Fear and love

Imagine that you believe in ghosts.

By "believe" I don't mean that you're simply open to the possibility, or that you once saw something that you aren't fully able to explain, or that you're vaguely agnostic on the topic in a "more things in heaven and earth, Horatio" kind of way. I mean that you believe in ghosts and that this belief is a central organizing principle of your life. You believe the world is crowded with spirits and that you are surrounded by the ever-present vengeful dead.

How could you function, believing that? How could you get through the day without being paralyzed by fear? And -- assuming that being crazy wasn't already some kind of precondition for believing this in the first place -- how could you live with that constant fear without it driving you mad?

This is what I don't understand about the true believers on the fringes of the loony religious right. Here, for example, is the most recent e-mail I received from the Christian Worldview Network touting the new installment of Brannon Howse's radio program:

Topic One: Is the world on the verge of being divided into 10 regions? Rev 17:12 says that 10 world leaders will give their power and authority to the anti-christ. Iraq has unveiled plans for the creation of a regional economic and security union for the Middle East explicitly modeled on the European Union. Have you heard about the African Union, The Union of South American, The North American Union and Asia and Pacific Union? Has President Bush turned our U.S. Economy over to the European Union? Financial Times writers admits that a world government is "now plausible". Topic Two: How many of the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto has America fulfilled thus far on our road toward socialism?

These people must be terrified. And they seem to spend all their time urging one another to be even more terrified.

How do they manage to get up in the morning, make the coffee and drive to work in a world so full of terror and menace? How do they summon up the courage to walk out their front door when the "Union of South American" is lurking outside in the hedges?

How do they sleep in a room filled with ghosts?

Howse speaks of the "anti-christ" -- a term he uses to name the central figure in the frightening campfire story that constitutes his "Christian Worldview." The word antichrist(s) comes from the book of 1 John. It's part of that book's single, unified argument that "God is love" and that life presents an unending series of choices in which we must either side with love or with its opposites -- with God or with anti-God, Christ or antichrist, love or hate, love or falsehood, love or fear.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear," the author of 1 John writes. "The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Somehow Brannon Howse and his terrified followers do seem able to sleep at night and to get up in the morning and go to work. The fear that defines and organizes them doesn't seem to prevent them from doing any of those things.

But it has rendered them incapable of loving others.

Comments

[aunursa]

Iraq has unveiled plans for the creation of a regional economic and security union for the Middle East explicitly modeled on the European Union. Have you heard about the African Union, The Union of South American, The North American Union and Asia and Pacific Union? Has President Bush turned our U.S. Economy over to the European Union? Financial Times writers admits that a world government is "now plausible".

Obviously they're big fans of Left Behind.

[MikhailBorg]

Perhaps they have become so addicted to their fear, so dependent on that endorphin rush of indistinct terror, that other stimuli have become dull and uninteresting. They must always return to their favorite media outlet for another hit of portents and warnings; scares which said outlet will be happy to sell them for a direct fee, or with a little advertising.

To misquote Jacob Stonebender, it got good to them.

[Jarred]

You had me right up until the "vengeful dead" part. ;)

The fear levels of loony religious right types have always confused me. It's always left me wondering if they really believe they're ultimately on the "winning side."

[Joshua Lawrence]

I think the answer is simple. They don't *really* believe much of it at all. They merely allow themselves to entertain the idea, and play with it, like some people enjoy horror movies.

[Sylocat]

I'd compare Brannon Howse to Othello, but there's no one to compare to Iago. Iago in this case isn't one person, he's the group-think mentality of this strange community. Which makes him infinitely scarier. Iago's a Heartless, an ethereal being born out of our fears.

[Technomad]

If a lot of these people were atheists, they'd be among the multitudes who help keep Stephen King's bills paid.

[stinger]

I think it's only a pseudo-fear, really just an excuse for victimism and hatred of The Other. Like the ginned-up post-9/11 psuedo-fear that allowed for all manner of unConstitutional atrocities cloaked in Fatherland Security twaddle.

Anyway, all these bogeyman "unions" sound to me like a bunch of railroads, and I don't find railroads frightening.

