Fear: A Virtue?

[The Hammer]

I'll start by defining these terms fear, and virtue.

Fear (n): an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

(v) be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Virtue (n): behavior showing high moral standards.

So, in your opinion, or in your religious worldview, is fear a Virtue to be cultivated. Or is it something to be overcome?

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

 

[Stevicus]

I suppose if it's a rational fear, it could be useful. But on the other hand, it could get out of control and cloud one's judgment. Politicians seeking power can prey on people's fears.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

So, in your opinion, or in your religious worldview, is fear a Virtue to be cultivated. Or is it something to be overcome?

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

Fear does have it's places (think sympathetic nervous system), but in such context it is one sided and abusive. And fear itself is often more destructive than anything else.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Something keenly wonderful about the ability to run and evade sometimes. Keeping ahead of the game.

 

[JustGeorge]

Fear is generally poo-pooed in my religion, and I tend to poo-poo it in general on a personal level. It sometimes makes a person act foolishly, cruelly, or ignorantly. It actually can prevent useful action in a case where it might make sense to be fearful(I'm scared of the bull barreling at me, but too terrified to move).

Not that one can always prevent being fearful; its often something we can't help. But its never something I'd recommend cultivating.

 

[Nakosis]

I'll start by defining these terms fear, and virtue.

Fear (n): an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

(v) be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Virtue (n): behavior showing high moral standards.

So, in your opinion, or in your religious worldview, is fear a Virtue to be cultivated. Or is it something to be overcome?

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

Fear prepares your body for flight or fight. Fear can also cause you to act self-destructively.

 

[Psalm23]

I'll start by defining these terms fear, and virtue.

Fear (n): an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

(v) be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Virtue (n): behavior showing high moral standards.

So, in your opinion, or in your religious worldview, is fear a Virtue to be cultivated. Or is it something to be overcome?

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

I usually see fear in a negative light. The fear of the Lord is spoken of in a positive light. A lot of Christians explain it to be reverence or awe. I think actual fear could be involved like physically shaking and falling to one's face though also struck with wonder.

 

[The Hammer]

In my opinion, fear in the religious sense is to be avoided. There is no reason to fear ones Gods.

But, fear is a healthy response to danger.

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I'll start by defining these terms fear, and virtue.

Fear (n): an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

(v) be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Virtue (n): behavior showing high moral standards.

So, in your opinion, or in your religious worldview, is fear a Virtue to be cultivated. Or is it something to be overcome?

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

The deeper motivation should be love, you should love and trust in your deity(s). You should fear yourself from trying to get in the way of that love and trust.

 

[Psalm23]

In my opinion, fear in the religious sense is to be avoided. There is no reason to fear ones Gods.

But, fear is a healthy response to danger.

For the most part I would agree.

 

[sun rise]

is fear a Virtue to be cultivated.

No. The emotion of fear is a holdover from our animal past. It's natural for a prey animal to fear and run from a predator. In humans, a rational concern not the emotion of fear is a step forward.

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

Religions that are about fear and hope are relics of the past. Be good or you'll go to hell. Be good and God will give you goodies/heaven. It's time to move beyond that level of life.

As Rosemary Harris put it in this poem:

My companion is fear
Walking behind me like a shadow.
He sees obstacles where none are,
He knows death as disintegration,
He comes from hell to cherish me
Saying 'turn right,' 'turn left,'
'Look, there is a lion in the road
And no resurrection.'

Yet I will make my torturer
My dear companion.
For in acceptance he grows honest,
Showing that a skeleton is only bones
And one moment no longer than another
And pain only sensation
Like the color of the rose,
Less than the falling of a leaf.

See, I shall turn my head,
Diminish him with pity,
Kill him with understanding
Even love . . .
Looking him in the eye
I shall observe his dwindling
Because he is only a shadow
Lost between me and the sun.

 

[The Hammer]

No. The emotion of fear is a holdover from our animal past. It's natural for a prey animal to fear and run from a predator. In humans, a rational concern not the emotion of fear is a step forward.



Religions that are about fear and hope are relics of the past. Be good or you'll go to hell. Be good and God will give you goodies/heaven. It's time to move beyond that level of life.

As Rosemary Harris put it in this poem:

My companion is fear
Walking behind me like a shadow.
He sees obstacles where none are,
He knows death as disintegration,
He comes from hell to cherish me
Saying 'turn right,' 'turn left,'
'Look, there is a lion in the road
And no resurrection.'

Yet I will make my torturer
My dear companion.
For in acceptance he grows honest,
Showing that a skeleton is only bones
And one moment no longer than another
And pain only sensation
Like the color of the rose,
Less than the falling of a leaf.

