By Farther Steps

Reformed and Reforming, semper reformanda to Christ's glory.

Posts Tagged ‘Fear’

Revelatory Fear

Samuel said, “What have you done?”

And Saul said,… “I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly… But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Sam. 13:11-14)

Saul was religious. He didn’t say, “Forget this offering stuff, the old man is too late. Charge!” He knew he needed God’s favor and he knew the people knew it too. And Saul didn’t violate the religious rules lightly but forced himself. He was desperate. He knew he needed God’s favor if he had a chance in the upcoming battle.

The problem was Saul’s heart, his desires. He believed God, he believed God’s prophet, he trusted the religious ceremonies. Where he failed was in seeing all of those things as a way to get more of God. Instead, he saw all of them as a way to make sure God got him what he was after. And so God replaced him not with a man who knew the rules better, but with a man who sought God first.

It was fear of the Philistine army that uncovered where his heart really was. What do you fear that might uncover your heart?

The Function of Our Fear-Fantasy

Why are zombie movies so popular these days? I’ve heard a few theories lately but haven’t been satisfied with them so I figured I’d offer my own. One thing to keep in mind is that zombies have changed in film over the past 30 years. At first they were living dead who were under the control of a voodoo witch doctor. They didn’t eat your brains and you couldn’t become one if they bit you. So for clarity, we really need to consider the zombies of today’s movies.

One of the ways to understand American eras is to consider what they were afraid of and one of the best ways to do that is to consider the horror movies of that era. Invasion of the Body Snatchers was so powerful at the time because of the fear of Communist invasion. What if your neighbor was a secret Communist? The Day the Earth Stood Still, Them and The Incredible Shrinking Man (for example) demonstrated our fear of nuclear war and nuclear radiation. So what are we afraid of today that makes zombie films so popular?

Given the modern version of zombies, I think they are popular because we’re afraid of people who don’t think like us. They appear to be human but distorted humans. They appear mindless, yet driven by some force we don’t understand. And there is a fear that we might become like them if we get close.

Who is “them”? Could be anyone who is different from us. Conservatives, Christians, Muslims, Liberals, atheists, whoever. “They” are so different and scary because they don’t think like us and we have a sneaky suspicion that they’re out to get us. This difference feels like an attack and so the only response is equally violent. They must be destroyed. Their thought process has be obliterated. That’s why the way you kill a zombie is to destroy its brain.

Multi-culturalism seems to be such a great idea but in practice it doesn’t really overcome our basic fear of those we don’t understand. Why can’t they become more “normal”, that is, more like us? And yet we see them as essentially human yet their differences are frightening. Fortunately, people don’t act on their fear-fantasy and attack others. And that is the another function of our fear-fantasy; it expresses our fears and gives us a safe vent for a reaction to them where no one gets hurt.