[lonespark]

Don't know about ghosts, but a little about something like demons, born of fear. That's what depression feels like, that failure and tragedy are stalking you and lurking in the corners of your life. We all get a bit of this, but we don't give in for long or we drown.

I'm not sure why people need to get their fear from alternate news sources, though. Isn't the ordinary news scary enough? Is it the added meaning, the grand design, that they crave?

[Mabus]

People can learn to live with a great deal of fear--the catch is that, to do so, they have to learn to stop acting as if they're afraid, most of the time. The fear doesn't really go away; it becomes a hidden source of stress, the sort of thing they used to think gave you ulcers.

[xaaronx]

I'm not so sure about the seeming consensus so far that these people are not really scared. And I disagree with our host for the second time in a month, whereas I usually turn to his writings to illuminate things for me and help enunciate my own views.

See, most human cultures have believed in ghosts or spirits. Pretty much every traditional culture is populated by the dead and the never-born along with the living. And most of them seem able to leave the house )or lean-to, or whatever) in the morning. I'd even argue that believing in these things may be a side-effect of the pattern-recognition part of our intelligence. We see patterns that aren't there, like a face in a circle, two dots, and a curved line.

Likewise, our ancestors had a lot to fear; if you're not careful, you can get eaten. Today, in some neighborhoods in America, and some cities or countries elsewhere, you walk out the door KNOWING something horrible could well happen to you.

So, while I admit these mental functions can malfunction and may be in certain fundies' minds, they certainly don't make it impossible to live.

[xaaronx]

"may be doing so", rather.

[Geds]

all these bogeyman "unions" sound to me like a bunch of railroads

And you just wait, children of god. Wait until all the island nations of the earth join together to form this proposed "Union Pacific." First they'll take Hawaii, then they'll invade the West Coast, and not just San Francisco with its ho-mo-sexshuals and Los Angeles with its culture of depraved pornography, but Orange County and Sacramento and Seattle, too.

And then, my children, do you know what this "Union Pacific" will do? It will move east. It will take over the den of corruption that is known as Las Vegas, but it will also take Colorado Springs, Wheaton, Illinois, and it will take your home and your children and make them fight, fight for the Anti-

Wait, what's that? The "Union Pacific" is a what now?

My children, (ahem) I am (erm) I am here to tell you, uh, tell you of the evils of (shuffling papers)...

Listen, my children, listen to the evils of the Blessid Union of Souls!

[cjmr's husband]

And here I thought all the anti-union rhetoric I had been hearing on the net was about the auto industry bailout.

[Jeff]

Lately, I've had this strange absence of desire to ride the rails. It must be the Erie-Lackawanna in me.

[stinger]

Geds: :)

xaaronx: There are indeed places in the world where genuinely fearsome conditions exist. Fear, in such situations, serves a useful purpose. But the vast majority of American fundies do not live in such places. Many, in fact, also pursue the "prosperity gospel". Their lives are (at least, prior to the economic meltdown) generally safe, comfortable, middle-class, and bland. They like getting worked up about something.

[Sarah Jane]

I think Fred is right when he compares this version of prophecy to a campfire story. It functions like horror movie; all the heart-pounding adrenaline rush of real fear, safely experienced within the protective unreality of plush seats and carpeted cinema walls.

After all, if we truly believe that the events of the world unfold as an inevitable result of divine prophecy, then we are absolved of any responsibility for those events. We become the passive audience of a real-life production, in which every line and movement has been choreographed by a divine Director, and the ending written long before the first curtain rises. We can indulge in the pleasurable thrills of watching the production, without any imperative to change ourselves, our communities, or our world.

And yet, even in real theatre, a passive audience is a BAD audience. A good play, just like a good symphony or a good sculpture or a good walk in the woods, should leave us markedly different when the final applause has ended. That's how catharsis is supposed to work; that safe thrill of simulated fear or grief or elation should help us to embrace, comprehend, and respond to the real experiences that bring forth similar emotions.

I could make some comment here about bad evangelical art, but that is one VERY dead horse.

[Justa]

I'm not so sure about the seeming consensus so far that these people are not really scared.

