I have come to the realization that fear is a great tool that has been used to control man for ages. It seems that the fear of death, fear of losing a job, fear of losing loved ones, fear of remaining single or barren etc., has been used to enslave men and women in the poorest working and living conditions. How many men have not died or remained poor in the worst working conditions for the fear of losing that job and not getting another better one? How many women have not remained in a bad marriage for the fear of being unable to take care of themselves outside the marriage? How many people have not married people they do not love in order to become legal immigrants in foreign lands or to be also married and avoid being single for life?
Just ask yourself, what can you do to someone who is not afraid of death? What can you do to someone who has nothing to lose and is afraid of nothing? It is virtually impossible to control such a person. The best is to inflict pain…Why are many false prophets able to hold their congregation captive? They instill fear in them: fear of demons, evil spirits, diseases, etc.
How did the Nazi regime come to power in Germany? It was through violence. Using violence and riots, they instilled fear in the population and took power by force. During the early years of the Nazi government when they began enacting strong anti-semitic laws at Nuremberg, promoting the Kristallnacht throughout Germany, the Jews were overcome with fear and many starting emigrating from Germany. Those who could not flee remained, with no plans as to what to do. It occurred to me recently, thinking through everything that happened during that time: what if the Jews had found ways to arm themselves and fight? What if they had refused and resisted to be marched into the trains and sent to Auschwitz, Dachau, Treblinka, Sobibor, Breslau, and other concentration camps. Yes, the Germans would have killed many of them, but if they had all rushed towards the soldiers instead of away from them, they could have overpowered the Germans and also killed them.
Instead of what happened, with 6 million Jews being killed mercilessly, a Jewish revolt and resistance would have led to a civil war in Germany that would have stopped Hitler from fully executing the war in Europe. Had they overcome their fear and fought the Nazis, the atrocities of World War II would never had happened, and other Jews in Europe would have come to their aid with more weapons and supplies. Even if millions had died, I doubt 6 million would have died and through such a painful means such as occurred through the concentration camps.
You may ask, how do I know? At Sobibor, where the Jews overcame their fear and took on the Germans, they were able to free themselves and run away. They had no guns, but they managed to get guns from the Germans they killed and used those guns to attack the other Germans. They were thus able to free themselves and others. That is the point I am making. During the early years of the Roman empire, some slaves, led by Spartacus, freed themselves by killing their prison soldiers. They run away from Rome and began attacking and freeing other slaves held in the surrounding towns and villages. These ex-slaves marched northwards towards the borders of the Roman empire, defeating several legions of Romans. Soon, they had been able to gather together two bands of large slaves, about 90,000 according to some estimates. By overcoming their fears and taking the mighty Roman empire head on, they almost brought the empire to her knees.
Indeed, the Barbarian tribes such as the Goths (Ostrogoths and Visigoths), Vandals, Huns, Franks, and other Germanic tribes who resisted Roman incursion and braved death were able to break free from the Roman yoke. Although the Romans killed thousands of these Barbarians, they did not allow the fear of death to cower them into submission. They continually fought until they broke up the Roman empire into bits and pieces, forming modern-day Europe.
The American and French revolutions would never have occurred had the populations continually lived in fear and dread. However, when the Paris mob marched on the Bastille, broke it down and took out the weapons stored there, they were unstoppable. When the colonies of New England revolted against George III and took arms to free themselves from English rule, they were on a life and death mission. During the Jim Crow era, thousands of Black Americans were killed and persecuted just for being Black. They suffered the worst of all forms of human degradation until they decided to fight back. After World War II, many Black people put away their fears and started confronting the Ku Klux Khan and other white supremacists with both arms and the civil rights movement. This determined resistance to the Jim Crow laws finally led to its collapse and freedom for Black people. It took a lot of fearless fighting by Black South Africans to overthrow Apartheid in South Africa. Thousands died, but more survived to enjoy the freedom they fought for.
When the Europeans came to Africa, they were a minority with advanced weapons. Yet, they were able to enslave and colonize a whole population of Africans. How were they able to do that? Through the fear of death, they were able to use their weapons to force the slaves into ships and sail them across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. Through the fear of death, the colonialists were able to keep larger populations of Africans under slavery on their own soils through colonization. Now think of it: had the Africans put away their fear and confronted the gun-wielding Europeans head on, could they have led them captive into America? There are two outcomes: either the Europeans would have killed all the Africans, which is highly impossible, or the Africans would have overpowered the Europeans and taken away their guns, driving them out of Africa. Indeed, by facing them with only sticks and stones, millions of Africans would have died, but they would have stopped slavery. Furthermore, if the Europeans realized that death cannot force or intimidate the Africans into slavery, they would have abandoned that approach altogether and there would have been no slavery.
You may ask, how do I know this? History proves so. During the epoch of the Roman empire, Christianity was banned as a religion and Christians were haunted as animals and thrown to animals in the colosseum, reduced to slaves, burnt at the stake, or killed. Yet, the more they were killed, the more they spread until almost 20% of the empire were Christians. “The Christian’s blood is seed,” said Tertullian in his Apologeticus (circa AD 197). The new religion spread in spite of the death threats such that the empire finally had to succumb and become Christian during the time of Constantine. The Bible prophesied of this in Revelation 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”
The conquering of fear also led to many daring and ambitious inventions, discoveries, and scientific innovations. The invention of the airplane, going to the moon, traveling in rockets and submarines, etc. required that the fear of death be overcome. In fact, during the age of discovery/exploration, the Spaniards and Portuguese had to brave the unknown oceans to venture onto unknown worlds. By overcoming their fears, they were able to discover Western and Southern Africa, the Americas, and eastern Asia. Through these discoveries, they became exceedingly rich.
I do agree that fear is important to keep man from making reckless decisions as well as remain reasonable. However, this fear in every man has been used as a weapon of control by man. Man has ever used the fear of death, pain, suffering, hunger, torture, rape, unemployment, nuclear war, etc., to hold other men hostage.
The only way any tyrant, despot, or autocratic ruler can survive is on fear. It is no wonder that the Bible in Revelation 21:8 stated that “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” As the freedoms of people are being curtailed the world over and governments are becoming very autocratic and non-accountable, fear shall be used to push people into submission.
Fear was used during the Covid-19 pandemic to force people into lockdowns, enforce vaccinations, wearing of masks, and take away many freedoms from the people etc. After the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center, fear of a terror attack was used by the US government to institute a lot of restrictions on the freedom of the average American, including spying on the communications of Americans and the world. This became known after Edward Snowden blew the whistle.
If you really want to be free from oppression, control, discouragement, hopelessness, and despair, then you have to live above fear. The Christians overcame the Roman empire by overcoming fear, and that is the hope I give you now. By establishing your faith in the Bible and in God, you can easily rise above fear and become the free man that God made you to be. If God is on your side, He alone can keep you safe and free from any form of human oppression and control.
