The Witness Of Religion In An Age Of Fear, By Michael Kinnamon

I personally do not believe in a monotheistic God, but I do have a spiritual sense of some great benevolent “otherness”, and I do consider myself a spiritual person. In this piece I will use “God,” and “the divine” interchangeably to represent and speak about this spiritual presence. In The Witness of Religion in an Age of Fear, by Christian theologian Michael Kinnamon (2017) he advocates for a, “shared interfaith witness” (p. 47). This is a powerful and thought-provoking position he is taking. He writes that all the major religions, at their best, have the capacity to assist humanity in overcoming fear. Fear being the deepest root of most of the evil in the world, the basis for hatred, violence, war, and terror. He makes a convincing argument
Kinnamon (2017) writes, “Fear is an emotion that does not recognize the full reality of others it is fundamentally narcissistic and thwarts compassionate identification with those ‘outside’” (p. 83). Fear is a divisive emotion, that removes us from seeking understanding or finding appreciation for those which we consider “other”. Making the distinction between real threat and our culture of fear-mongering induced anxiety is important. Some fears are of course warranted. However, our current society is living in an overly fearful state that greatly impacts the way that we see our world. Contributing to increased military surveillance, fear of immigrants, Muslims, Terrorists, and the mistrust of strangers and outsiders. Even as our country is one of the safest and most prosperous in the world Americans are some of the most fearful people (Kinnamon, 2017, p. 15). Kinnamon speaks of the contraction and withdrawal into ourselves, which occurs when we seek to protect ourselves out of fear. Fear can keep people from engaging, and from living generously and hospitably (Kinnamon, 2017, p. 35). A quote by Thomas Aquinas which exemplifies this, “when we fear so excessively that we allow the avoidance of evil to take precedence over the pursuit of good” (Kinnamon, 2017, p. 36). Further evidence of this being when nations become excessively fearful of terrorism or attack, the loss is especially
A liminal space where love, trust, and grace reside, which counter worldly fears. A quote which is illustrative of this from Rabbi Hanina: “Everything is in the hands of a Reality that is beyond our control, except for our willingness to stand in awe of that Reality… our attitude can make the world a very small, constricted place or a place of wonder” (Kinnamon, 2017, p. 30). The transformation of fear seems to occur here when our trust is placed in awareness of the divine which embodies fear, awe, and love. Realizing these emotions as also divine, brings them to bear on life in a new way. This way provides a new understanding of the numinous, which can help us hold all life in reverence and appreciation, even that which brings us fear. Many of the spiritual and religious traditions that Kinnamon explores espouse awe or reverence for the divine as a means of appreciating the exquisite intensity of life, and not fearing it. In this way, a religious perspective can pull us out of times of fear and doubt, to realize our common