Please, Don't Be Afraid

November 08

I’ve read so many posts here and on other message boards that are expressions of fear. Sometimes, people gripped by this fear, resort to being angry or bitter. The saddest expressions are the ones that let their fear turn to hate. Spewed hate creates more fear and everything just gets worse.

Barack Obama is not the anti-Christ whose being elected is the sign that the world is now coming to an end. He’s not a Muslim who is on a secret jihad. He’s not a socialist or communist any more than Franklin Roosevelt was.

I’m inclined to believe that those who are going off the deep end with fear… the ones coming up with the predictions and most outlandish statements that aren’t based on fact or logic… those folks are stuck in the same type of fear cycle experienced throughout our history.

When we first decided to declare our independence from Great Britain, the “Loyalists” thought we were going to hell in a hand basket. Some because they believed the monarchy was a result of God’s will. Serving God and King were pretty much the same. Then there were others that had found a nice comfort zone in status quo. They and their family were well off with the current system, why screw with that?

I think that same fear happened again when the slaves were freed, women given the right to vote and segregation was abolished. Each time people flipped out and said this was the beginning of the end. A grand scale mistake had been made.

Did our country face the dire consequences predicted at the time? Nope!

In fact, some of the most amazing things have happened. We stopped TRUE evil of Hitler’s Germany and Japanese Aggression during WW2. We put a man on the moon. We won the Cold War. We’ve got technology and medicine that improves the lives of millions.

November 4th, we made a giant leap forward as a society. For once, the majority of people didn’t dismiss a person’s intelligence, character or vision because he had some more pigment in his skin than most Americans.

Even if you totally disagree with every idea he has for domestic and foreign policy, that leap alone bodes well for us as a people. Call it karma. Call it divine will. Call it an inevitable result an evolved and educated society. Good things happen every time we step away from selfish and/or ignorant beliefs.

Please, don’t be afraid.