August 2007: Let's build community, not fear

We live in a world where the corrupting emotion of fear is causing anxiety, insecurity, suspicion and hatred.

Even politicians and civic leaders have used fear to get re-elected and legislate their agenda. The "9/11" factor has singularly heightened fear possibly more than any other event in human history.

I had my first real taste of threatening fear during my recent faith and cultural study tour of Islam in Turkey.

This incredible experience was sponsored by Affinity Intercultural Foundation, an organisation connected with the Auburn El Gallipoli mosque community in Sydney.
Before going, I had received some suggestions that I was at risk because "You cannot trust Muslims".

This reflects the "9/11" factor, which has intensified fear and incorrectly labelled each Muslim as "terrorist".

Unbeknown to our tour party, there had been a terrorist alert for the annual ANZAC Day commemoration at Gallipoli, to which we had been invited as VIP guests.

We were part of the official cavalcade of vehicles which was escorted by Turkish police cyclists and two ambulances as we travelled by ferry boat and then road from Canakkale to Anzac Cove.

Even the road route we took was lined by Turkish soldiers armed with machine guns. It felt like a James Bond movie as we sped along dirt and bitumen roads in the dark at between 100 and 120 kilometres per hour.

Later, some party members received calls from anxious relatives.

This caused me to reflect on the widespread impact that the modern phenomenon of fear has on our lives and our relationships, particularly our relationships with Muslim Australians.

I have always seen the Uniting Church as a community builder.

We are committed to reconciliation and holistic ministry to the local and global community through our Aboriginal and Christian Islander Christian Congress, our local church activities and ministry, our community and educational services, our social justice advocacy against injustices, our working together with other churches and other religions, and multicultural works - the list goes on, how we serve humanity and aspire to be part of a world of peace and harmony.

But we are faced with a multitude of fears in the world today: for the future, the unknown, the truth, failure, rejection, financial failure, death, loss, boredom, life, relationship breakdowns, illness and disease, disability, exams, terrorism, accidents, heights, taking risks, and so on.

These can be limited to single situations and isolated actions or can be all consuming, paralysing and poisoning our beliefs.

Fear can be utilised as a tool to manipulate an outcome in a weak and timid person, an easily misled voter, a sexual abuse victim, or an oppressed person in a relationship or in the workplace.

It is incredible how fear can control our actions and our lives if we succumb to it.
For religious people, unconditional love, compassion, tolerance and gracious forgiving are fundamental to attacking fear.

However the religions of the world have a bad record for showing these basic values.

We have much to do if we are to regain our credibility in a doubting, suspicious, increasingly cynical and sceptical world.

Mutual awareness and collective community building are ways we can be a unifying presence in the everyday world.

For us, as Christians, the Bible is often an encouragement as we face fear.
The best for me is a paraphrasing of II Timothy 1:7: For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of sound mind.

In other words, "His Spirit fills us with power, love and self-control."

Fear is out, other than the reverent fear of God. Said the Psalmist, "Happy is the man who fears the Lord, who is willing to follow his orders."

The orders: love life and your neighbour; build peace and community, not fear.