Hobbes, and later advocates of the social contract, would have us believe that fear is grounded in a state of nature that lies outside civilization and provides the basis for a controlled state and sovereign rule over its citizens. This is not a necessary view. I would argue that it fails even by
Hobbes standard in that it lacks utility. Better for us to model the state of nature on the words of Anne Frank who wrote, “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens,
nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.” Her words signal more than naive longing, more than the poignant loss of her young voice.
Nature, if not beautiful and benign, is at least indifferent to our individual existence. It does not abandon us. We must look to the Sovereign among us for that service.
My will decides. — Hitler
I ‘m the decider. — Bush
What they are, in fact, deciding is fundamental to ancient urbanism, to statehood and to modern globalism. In response to fear we erect enclosures to secure the folks on the inside from the fearful circumstances, the state of nature, the terror on the outside. The Sovereign is exactly the person who decides who is inside and who is outside; who is protected, and who is
abandoned. An offhanded remark by John F. Kennedy in an otherwise insignificant television interview, before his election as President, further illustrates this, “The United States has become the only guardian at the gates against the Communist advance.”
If you find little more comfort in Hobbes’ view of the state than in his state of nature populated, as it must be, by “those people,” don’t expect any comfort from his
religion. This too is founded in fear, and served in three flavors:
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Religion - stories that are publicly allowed.
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Superstition - stories that are not allowed.
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True Religion - stories that are truly as we imagine.
This last of course brings back to our Sovereign again. He is, after all, the ultimate arbiter of truth. It is evidently no accident that all the historical Kairos Documents find State Religion an issue of central concern. Take courage from Ann Frank– a little girl unafraid of anything near, remote or invisible in nature. Use that
courage to call to account those who rule from the basis of fear.
Regarding Hobbes, the state of nature and the social contract see:
Jacques Maritain Center: Moral Philosophy 2.8
Thomas Hobbes — Moral and Politcal Philosophy [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] author, “Williams, Garrath.”
Politics Level 2A, Section II: Reformation to Enlightenment, University of Glasgow — Hobbes’s Theory of Government: A Leviathan of Fear (PDF)
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