Fear

The "fear of the Lord" is sometimes used as a criticism of belief in God by saying that no self-respecting human being would subject himself to God in such an irrational and diminutive way. I feel that "fear" from the critic's perspective is different than that of the Christian's and that a better understanding of "fear" would bridge this gap in showing that it is rational, good and necessary for any worldview.

What is fear? Is fear anxiety or some sort of cautious felling toward an object of horror? Fear can be many things. For example, one could fear their toaster. They wake up in the morning, see it leering over the coffee cups and being startled, they run out of the room in fright. This kind of fear does exist, but it is not what I wish to discuss here. Taking the example of the toaster, what I want to talk about is something like this: A man wakes up in the morning, makes toast, toast gets stuck and man does not stick butter knife in toaster. This is something that we would almost never label as “fear,” but it does serve as an example for the “fear of God” idea. The fear of the Lord is not irrational or debilitative, it seeks to preserve the individual through a proper understanding of the thing feared.

Also, fear is a necessary component that holds together any worldview. Obviously in Christianity the fear of the Lord holds that system together in that it causes believers to abide by the law of God. In a secular humanist worldview like the one that created our countries foundational precepts of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” fear must also exist. One who holds these precepts dear must fear their destruction. In worldviews where family is of the utmost importance, parents must love their children and out of that love comes a fear of any interference in their ability to love their children. This fear is a fear which values good and causes one to think critically and rationally about that which might cause harm to that good.