Ah, yes, well that shows just how tricky words are. I clearly don't mean that we should eliminate caution...or the appropriate awareness of physical or other danger. For instance, I am quite correct to fear that I might lose control of the car on an icy road...and accordingly, to drive carefully. I am correct to fear that a mother bear may decide I am a threat to her cubs...and behave accordingly. I am correct to assume that a cop on the beat may be nervous, and accordingly not to make sudden moves that he might misinterpret.

If, however, I have been brought up to fear and hate Jews or Arabs or Blacks or Communists or cops as a group just because they are "different" from me and my family...that's where the trouble begins. Such fears and hatreds are irrational. They have no place in a mature human community.

I quite agree that organized religions have often encouraged and exploited such fears. Oddly enough, most of those religions are based on teachings which point to a far wiser path, but the churches and their followers have frequently tended to lose sight of those teachings. Religion tends to become a handmaiden to political objectives.

In religions, as in other fields of human interest, one finds both ignorance and brilliance.

You see, spiritual study has gone quite far in reducing my fears. I am far less fearful in most ways now than I once was, and it's partly because of experience, but mostly because of spiritual studies that shed light on my experience. Those studies were not confined to any particular organized religion in my case, but found some useful input from the traditional teachings of a great many religions.