I heard something today that really made me consider the way people approach life. Someone on TV was described as having “no fear of authority”. The description made our society seem to work because the rest of us have a healthy fear of authority. As if we fear consequences that will be brought down upon us by the police, religion, government, etc. and that is why the social contract works. In addition, the reason why the social contract breaks down is the are people who lack this fear and don’t care about the consequences.
The whole idea sounded like the concept of Heaven and Hell. You better live a good life and you’ll have a reward in Heaven, and you better be scared of sinning too much because in the end you could end up in Hell with eternal damnation. Those people who don’t follow Christianity don’t have the fear of God within them.
My problem is God doesn’t work that way. Faith doesn’t work that way. Fear isn’t the way that people are best brought together. I don’t follow God because I fear Him. I follow God because I love Him and respect Him. In the same sense, I don’t live in fear of authority. I follow laws, and rules of society because I respect the social contract. I feel bad that our society isn’t perfect, but trying to fix it with fear, hate, guns, or violence isn’t an answer, at least it isn’t for me.
I don’t try to be a better person and grow in faith because I am afraid of the consequences, I try to do it because I have OCD and when I try to be a better person, I feel good. When I act out of love and live in faith, my mind, body, and spirit feel at peace and in harmony. When I am faced with a decision to do something right or wrong, I don’t really care about the consequences nor do I worry about fear of authority or God, I care about how my decision is going to make me feel. I don’t want to feel bad. I try to follow God’s teaching and commandments because I have faith that His way will help me to lead the best life I can.
So, no. I don’t have a healthy fear of authority. I don’t fear God or Hell. My life was about fear way too long to live that way again. I want my life to be about love, about God, and about seeing the best in everyone I meet. I have faith that even in today’s world that’s possible.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
