I'm indebted to Peter Enns whose recent blog post has drawn my attention to psychologist David Benner's comments on fear and love. Enns argues that:
But when conflict is sought out or even created and the divisions that follow are hailed as the will of God, the true indicator of theological purity and spiritual maturity, I continue to believe that deep fear of being theologically wrong, and thus losing control of one’s personal and group narrative, lies at the root.
In case anyone blew past that last paragraph, let me say it again: the simple presence of disagreement is not an indication of fear. Things like anger, belligerence, win-at-all-costs, and control-of-other are.
The relevance of this to our community and the response of many to evolution is obvious. If your world view is constructed on a hyper-literal reading of the creation narratives, then there is plenty in the modern world that will destroy that hyper-literal reading and strip away your control of your world view. The usual response is to try to reassert control by attacking science or demonising those who point out the problems in our special creationist reading of the natural world. That's not a viable strategy to create a growing, intellectually vibrant community.
David Benner's blog post is reproduced below. Emphasis is from Peter Enns:
David Benner's blog post is reproduced below. Emphasis is from Peter Enns:
One of the things that block us from
gaining freedom from fear is that most fearful people don’t think of
themselves as afraid. Unless their fears are focused on something
external most people in bondage to fear fail to recognize the true nature of their inner distress.
Fear that has not found a way to attach to external sources is very
hard to identify. It has many faces, all of which mask its essential
nature. Some people fear intimacy while others fear solitude. Some fear loss of control while others fear a loss of image.
Some fear the strength of their feelings while others fear the loss of
some comforting feeling. Some fear attention while others fear neglect.
Some fear life while others fear death. Some fear pleasure while others
fear pain. Some fear loss of love, while others fear love itself.
But fear can be even more elusive
than this. Sometimes it can have no face at all. If it is successfully
avoided, it leaves almost no trace of its presence. And so those of us who are good at avoiding our sources of fear may come to conclude that fear has no part in our story. But we are mistaken. Fear—though not experienced—is still present and a source of bondage.
Fear works in such a way that the
object of the fear is almost irrelevant. Fearful people are more alike
than the differences between the foci of their fear might suggest. Fear
takes on its own life. Fearful people live within restrictive boundaries. They may appear quite cautious and conservative. Or they may narrow the horizons of their life by avoidance and compulsion. They
also tend to be highly vigilant, ever guarding against life’s moving
out of the bounds within which they feel most comfortable.
Because of this, fear breeds control. People
who live in fear feel compelled to remain in control. They attempt to
control themselves and they attempt to control their world. Often
despite their best intentions, this spills over into efforts to control
others. Life beyond control is unimaginable, even though their
efforts at control have only very limited success. Fear also blocks
responsiveness to others. The fearful person may appear deeply loving,
but fear always interferes with the impulse toward love. Energy invested
in maintaining safety and comfort always depletes energy available for
love of others.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. - 1 John 4:18
