2008 Woodie Awards
Fear is the root of all evil
Society needs to learn to accept it and move on
Crystal Williams
Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Opinion
When most people hear Franklin D. Roosevelt's quote, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," they assume he made the statement following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But in fact, Roosevelt spoke those highly resonant words at his inaugural address in March 1933.
He wasn't talking about war; he was talking about the Great Depression and urging the nation to shake off its justifiable fear and do the near impossible to again prosper economically, individually and as a nation.
It is my belief that fear is the root of all evil in the hearts of men. Not the love of money, but pure, demoralizing fear that drives all the great injustice of the world.
Leaders past and present have used our fears to pit us against one another, because if we always are fighting each other, how can we see how we are being disenfranchised by our own?
Our government used post-9/11 fear to let us allow them to erode our civil liberties in a way that can only be described as Orwellian.
Every western religion uses or has used the fear of damnation to fuel bigotry and war.
Christianity spawned two crusades, an inquisition and more than a few witch hunts. Talk about religious terrorism.
Racism is driven by fear; murders are committed out of some type of fear, being found out, being dumped and being afraid of loneliness and so on.
All negative emotions - hate, jealousy, rage - come from fears we carry so deep in our self-conscious that we don't know they are the impetus for our actions.
Even advertisers use our social fears to sell us status symbols, they use our insecurities to drive us to the pursuit of perfection and they use our fear of mortality to have us chasing every new health and diet craze out there.
Everyone has taken, will take, does take or knows someone who takes pills for depression, anxiety or whatever mental illness is en vogue at the moment.
Don't you ever wonder what the basis for comparison of "normal" is? It is such an American attitude to pop a pill and make it go away.
He wasn't talking about war; he was talking about the Great Depression and urging the nation to shake off its justifiable fear and do the near impossible to again prosper economically, individually and as a nation.
It is my belief that fear is the root of all evil in the hearts of men. Not the love of money, but pure, demoralizing fear that drives all the great injustice of the world.
Leaders past and present have used our fears to pit us against one another, because if we always are fighting each other, how can we see how we are being disenfranchised by our own?
Our government used post-9/11 fear to let us allow them to erode our civil liberties in a way that can only be described as Orwellian.
Every western religion uses or has used the fear of damnation to fuel bigotry and war.
Christianity spawned two crusades, an inquisition and more than a few witch hunts. Talk about religious terrorism.
Racism is driven by fear; murders are committed out of some type of fear, being found out, being dumped and being afraid of loneliness and so on.
All negative emotions - hate, jealousy, rage - come from fears we carry so deep in our self-conscious that we don't know they are the impetus for our actions.
Even advertisers use our social fears to sell us status symbols, they use our insecurities to drive us to the pursuit of perfection and they use our fear of mortality to have us chasing every new health and diet craze out there.
Everyone has taken, will take, does take or knows someone who takes pills for depression, anxiety or whatever mental illness is en vogue at the moment.
Don't you ever wonder what the basis for comparison of "normal" is? It is such an American attitude to pop a pill and make it go away.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 3
Paul
posted 7/17/08 @ 7:04 PM CST
Your article is called "Fear is the root of all evil,"yet after reading this article I feel it is more an attack on things your dislike or disagree with. (Continued…)
crystal
posted 9/16/08 @ 1:47 PM CST
Darling this is an OPINION article. Frankly it IS the place for my opinion. Secondly, my point is that Christians fear of other religions or of "witches" lead them to kill. (Continued…)
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