I agree. I grew up in this worldview and believe me, that fear is not imagined or put-on, it's quite real. I don't know that it's "rendered them incapable of loving others", but I can speak from experience that it renders one quite incapable of fully enjoying what the world has to offer.

I left evangelicalism for Catholicism three years ago, and I find I am so, so much happier now that I no longer believe any of this particular brand of fear-mongering. What's more, I find that my ability to care about what will become of the world's future generations has skyrocketed now that I believe there will be future generations.

[J]

*Imagine that you believe in ghosts.

By "believe" I don't mean that you're simply open to the possibility, or that you once saw something that you aren't fully able to explain, or that you're vaguely agnostic on the topic in a "more things in heaven and earth, Horatio" kind of way. I mean that you believe in ghosts and that this belief is a central organizing principle of your life. You believe the world is crowded with spirits...*

I was under the impression that was called "Shintoism".

[Kristy]

I hate to do this, because I do get the point that was being made, but I have to take issue with the original comparison. See, I actually grew up about 15 minutes away from a spiritualist community. An entire town full of people who fully believe in spirits and ghosts - not necessarily the "vengeful dead," but at least the dead - still walking among us and occasionally trying to influence our world. And I have never seen a community as devoid of fear as this place. (Seriously, it's uncanny how open and welcoming everyone is in the town. I didn't know places that friendly existed outside of movies.)

So I do feel the need to point out that believing in ghosts is not the best example of something likely to fill your life with fear.

I also have to agree with xaaronx that people are, by necessity, resilient. If we hadn't developed coping mechanisms to avoid being paralyzed with fear when we realize how much bad stuff is all around us, the species would have died out long ago.

[J]

*So I do feel the need to point out that believing in ghosts is not the best example of something likely to fill your life with fear.*

Yea verily. And continuing my Shinto-harping, tat particular group of ghost-believers seem to have, um, *other matters* foremost in their minds (not truly dirty, but still NSFW)

[Personal Failure]

"I agree. I grew up in this worldview and believe me, that fear is not imagined or put-on, it's quite real. I don't know that it's "rendered them incapable of loving others", but I can speak from experience that it renders one quite incapable of fully enjoying what the world has to offer."

I think the true fear of these people is a fear of life itself. (Stay with me here.) Truly living life involves making choices, many of which will turn out to be bad choices, or to have unintended and unfortunate consequences. I trust you, you betray me. I take this job instead of that one, and it doesn't work out. I try the chiles rellenos and get food poisoning. (Just an example, try the chiles rellenos, they're quite good.)

Life is scary, living it is scarier. Curling up into a little ball of fear, refusing to move because Jesus told you so is so much easier.

Case in point? I just posted about the predisp view, culled from the message boards of RaptureReady, of the 1,000 reign of Christ. (I'm fairly sacriligious, so if you offend, better not look at it.) The number of people stating that they wouldn't be choosing anything about that life, and how HAPPY they were about that was appalling. If you told me I couldn't choose what appetizer to have with dinner, I'd be mad.

Good to see I'm not the only one hanging out at WND. How do you avoid the brain damage, Fred?

[J]

*Case in point? I just posted about the predisp view, culled from the message boards of RaptureReady, of the 1,000 reign of Christ. (I'm fairly sacriligious, so if you offend, better not look at it.) The number of people stating that they wouldn't be choosing anything about that life, and how HAPPY they were about that was appalling. If you told me I couldn't choose what appetizer to have with dinner, I'd be mad.*

'Cept doesn't that open a can of worms about Christianity in general? God created a world for us, had a plan for us, and everything about us was initially inclined toward Him but then we supposedly went a screwed it up by eating the brainfruit. That is, *we took the initiative and did what we wanted to do*.

There's not a lot of celebration of free-spirited-ness and independence and pleasure-seeking in the bible, let's face it. Yeah, you get to be free of exile and slavery and corrupt kings . . . but only so you can be undistracted slaves of King God and of the *right kind* of king, who loves him and not Asherah, or Baal, or any of the more *fun* rival deities.

[cjmr]

Lately, I've had this strange absence of desire to ride the rails. It must be the Erie-Lackawanna in me.

