Fear
has the capacity to disarm soldiers, turn people against their kings, and
destroy relationships. Fear is defined as “something that causes feelings of
dread or apprehension;
something a person
is afraid of.”
(Dictionary.reference.com 2014) A word that adequately defines
this fear is xenophobia which is derived from the Greek word for stranger. There are
many things that humans are fearful of for good reason. A person does not tread
on a snake purposefully if he knows that it could kill him. Likewise, if men
misunderstand the cultures of this world, then fear is a natural side effect.
Take for example the ancient
Indians of South America. The first indigenous group encountered by Columbus was the 250,000 Taínos of Hispaniola who represented the dominant culture in the Greater Antilles and the Bahamas. These people were grossly mistreated and persecuted for
no other reason than that they were considered heathens who had little or no
understanding of what it was to be human. (Wikipedia. Article “Indigenous
peoples of the Americas” 2014)
Another example is the Salem witch trials, which were a
series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial
Massachusetts between
February 1692 and May 1693. This atrocity is in fact the result of lack of
information and ignorance. Those that conducted the trials said many years
later that they were ashamed to have taken part in such barbarities.
It is comprehensible that what
we as humans do not understand that which we fear. What we should consider
though, is the fact that we need not fear what we cannot comprehend, but
rather, seek to unravel the case itself. In doing so, we will have not only
conquered the fear of the unknown, but also acknowledged that God is in control
of the circumstances, and that so long as we trust Him there is nothing to
fear.
-Marissa
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