Some fears are rational, eating sushi from a street vendor in Charleston, and some, fear of flying, are not. Yet as I can attest, while knowledge and thought can control irrational fears, some do not go away altogether. I do not like to fly, despite how safe it is, and recently as I was about to board, the television in the airport started flashing news that my airline had just had an accident.
Ideally, my first thought would been concern for those involved in the crisis, but no, my first response was fear of getting on the plane. That may not have been morally wrong, though it smacks of self-centeredness, but it was irrational. Flying that airline was one of the safer things I had done that day. Considering this fact helped some.
An airline worker tried to cheer me up by pointing out that this meant the already unlikely accident was done for the day. What are the odds that two such events would happen twice in one day? The only thing helpful in this comment was that it distracted me from my irrational fear by thinking about the failure of reasoning behind that attempt to comfort me!
This incident reminded me of two truths.
First, while irrational fear may exist, such a feeling does not have to control my life. Reason helps (some). I talked to a friend in psychology about the issue and that helped a good bit. Reading and learning about the actual dangers was useful. My doctor suggested some red wine to calm my nerves and this is good, too! Fundamentally, however, I have to get on the plane. My fear is irrational and there are things my family needs me to do, so I fly, even if I never like it.*
A logical implication of this truth is that nobody should inculcate irrational fears into a person to get “good behavior.” Saying Santa will not bring a child a toy if he is not good, is not good. Santa is a fun story. While God exists, the Christian knows that God makes it “rain on the just and the unjust.” There are so many variables in the world that we cannot make simplistic promises to anyone that if “they are just good” then they will be blessed. There are other people with free wills out there!
God is working in history and so the moral law is the safe bet over time, but given that God has given us choices, doing the right thing isn’t always the safe thing now. In general, if you are good, then it will be better in this life and surely most excellent in the life to come, but this is not comforting if you are the exception to the general rule.
No reasonable theist should promise a friend that all will be well immediately in this life just because a friend chooses to do right. Yet of course there are actions that a rational person would not take, even if they appear to work out for a neighbor. If your friend is jumping off the roof into the pool (don’t ask) and seems to be having a good time, that does not suggest you should do so. In fact, even if it works out for you, the choice was still irrational: the risk too high compared to the pleasure gained.
The second truth is that rational love is a better and more fundamental reason for action than even rational fear. If hell is real, then it is good and proper to warn people of the consequences of going there. Just as there should be a proper fear of getting in a car with a drunk driver, so there is a rational fear of living life without attending to Wisdom. Rational fears are the beginning of wisdom, because they introduce proper doubt.
“I cannot do that safely.”
”I do not know.”
”My desires do not trump everyone else’s.”
There are all limits I have had to learn and the fear (ultimately a fear of the Lord) is the beginning of Wisdom. (How I wish I had learned such lessons sooner!) Still while these rational fears might deter me from doing bad or risky things, this is not enough: not doing and doubting are often good, but not a basis for an entire life. Instead, we look to what is good, true, and beautiful and love those things. It is easier to overcome irrational fear with rational love and so fly. I think of my fellow professors or my wife and so get on the plane.
Rational fear may warn, but love is the basis for life. Fears will all pass away, but love will endure. This is why you know a bad church or group when it is based on fear or hatred as the “go to.” Even if we asssume the fear or the hate is rational, the message or community should always move to what is good or lovely: not this, but mostly that. Beware those dragons, but look at these lovely animals!
I have even met people who are so afraid of being irrational that they become hateful and unreasonable about reason. They spend most of their time attacking those they think are unreasonable and little time delighting in reading, thinking, and loving each other. As always, this is motivated by some irrational fear. The fear is different in each person or group. Sometimes it is a supresssed awareness of God, sometimes it is suppressed doubts about God.
In any case, fear is not always bad in this life. I must let it deter me from foolishness or vice, yet quickly turn to what I love. I get on the plane and think of home. When I get there, it is all worth it and that I think is being human. We ignore our irrational fear, love Wisdom, seek beauty, go ahead and live and then die only to be home.
What larks!
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*There are some irrational fears that one cannot simply overcome by will power that beset some folk. This is not a moral evil and after getting help, if one cannot do a thing, then one simply cannot. My point is that we should not do something or fail to do something for irrational reasons. A very bad psychological or biological disease is different altogether and can be a rational reason to avoid an activity.
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