*lobs soft cushions at Jeff*

[hapax]

Life is scary, living it is scarier.

This. And yet, when faced with all of these millions of millions of tiny fears every moment, some from bad choices, some from unintended consequences of good choices, some (a huge terrifying proportion) from things that you *have no control over whatsoever* and never even thought about until your bank fails or your health care is cancelled or your daughter announces, "hey, wanna meet my girlfriend?"...

Isn't it much more comforting to somehow think that these are all just different faces of the One Big Bad, and that if you just agree to be on his team and his cheering section, your Guy can whup his Guy in the final afterschool fight?

[Cowboy Diva]

I remember having a great conversation with my brother (trust me, these are few and far between) about how in the military, especially for enlisted personnel, there is very little thought required of you. Choices are made well in advance as to how a soldier lives her life, and she has no control over those decisions.
Someone tells you when to get up, how to dress, when and what to eat, even how to brush your teeth. Some people do very well in such an environment. There is security in not having to worry about where you're going to sleep at night because someone has said that will be provided.
All you have to do is carry this gun and wear this target...

[Cowboy Diva]

or your daughter announces, "hey, wanna meet my girlfriend?"

*wonders if hapax has something on her mind or is just picking a third point off the Great Fears Of Adulthood List*

[Personal Failure]

"Someone tells you when to get up, how to dress, when and what to eat, even how to brush your teeth. Some people do very well in such an environment. There is security in not having to worry about where you're going to sleep at night because someone has said that will be provided.
All you have to do is carry this gun and wear this target..."

not to speak ill of our servicemen, but this happens to people who've been in prison for a while, too. i can't imagine willingly putting myself in a little box, even if my box is guarded by the numero uno guard dog. i'll take my chances, because the future, which is where i'm going anyway, could be really cool. maybe. i dunno, but i'm going to see!

[interloper]

It might not be insincerity. It might just be fatigue. No one can stay at a perfect pitch of maximum terror for very long.

Take me for example. I have a serious phobia about all kinds of bugs and worms... so when I first learned about nematodes in high school biology ("It's been said that if you removed all the living tissue on earth *except* for the nematodes, that you could still see the shapes of all living things because of all the nematodes--mostly microscopic--inhabiting them!"), it creeped me out to the extent that I wasn't able to sleep for a couple of nights. I had similar experiences later on when I learned about dust mites and (shudder) eyelash mites. In each case, though, it wasn't too long before I pushed it to the back of my mind and got on with my life again. (Though now that I'm thinking about it, I'm wondering how well I'll be able to sleep tonight...)

[eyelessgame]

The first thing I thought of was the characters in 'Supernatural'.

How do they function? They function because they have weapons to deal with the ghosts.

I think that's how the RTCs function - prayer and faith and the local preecherman function as their salt and holy water and book of latin exorcisms. They believe the devil is there, and he can defeat any mundane weapon (like bullets or reason) -- but the devil is powerless before the magic faith spell; all you do is pray and the devil goes away.

Terror is good, because terror makes you pray more, and prayer makes you more faithful.

At least that's how I understand them.

[J]

*I have a serious phobia about all kinds of bugs and worms... so when I first learned about nematodes in high school biology ("It's been said that if you removed all the living tissue on earth *except* for the nematodes, that you could still see the shapes of all living things because of all the nematodes--mostly microscopic--inhabiting them!")...*

Awesome! Dude, my wife's doctoral thesis in engineering involved extensive examination of the way in which still-living human skin cells--placed in the proper growth medium--placed on different types of surfaces, will begin to extend pseudopodia and move.

Yeah that's right: The cells that make up your body will, at least for a while, crawl around on their own when separated from you.

Sweet dreams!

[Personal Failure]

"Terror is good, because terror makes you pray more, and prayer makes you more faithful."

"I have a serious phobia about all kinds of bugs and worms... so when I first learned about nematodes in high school biology . . . it creeped me out to the extent that I wasn't able to sleep for a couple of nights. I had similar experiences later on when I learned about dust mites and (shudder) eyelash mites."

