*By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of Washington
Dennis Prager said in a recent video “Fear is arguably the strongest emotion humans have.”
As we have seen over the last year and a half, many in our society have been consumed by the emotion of fear. After the initial “two weeks to slow the spread”, the fear set in by way of masking and social distancing and in Washington, of being arrested if you left your home without essential need. Grandparents were afraid to get close to their young grandchildren.
There is such a thing as a healthy dose of fear, but what we have seen since March 2020 is not “healthy.”
People have become consumed by fear and our government, community leaders and even corporations and government schools have used this to their advantage. As it turns out, creating a fearful society makes the people much easier to control. People have been told that if they don’t wear a mask and get 3 doses of the mRNA injection, they will be putting their health at risk as well as the health and well being of every other human they encounter. Our president has even said that this is a pandemic of the “unvaccinated”, blaming the continued spread on those who have not taken the needle.
Not only are you putting your community at risk if you don’t take the jab, but you can’t go anywhere, you can’t do anything, and you shouldn’t be able to hold a job. In Washington, there is a “vaccine mandate” for state workers, which includes our schoolteachers. In King County, you need to show proof of vaccination, or a negative Covid-19 test if you want to eat in a restaurant or attend an event. All this for a virus with a 99% survival rate. These mandates have been driven by fear. People have complied with this because the media and the government has led them to believe if they don’t, they will die, they will lose their job or they will kill someone else with the Covid.
Wherever I go, almost everyone I see is wearing a mask – almost always a cloth type mask. Here in Washington, we have a mask mandate, and most people are complying. People are wearing fabric masks on their faces that don’t provide any protection from the virus and are likely very unhealthy unless they are washed after each wear. In our schools and many places of business, people are wearing masks for up to 8 or more hours each day. They’re not breathing fresh air; they are getting bacteria and all kinds of “yuckiness” on these masks and its sitting on their face all day long. Because of fear. Fear of losing their job, fear of getting sent to the principal’s office, fear of getting kicked out of the store.
Fear is making the unvaccinated or the masked folks get angry and hateful towards those who aren’t vaccinated or wearing a mask. I have had strangers swear at me in the grocery store for not wearing a mask. That’s fear. Vaccinated people are refusing to see their unvaccinated relatives for the holidays. But if your vaccine works, why do you need me to be vaccinated? If your vaccine works, why are you so afraid?
Fear has crippled our society. Many people are afraid to return to the normalcy of 2019. And our government is loving it! It’s so easy to control the fearful.
Fear is not a completely negative emotion. Fear protects us from danger. Fear can be a great motivator. But the fear we are seeing in our world today is not a healthy fear. It is causing hatred and division. It is ruining people’s lives. The good new is that fear is an emotion we can control. With our critical thinking we can educate ourselves and weigh the risks and decide not to live in fear. We can change the channel from the fear-mongering mainstream media that wants to tell us about the latest “scariant” or mandate that must be obeyed. We can decide to live our lives with as much normalcy as possible.
One thing is certain: knowledge is power. And I believe the more knowledge we have, the better we can control our level of fear. We are not designed to live in fear. God doesn’t want us spending our days afraid.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
