Fear and ignorance...Our oppressive allies

We can see the evidence everywhere we look. Our governments use it. Our religions use it. Our friends and family use it. We all use it. From the time we are born each and every one of us is subjected to varying quantities of fear and ignorance, supposedly to shield us from the dangers that lay in our paths.

Often, there are seemingly valid and justifiable reasons for the deployment of these methods. Governments use them in the name of national security. Our friends and family use them in the name of emotional and physical protection. Religions use them in the name of the righteous path and spiritual well-being.

Unfortunately, there is a heavy price that must be paid by the recipients of fear and ignorance...Oppression. These techniques create a framework that is resistant to freedom, discovery and decision making. The greater concern though, is that fear and ignorance create the ideal environment to breed corruption, control and even slavery.

Ultimately, we become reliant on trust in those who feed us fear and ignorance, thus when the source is trustworthy the beneficial qualities often outweigh the largely unseen oppressive ones. However when received through less trustworthy sources, the seeminlg far-fetched outcomes mentioned earlier, will come to fruition, and this will be to the detriment of us all.

Personally, I had been a victim of this fear in regards to questioning one of the strongest advocates of this methodology, religion. I can remember not too long ago, being wrapped with guilt even for contemplating the thought that perhaps all is not as it is portrayed in regards to religion. Despite the many signs indicating that something was out of kilter, the fear of isolation, acted as a most effective deterrent against challenging the dogma associated.

It is amazing how subtle yet controlling this fear can be.
One in many cases dare not even internally contemplate questioning for any length of time because the ramifications of arriving at answers that oppose the previously accepted dogma can be daunting even if only on a mental level.



[edit on 2-6-2006 by point]

That's quite true, point. Often many will not even recognise this restriction as fear, convincing themselves that they KNOW it to be, rather than contemplating that they are frightened into BELIEVING it to be so.