Having had some serious porphyria-induced mental disturbances (i'm fine, but i'll never look at a mirror the same way again), I can say that it is possible to maintain stark terror for days at a time, but you probably have to be, quite literally, out of your mind.

What I find mind boggling is that anyone would want to be that way. My experiences inspired me to let go of fear and to embrace life, to be kinder to people, to try new things. I can't imagine willingly being afraid. I can imagine wanting the power that terrorizing others gives one, but not willingly embracing being on the receiving end.

[Personal Failure]

"Yeah that's right: The cells that make up your body will, at least for a while, crawl around on their own when separated from you"

I shall take over the world!

[Lucia]

But they're not afraid, because as soon as all the elements of the Magic Jesus Spell are in place, They get the express lane to heaven while Everyone Else (that would be us) gets to suffer through seven years' earthly torment only to be thrown into the lake of fire everlasting. Ahhh, smell that barbecue.

That's why they egg each other on. Hey, look, there's an eye of newt, and I have a toe of frog right here, and if we can just find some bat wool we can get this show on the road. (Bats have wool? Who knew?)

[interloper]

Yeah that's right: The cells that make up your body will, at least for a while, crawl around on their own when separated from you.

Sweet dreams!

Oddly enough, unicellular organisms don't bother me at all. Just bugs and worms.

Thanks ever so, though, J, for trying to throw gasoline on the fire. You're a genuine prince among men, you are.

[hapax]

wonders if hapax has something on her mind

Well, speaking personally, if my daughter's "I have something to tell you" was "I'm a lesbian," I'd be probably fall to the floor babbling "Thank you, baby Jesus, she's not pregnant or joining the Air Force!"

But every parent has her own irrational terrors, and "zOMG what if my kidz caught Teh GAY???!!!" is one I hear a lot from my co-workers.

[hapax]

(shudder) eyelash mites

Oh, but you must read Jay Hosler's SANDWALK ADVENTURES. A delightful graphic novel in which Charles Darwin expounds his ideas about evolution to a pair of particularly charming follicle mites residing in his left eyebrow.

No, seriously.

It's adorably cute, educational, heartwarming, and triumphantly inspiring.

[Cowboy Diva]

no worries. I thought it was just the 3rd point of 3 but wanted to be sure.
*dopey grin* It was my cousin who lives in Eureka Springs, after his parents gave their horrified, biblical (/snark) response to my coming out, called me up to make sure I knew that I and mine were welcome in his home.

...

Now I want to hear more about these zombie cells from J. Do they come looking for their original host body, or do they move into seedy apartments with their best friend from high school?

[Consumer Unit 5012]

@Personal Failure: The number of people stating that they wouldn't be choosing anything about that life, and how HAPPY they were about that was appalling. If you told me I couldn't choose what appetizer to have with dinner, I'd be mad.

I have heard some SCARY talk from various psycho-Christians about how happy they are now that they've replaced their evil, sinful free will with Jesus(tm) and turned themselves into a vehicle for Him to drive around.

They sound like the victims of The Virus in a badly-written science-fiction movie.

@Hapax: Oh, but you must read Jay Hosler's SANDWALK ADVENTURES.

It _was_ good, but I preferred his earlier work Clan Apis, which is an adorable comic about a honeybee. I believe Hosler's a professional entomologist, and the only part in it that that didn't seem scientifically accurate to me was the various talking insects and flowers and such. (Which he makes fun of in one scene where he shows how bees dance to guide each other to flowers. "Can't she just TELL us?" "Shh!")

On the other hand, Sandwalk Adventures has Charles Darwin vs. invading GIANT SPACE BEETLES! So they're both good.

[Consumer Unit 5012]

By the way, Slasktivist, is the name of this entry supposed to be a Donnie Darko reference, or was that unintentional?

I'd argue the Fear/Love thing goes a lot deeper than JUST religion, too. Look at BushCo's Terror-Based Initiatives since 9/11, basically trying (and all too often, succeeding) in SCARING the US into supporting his bad ideas. I like to think the 2006 election showed where people just got TIRED of being scared ALL THE TIME.