See, I shall turn my head,
Diminish him with pity,
Kill him with understanding
Even love . . .
Looking him in the eye
I shall observe his dwindling
Because he is only a shadow
Lost between me and the sun.

Wonderful poem.

 

[osgart]

If I ever have good reason to fear than fear is a good thing. Otherwise fear is not helpful at all.

After all the fear there's still got to be good reasons to love somebody. I suppose the same goes for a deity. Love trump's fear.

If I fear I know not what, then that fear is in vain, a complete waste of emotion.

I think fear can be a good thing because I distinguish it from terror. But spending all the time in fear without progressing toward love is useless fear also.

Going down the wrong paths in life is good reason to fear. For me everything's gotta have good reasons.

With fear it seems it's fight, flight, or change.

 

[Altfish]

I'll start by defining these terms fear, and virtue.

Fear (n): an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

(v) be afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening.

Virtue (n): behaviour showing high moral standards.

So, in your opinion, or in your religious worldview, is fear a Virtue to be cultivated. Or is it something to be overcome?

Is better to be in fear of a or your Deities, or should there be a deeper motivation involved?

I wouldn't call it a virtue; an evolutional trait is a better description

 

[Aštra’el]

Fear is my ally. It is a survival instinct, sheds light on weakness and danger, and reminds us of what precious things we have to lose.

As for God(s)… it is effective to maintain a balance of respect, love and fear.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

Fear is a virtue much like Thursday is a pasta.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Can't speak as to religious matters, since I don't have anything suitable, but I suppose I see fear as our unique early warning system, often accepted and overcome (since we might judge the odds in our favour), and often not as when one makes a stupid error (often too when young and whilst trying to impress others) and so as to injure oneself (or others) badly or even as to causing deaths. Fortunately any of my fears have resulted in the former and I've tended to avoid the sillier, and foolish, mistakes of the latter - but not always.

 

[VoidCat]

Fear is not a virtue. But it is something to listen to if needed and possibly change if it is no use. It's also something to accept as natural for you can't listen to fear or change it if you cant accept that you are fearful.

 

[amorphous_constellation]

Well I think there are several perceptions of fear, two or three of which I seem to perceive somewhat clearly. From there, I'll see if I can connect it to 'virtue'

Fear can firstly be a product of intimidation. This is where I do not believe I can meet a challenge, and am thusly terrified by it, and believe I will always have an inability to meet it.

Fear can also be product of knowledge. I can start to know where and how I will err, if I do something. What I fear is not the result of intimidation, (unless I am masking my intimidation with false knowledge) and so I don't proceed because I know what may result, there is no emotional involvement.

I think thirdly, there might be a place for the unique fears that people sometimes experience idiosyncratically, and asymmetrically. I once knew a man who was not afraid of biking on the busiest roads, and yet he was quite afraid of hiking in the woods, for fear of spiders or ticks.

Lastly, fear can also be a product of evolution, as man was chased by predators in his evolutionary history

So is there a virtue that can bridge into any of that? I tend to think there is usually always utility in thinking ahead. I probably even do it too much. I think ahead, and see things that I would be 'afraid' of, if I wasn't doing something more effective now. But then again, if I do that too much, maybe I will 'lose the now,' and 'lose the present,' and be lost in the fog of the future. That doesn't sound good. Some people never seem to worry, and they still live effectively.

I think the argument that fear is a primary tool, put there in us by divine forces etc., is probably clearest in my last perception of it, that is a 'product of evolution.' That means that it was put there in us, as close as can be to our foundation point as a species. If humans cannot come to pure knowledge about a problem, then fear is usually still there, to give a warning. However, if you come to a pure knowledge about what might result when you do things, then maybe you have a better tool than fear, but it seems unlikely that you will gain that, as a human

 

[Ella S.]

I was just thinking about how most of morality is enforced through fear. Either we're afraid of being punished by the law, afraid of going to Hell, or we're afraid of the social or karmic consequences of our behavior.

I'm skeptical about whether this appeal to fear actually works or if it's just a long-lasting superstition, given that this appeal to fear has been going on since ancient times. I would speculate that it doesn't work, after reading a number of criminal studies that show most people who commit crimes aren't afraid of being punished because they think they will get away with it, and after contemplating how many Catholics I knew that held heretical beliefs that Church doctrine states would damn their souls.

So perhaps it does work to some degree, but we underestimate how many people don't take these threats seriously.

In my personal opinion, fear is a vice, being a form of pathos that prevents clear-mindedness.