Amazingly, with all the information out there, this is not an easy thing to do.
And yet, I admit to being still very afraid for our country. I look back at what I know of history and I think of what a great tool it is for those who want to hold onto power. AND, also, even more importantly, that it never works in the long run. It's the tool of tyrants but there eventually love wins, every tiime.
So even if it doesn't come up 365 times, I think of Abraham and Sarah, asked to leave home and find a new place that God would show them in due time: do not be afraid; trust me.
I think of Moses, asked to confront Pharaoh and tell him to let God's people go. The fundamentalists of his day said he should stick to spirituality and not get into politics. But God called him at that burning bush to stand up, to get involved, to lead a liberating movement. And God said, "don't be afraid, I'll be with you."
I think of Mary, visited by Gabriel and told that she would bear a son who would turn the world upside down. She was a teenager, and a girl in a patriarchal society. Of course she was afraid. And the angel said, "do not be afraid..."
We are afraid of different things but we will never move forward until we confront our fears and put our whole trust in God, because faith casts out fear. For me this means moving from "paying attention" to what's happening to action. We get there by way of finding courage, and hope, and an ability to seek the truth. Fear keeps us from all of these charisms. Fear leads to despair. Fear leads to death.
I have not preached since Christmas morning. But when I was preaching I realize that this was my guiding principle. I was not (and am not) afraid to speak up in a prophetic way. This blog could have been about Minneapolis and what I see happening there. I am so grateful for those who are finding their voices and also showing up there to stand together. What is happening is real, and scary. The lies being told by the administration add fuel to the fire. This needs to be said, with clarity. I give thanks for those who are doing so; they inspire me.
But as I understand discernment, fear blocks it. Fear makes us reactive, not proactive. We need clarity, and hope, and courage, and love. I have come to believe that this was Dr. King's greatest legacy. It was also Ghandi's and many others as well, including Desmond Tutu. We will one day have to get to truth and reconciliation in this country. Those who are causing such turmoil will have to answer for their crimes against humanity, for sure. But beyond that we must find a way to reconciliation and healing.
For me, the main thing - the first thing - is confronting our fears and then listening for the voice of God that often comes through God's messengers: do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Regardless of how many times that appears in Scripture we need to hear it every day.
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