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<\/a><\/p>\nThis week I boosted an ad on Facebook for my book. In the past I sent it out to the 25-45 age group. This time, I thought , “I’ll send it out to my age peers, 45-65.” \u00a0That choice unleashed a fury of responses that took my breath away. I was called names, quoted scriptures at, and somehow invited a level of hate that astonished me. It scared me. I have been aware of the growing anger and hatred in public discourse. I’ve experienced it as a woman. But I’ve never experienced a virtual mob of verbal pitchforks and torches.<\/p>\n
Are some of them bots? Most of them? Are there really people out there who feel entitled and justified in threatening people who believe or live differently? It’s scary folks, made more real by nearly daily mass killings. The relatively small way I experienced the vitriol of the religious right shook me. I started worrying about public appearances – readings, speaking engagements, things I would naturally post to facebook and invite my friends to join me. So far I haven’t shared ‘upcoming events’. I am allowing my fear to silence me.<\/p>\n
Women, \u00a0African-Americans, people of color, queer folk of every sort, know what it’s like to be afraid. To cower behind silence. It is how the oppressed are controlled.<\/p>\n
Howard Thurman who, in\u00a0Jesus and\u00a0the Disinherited,\u00a0<\/i>taught \u00a0how fear silences and disenfranchises the oppressed:<\/p>\n “A man\u2019s conviction that he is God\u2019s child automatically tends to shift the basis of \u00a0his \u00a0relationship with all his fellows. He recognizes at once that\u00a0to fear a man, whatever may be that man\u2019s power over him,\u00a0is a basic denial of the integrity\u00a0of his very life.” \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Thurman, Jesus and the Disinherited<\/em>, pg 51<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n There are hundreds of times that scripture urges us to “be not afraid”. Most likely for the same reason. Here’s my point: in this time when domestic terrorists are empowered by the current president, we must choose not to be afraid. We cannot allow fear to strip us of our basic identity \u00a0as children of Godde. \u00a0We must choose to live as if we are free, as if our lives matter, We must not allow fear to silence us. Otherwise we are enslaved by hate and lies.<\/p>\n Look, I’m still afraid. But I don’t want let \u00a0fear control me. Are there very real things going on in our world today of which to be afraid? Absolutely. But I want to be brave enough to not let fear control me. \u00a0If the best I can do is to choose to act like I’m \u00a0not afraid then I want to make that choice.<\/p>\n We do not live in comfortable times. The danger of the hate \u00a0unleashed by current leadership is real. It’s reasonable to be afraid. But hate wins when we allow it to silence us.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe the question isn’t, “Should we be afraid” but “Can we have the courage to live our truth out loud?”<\/p>\n I’m trying. I hope you will join me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This week I boosted an ad on Facebook for my book. In the past I sent it out to the 25-45 age group. This time, I thought , “I’ll send it out to my age peers, 45-65.” \u00a0That choice unleashed a fury of responses that took my breath away. I was called names, quoted … Continue reading Should We Be Afraid?<\/span> \n
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