This post continues some of the ideas expressed in the previous post, Be Not Afraid. It is an important topic that calls out for deep reflection.
Existential Fear
Perhaps the most basic fear of all is fear of total annihilation, fear of non-being.
Yet, even if one’s existence is not immediately threatened, fear may rise to great heights when one exists, but lacks the power to act.
For example, a person who does not face body death or spiritual annihilation may nonetheless experience a form of death in which they lose all ability to determine even the smallest details of their life.
This prospect of a total loss of agency—a loss of free will and self-determinism—is frightening, as most people abhor powerlessness. The threat that they will be the effect of others — while having no ability to cause effects – brings about a special terror.
No Communication
In a similar manner, a person unable to communicate suffers existential fear. One who cannot communicate loses their ability to affect other people. Enforced silence mimics non-being, and soon becomes a source of distress and fear.
When such existential fears strike, people resort to desperate acts. They seek to destroy all perceived or imagined threats. They live with constant fear. All existence becomes a struggle to avoid an imagined army of assassins.
Fear that fuels destructive acts and generates conflict sits at the top of the reconciler’s list of concerns. Assessing fear becomes Task #1 in resolving disputes.
The Psychopath
The psychopath, especially a psychopath in a position of power, is especially destructive as they target everyone in their environment. Anyone who might present a threat, whether real or imagined, becomes a target.
Living or working in proximity to a psychopath—a person inundated with fear that drives destructive acts—can bring about profound confusion and despair. When such a psychopath gains power over a nation, the result is tyranny, despotism, and genocide.
In their disturbed mind, they must annihilate all who pose a threat, which, to them, means eliminating all living entities.
Fear of God
A basic fear that drives atheism and demonic forces is fear of God. When Adam and Eve became convinced by the Serpent that God intended them harm, they were struck with extreme fear. They responded with covert opposition to the Will of God. They became deceptive and devious.
Those who follow in the pattern of Adam and Eve see all creation as a threat; in response they become compulsively destructive. They become nihilists who manage their fear by seeking to destroy everything and everyone around them.