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Faith vs. fear in America
FAITH IN ACTION
By Katherine Marshall
Stephen Heinz, President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, is passionate about democracy. For him, it is about far more than voting and congressional battles. It is a way of life, a set of fundamental values, a will that leads to courage, reason, compassion and the common good. America has no right to impose its democracy on others but it has a responsibility to live its values and to share them. He terms his deep belief a civic faith.
He was evoking his personal faith at a pretty sobering event last week on the topic of "managing fear through faith", at the Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church. Inspired and led by David Gray, pastor of the church, the meeting brought leaders from different faith traditions together, asking: what should religious leaders and communities do, together, to prepare for a disaster along the lines of 9/11 or the Christmas Day bombing attempt?
The conversation was pulled back and forth between two fairly different topics. The first was the nagging sore spot of America's complex attitudes towards Muslims, in the U.S. and the world. The second was today's horrendous uncivil political discourse in the United States. Both, in the group's diagnosis, are driven in large measure by fear. Faith leaders, working together, can offer solutions. Many interfaith efforts show what can be done but they are pretty fragmented. More work is needed so interfaith work adds up to more than the sum of the separate parts.
One thing I learned is that the history of emotion is a live topic of scholarship. Peter Stearns, professor at George Mason University and author of a book about fear in America, argues that Americans started becoming more fearful around the 1970s and the pace picked up after 9/11. He cited the urban legend that endures to this day: that razor blades and poison were once handed out in Halloween trick or treat candy. We are living in a time where there is a fearful climate, colored, to be sure, by plenty of real and horrible dangers, but where communication and the social environment work to amplify dangers far beyond objective reality.
What the event brought home is the pretty basic truth that when people are afraid, there is a tendency for thinking to shut down. Fear is a "wrecking ball" of reason. And people are more willing to give up core values (like the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you) when they believe their safety is compromised. Fear heightens the tendency to stereotype others and to cling to what we perceive as "our" group. Action and words are driven by emotion, and people are more susceptible to charismatic leaders.
The good news is that people do seem to be open to hearing the argument that if we overreact, we make things worse. Offering specific solutions is the best way to make people act rationally, rather than simply calling on their better natures. And acting and doing something helps to temper gut reactions to fear. Finding avenues for positive communal action is the place to focus. Once again, it's about smart action and about respecting and working to people's better natures.
Stephen Heinz evoked Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address in March 1933:
"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves, which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."
Heinz's call to reason and leadership, a leadership infused with faith, civic as well as religious, is wise and timely. Americans hunger and thirst, he says, for such leadership. Facing the fears, learning from what we know about what works, and working together: that's what we need to prepare for hard times to come. And maybe, just maybe, it might help to move us past the unreasoning fear that undercuts the true civic faith that is America's strength.
Katherine Marshall is a senior fellow at Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, a Visiting Professor, and a senior advisor for the World Bank.
By Katherine Marshall |
March 29, 2010; 12:00 AM ET
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Faith in Action
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Posted by: DaveHarris | April 10, 2010 4:19 PM
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The Bene Gesserit "Litany Against Fear" from "Dune" works quite nicely.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."
And of course, my second-favorite green animatronic philosopher, Yoda, says, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
(My favorite green animatronic philosopher is Dominar Rygel XVI from "Farscape".)
Posted by: Athena4 | March 29, 2010 4:11 PM
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It is not a lack of faith that causes intense fear and uncivil behavior but overwhelming faith in the wrong ideas.
Posted by: bhickson | March 29, 2010 2:03 PM
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Marshall appeals to reason through faith, which is an oxymoron. Faith is belief without evidence.
Posted by: mbeck1 | March 29, 2010 1:35 PM
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Are you saying religion is not the number one cause of fear in the world?
Since the beginning of time, one religion or another has manipulated it’s masses with fear – fear of God, fear of hell, fear of excommunication, fear of separation of family and comunity, fear of war and fear of execution.
Popes, Cardinals and Bishops have used fear for centuries to silence child abuse victims to aid and abet their offenders.
Georgetown denies it’s students condoms in the delusional, ignorant fear fear they might use them.
Palin and Mormon Elder Beck use fear to manipulate the hapless followers of their hybrid evangelical religion / political party to resort to violence in the streets.
It’s truly ingenious to pretend “faith” and religion are the solutions to fear when religion is the very cause of most of it.
Posted by: areyousaying | March 29, 2010 12:07 PM
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Some very cogent points here. Ignorance and fear go hand in hand among the most depraved members of our society. How do we, as a society, lift them above their degraded condition when they actually believe their condition to be virtuous? Philosophers have searched for the root causes and have suggested some possible answers, but those who might benefit are incapable of understanding them. What to do with the underclass?