Fear.

Fear is the primary chosen mechanism for persuasion, for manipulation. Politicians use fear to get favorable votes, telling us if we don’t choose them, their opponents’ policies will wreck our country. If the other party is in charge, everything we know and love will be destroyed. It’s a very effective strategy.

Fear drives people to do things they never would have done otherwise, crazy and rash things. It’s a psychological tactic, breaking down the enemy from the inside out. Once the seed is planted, it doesn’t require much work. Let the imagination run its course. A fearful enemy is a weak enemy. Fearful enemies do not think rationally, do not make careful assessments and calculated attacks. Fearful enemies are consumed with their fear and prone to make rash decisions, running blindly into oblivion, hoping to escape the fear, not to defeat their opponent.

We know when we’re being manipulated. We know when that seed has been planted, because we begin telling them what they want to hear. We say, “No, we can’t let you in,” to anyone that looks like what our enemies are telling us they look like. “We cannot go there,” about any place similar to place they’ve been. We close our doors, stay inside, and hide.

Friends, I write this so that you will think twice about your words and actions in light of the terrible events of this weekend. Don’t say the things they want to hear. Don’t be scared to do the things you love and help people in need. Let’s choose to be opponents who laugh at fear tactics. Strong enemies show confidence, compassion, courage because they have nothing to be afraid of.

No one knows exactly how long they have to live. Let’s not live in fear.