Posted on 05/25/2004 9:31:18 AM PDT by \/\/ayne
By Wayne Boettcher
Posted 05/21/2004
Conservatives are regularly accused of a certain phobia. It's not a real phobia, but one that was made up out of whole cloth. It's very concept defies common sense and there are no credible studies to back it up, however, it has now been duly entered in to all law and psychology textbooks not to mention newsroom style sheets as an authentic if not epidemic malady. While this phobia was false, the idea got me thinking about true irrational fears that relate to political agendas and attitudes.
Gnosiophobia (fear of knowledge) is frequently seen in the mainstream media. People have often wondered why liberal media blatantly omit so much information from their news stories. The inexorable bias and slanting of articles presented as unbiased journalism is puzzling. Liberal opinion columns and editorials proclaim pseudo science and wacky theories as absolute truth and deny facts that are painfully obvious to the rest of us, using moral relativism as a backdrop to it all. Although many readers and watchers write in to disprove lies and misstatements, the nattering news organs continue to charge the windmills of evil churchgoing average America, seemingly oblivious to plain facts. The average left wing news consumer is an enabler and codependent, encouraging and even believing their prejudiced stories. They, too, tremble in fear of specific information that disputes the collectivist worldview.
Phronemophobia (fear of thinking) is an extension of gnosiophobia in the socialist worldview. Fretful leftists will sometimes encounter freedom of speech in America, causing them to find out "too much information" that may encourage thoughts and considerations which breach the idealistic iron curtain of communistic cattle conduct. These menacing ideas must be quickly pushed aside and countered with verbal attacks or by running away. In public schools where liberals have control, the education system discourages independent thinking at an early age, replacing it with "creativity." Later in life, when faced with reality, deep thinking is a scary thought for these people. Read the documents of the Founding Fathers of America and marvel at some of the boldest and most rigorous thinking in history! Can we match it today?
Eleutherophobia (fear of freedom) can be traced to having too much of it during formative years. Radical communist Dr. Spock taught the USA that kids should never be spanked or disciplined very much. With no boundaries, excessive "freedom" occurs and kids get into trouble because they can't figure out their limits and become spoiled. Youth don't consciously understand why life is so terrible, but on a subconscious level they begin to reject the freedom that has negatively reinforced them. Many drift into cults or socialism because they want to be rigidly controlled. It's safer that way. Some take the other extreme and become controllers themselves. The controllers fear freedom too, because it threatens their power.
Ironically, the left often accuses Christianity of being too controlling because of their attempts at self-discipline. But the opposite is true. Nobody forces a Christian to pray, like in some religiously governed nations where you get shot if you don't pray at a certain time. A Christian volunteers his prayers. He tries to follow Biblical principles of his own accord because he has accepted Jesus as his Master and His teachings as a way of life. It's all a matter of free will. Christians gather and, as a community, set standards for themselves. And we should have the freedom to do that. American government is based on that principle.
Frightened liberals can't stand freedom, self-discipline and positive knowledge. They have to mandate that convenience stores carry pornography even if the community would prefer to protect their children from it's influence. The schools must teach evolution even though few parents in a particular community believe the flimsy lies. The freedom to defend your self against crime is an outrageous offense to the left way of thinking and absolutely must be controlled. Abortion must be not only legal but aggressively encouraged in every square inch of America - or else! And don't even think about informing women of the dangers! Stay the mandated distance away! Leaflets with information are too scary!
Hoplophobia (fear of firearms) is part and parcel of liberal Eleutherophobia. This fear has been propagated and encouraged in our society on purpose by anti-gun fanatics over a long period of time. Children are hysterically forbidden from knowledge of gun safety and how guns work by over anxious liberals in the name of safety. This is an out and out fraud. Statistically gun related injuries are just about the least of all accident problems in the average American child's life. As with all phobias, gradual introduction of the fear factor into the subject's existence will overcome it. Teach someone gun safety and how to shoot. In the case of firearms, this has the added benefit of helping reduce other fears by increasing general self-confidence and a yearning for liberty.
Homilophobia (fear of sermons) is widespread in today's society, yet was little known until recently in this country. Americans appreciated other denominations and religions whether they agreed with their views or not. If the Ten Commandments were in a town square everyone agreed that even if you did not believe in Judaism or Christianity, at least these were fine historical and sacred precepts, which could be respected and admired or at least tolerated. The idea that having the Ten Commandments in public could somehow harm anyone is indeed irrational anxiety. There are elements of guilt and low self-confidence in play here as well.
Why do these trepidations abound in the left wing? It's very simple, really. A small matter of self-esteem or, to put it bluntly, small self-esteem. The typical leftist would like to be known as a "good person" as would we all in fact. But they carry it to the extreme. And the agendas of the left don't result in actual goodness. Their ideas simply don't work and usually have consequences so horrible it's not worth the effort to carry on to their logical conclusion. So liberals have to live in a delicately constructed fantasy world of dreams and visions that can never be. As the quixotic quest continues they must constantly combat veracity and reflection to keep the vision pure and clean. They must at all cost assuage their image of themselves as the hero of the ages who brings peace and love to all.
In the meantime we all have to deal with these phobic, controlling or crowd following liberals. And one way to counter their wacky plots and schemes is by enacting the balance of power the Founding Fathers set up for us. It's still a free country and there are many on our side, contrary to what the mainstream media tries to imply. All you must do is speak up. Counter pseudo science with real science and facts. Repeat as needed! When you see a informative article in non-biased or conservative media that disproves a liberal agenda print it! Give it to a liberal. Submit it at a PTA meeting or to a school board. Send it to your mainstream news outlet or local, state or federal government representative. Even a misguided liberal group or socialist organization might be able to overcome their fear and read a few facts. Just fax or email them the article. Stand against liberal phobias and stand up for America!
Wayne Boettcher is the owner of American Protest.net
Related Links
The Root Of The Evil (article) - by Jeff Cooper
The Phobia Self Help Book - by Keith Livingston
The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers - Read some bold thinking.
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