This week, I'm flying to visit relatives for Christmas. I always get nervous when I do this, but I wonder if the airports are all still eternally on Orange Alert?

[interloper]

Oh, but you must read Jay Hosler's SANDWALK ADVENTURES....No, seriously.

Really? Well, it looks like my library has it so I'll check it out. Thanks for the rec-- I hope.
(Eyelash mites...nnngh!)

[FungiFromYuggoth]

Speaking of autoterrorism: Topic Two: How many of the 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto has America fulfilled thus far on our road toward socialism?

I bet that Topic Two wasn't "This was debunked twenty years ago, and you listeners should be sure to check out Snopes before spraeding rumors."

How paranoid do you have to be in order to freak out about Communism in 2008, and how Christian can you be if socialism freaks you out just as much?

[Geds]

How paranoid do you have to be in order to freak out about Communism in 2008

Remember, the two big attacks against Obama were, "He's going to make us Socialist," and, "Oh, no, big scary black man!"

I tend to think that the election was a watershed not because of the race of the candidate, but because of the collective, "Fuck you and your fearmongering," that it entailed.

[Jeff]

cjmr, thanks for the cushions! Comfy!

(I checked for bugs, and since there aren't any, I can lend them to interloper with a cleat conscience.)

[Toby]

Global warming is going to make most of the world pretty miserable. And we enlightened liberals are all firmly convinced of this. And yet we all get up and go to work each day -- and, what's more, most of us get there and back in cars, just like we've always done; and most of us continue to eat lots of meat, just like we've always done; and so on.

Same puzzle, no?

(Trivia of the day: for most people, their meat eating habits contribute more to global warming than their transportation habits.)

[cereselle]

See, I actually grew up about 15 minutes away from a spiritualist community. An entire town full of people who fully believe in spirits and ghosts - not necessarily the "vengeful dead," but at least the dead - still walking among us and occasionally trying to influence our world.

Cassadaga?

[Raj]

J: And continuing my Shinto-harping, tat particular group of ghost-believers seem to have, um, *other matters* foremost in their minds (not truly dirty, but still NSFW)

Is that the Shinto answer to the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile?

[baf]

By the way, Slasktivist, is the name of this entry supposed to be a Donnie Darko reference, or was that unintentional?

Could also be a Twin Peaks thing. Fear and Love are the two doors to the Lodge.

[Raj]

There-is-no-thing-wrong-with-ne-ma-todes! They-are-our-friends! Dis-re-gard-ru-mors-that-they-are-ta-king-o-ver-Hu-man-brains-in-or-der-to-con-quer-the-Earth! Get-on-with-your-lives-as-u-su-al, Hu-man-scum - I-mean, my-fel-low-Hu-mans!

[hisnewreasons]

Long ago I read a book about people who believe that the end is very nigh. It's called "Apocalypse." I forget the author. Anyway, one of its themes was the strange way End-Timers carry on with their lives, think about raising kids, go to work and plan for a future that they don't believe will come.

Oddly enough I've been thinking about this improbable compartmentalization and how it exists not just among the 'fringe folk.' That is, people who don't hold with End-Times theology. I first noticed this in the blogger Mark Shea who likes to warn America that God will judge us severely for Roe v. Wade and Lawrence v. Texas; that the Lord can 'use' terrorists to carry out His judgment. When Shea is not shaking his fist at his nation, he's posting They Might Be Giants videos and critiquing the Prime Directive from Star Trek. Somehow he's able to switch from pop culture obsessions to very dark fantasies about his fellow countrymen without blinking an eye.

Then there's Barbara Nicolosi from Church of the Masses. Lately she's taken to posting photos of aborted fetuses, comparing America to Nazi Germany and telling everybody who voted for Obama that they will be judged for...oh, look, Battlestar Galactica!

Practically like that.

And I remember somebody from the Libertas website declaring that we're just one suitcase nuke away from losing an American city. His conclusion? We need to think more about movies.

So the question posed by Fred Clark can be applied to a lot of people. How can you believe the things you do and not act like it?

[Cowboy Diva]

hisnewreasons,

I dunno. Read the book of 1 Thessalonians, maybe?