FEAR NEEDS AN ENEMY

19 Jun

Fear only requires one thing – and enemy to focus upon.

The man who shot a congressman and others focused his fear on Republicans.
The cop who shot a man reaching for his wallet in his car focused his fear upon black men.
The man who knifed and killed people in Portland focused his fear upon Muslims.
The group of young men who beat and tied to a fence a young gay man focused their fear upon gays.
The people who berate or even kill women who seek to be treated as equals focus their fear upon feminists.
Those that feel unheard or diminished focus their fear upon old white men.
Those that feel religion is the problem focus their fear upon Evangelicals… or Muslims…or Jews.

Whatever the fear it always feels justified by the person carrying that fear. People in fear always look for the enemy believing that if they can remove the enemy, then fear will be alleviated. In truth, that never works. Fear will always look for an enemy to vanquish, and when one is removed, another will fill the void.

The only way to conquer fear is never to let it choose an enemy but instead label fear for what it is – a consciousness of ignorance and powerlessness.

This world will change when we replace ignorance with understanding for those that are different than us.
This world will change when we all decide peace is more important than winning or being right.
This world will change when we replace our sense of powerlessness with the truth that our power is our love – not our weapons, or our might but in our love for ourselves and each other.