Stephen Heinz, President of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, is passionate about democracy. For him, it is about far more than voting and congressional battles. It is a way of life, a set of fundamental values, a will that leads to courage, reason, compassion and the common good. America has no right to impose its democracy on others but it has a responsibility to live its values and to share them. He terms his deep belief a civic faith.
He was evoking his personal faith at a pretty sobering event last week on the topic of "managing fear through faith", at the Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church. Inspired and led by David Gray, pastor of the church, the meeting brought leaders from different faith traditions together, asking: what should religious leaders and communities do, together, to prepare for a disaster along the lines of 9/11 or the Christmas Day bombing attempt?
The conversation was pulled back and forth between two fairly different topics. The first was the nagging sore spot of America's complex attitudes towards Muslims, in the U.S. and the world. The second was today's horrendous uncivil political discourse in the United States. Both, in the group's diagnosis, are driven in large measure by fear. Faith leaders, working together, can offer solutions. Many interfaith efforts show what can be done but they are pretty fragmented. More work is needed so interfaith work adds up to more than the sum of the separate parts.
One thing I learned is that the history of emotion is a live topic of scholarship. Peter Stearns, professor at George Mason University and author of a book about fear in America, argues that Americans started becoming more fearful around the 1970s and the pace picked up after 9/11. He cited the urban legend that endures to this day: that razor blades and poison were once handed out in Halloween trick or treat candy. We are living in a time where there is a fearful climate, colored, to be sure, by plenty of real and horrible dangers, but where communication and the social environment work to amplify dangers far beyond objective reality.
What the event brought home is the pretty basic truth that when people are afraid, there is a tendency for thinking to shut down. Fear is a "wrecking ball" of reason. And people are more willing to give up core values (like the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you) when they believe their safety is compromised. Fear heightens the tendency to stereotype others and to cling to what we perceive as "our" group. Action and words are driven by emotion, and people are more susceptible to charismatic leaders.
The good news is that people do seem to be open to hearing the argument that if we overreact, we make things worse. Offering specific solutions is the best way to make people act rationally, rather than simply calling on their better natures. And acting and doing something helps to temper gut reactions to fear. Finding avenues for positive communal action is the place to focus. Once again, it's about smart action and about respecting and working to people's better natures.
Stephen Heinz evoked Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural address in March 1933:
"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life, a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves, which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days."
Heinz's call to reason and leadership, a leadership infused with faith, civic as well as religious, is wise and timely. Americans hunger and thirst, he says, for such leadership. Facing the fears, learning from what we know about what works, and working together: that's what we need to prepare for hard times to come. And maybe, just maybe, it might help to move us past the unreasoning fear that undercuts the true civic faith that is America's strength.
