CHAPTER 1
The Monster Named Fear
When the child was very young, the child was taught that there was a closet inhis or her bedroom; and the child was taught that in the closet there was amonster. And the monster's name was Fear.
And the child was warned that the monster should never be let out of the closet.If the child did not obey, surely God would punish the child. And then, when thechild's body died, the spirit of the child would be put into a devastating placecalled hell; the child's spirit would be punished, tortured, and burned formillions of years into eternity.
And the child was warned that, if the monster was let out of the closet, asupernatural evil force would take over the child's mind and soul and requirethe child to do acts of evil, leading to the child's soul being punished by Godby burning in that eternal hell.
And the child was continually taught to believe that there would be people whoon occasion would try to persuade the child to open the closet door to let Fearbe released and that the child should recognize that these people trying topersuade the child were wicked people who hated God; and the child was taughtthat God would punish these people, for surely the child would recognize thatthese people were agents of the supernatural evil force that was an enemy ofGod.
The lessons were so reinforced in the child, that the monster was not onlycontained in the bedroom closet, but also in the mind and heart of the child.
As the child grew older, Fear was accepted through continued reinforcement. Thechild was too young to question and understand what he or she was being taught.The child only knew that somehow he or she would learn how to live with Fear andwould always be on the alert to recognize the enemies of God, who might try topersuade the child at various times in life to release the monster.
Was it not the responsibility of these teachers and preachers to give the childthe strength and vigor to contain Fear in their hearts and to recognize God'senemies when they would try to persuade the child to live otherwise by releasingthe monster Fear?
When the child became an adult, the closet grew larger, the monster grew larger,and the teaching had succeeded. For the child, who was now an adult, had learnedto live with Fear. In fact, these lessons that had been learned so well enabledthese adults themselves now to become teachers and preachers, teaching theirchildren that this monster also lives in their closets, and that their childrenshould also protect and respect Fear.
On the morning of October 15, 1997, my colleague, Brian Hilliard, and I walkedinto the aging building of the newspaper publishing house in St. Paul,Minnesota, where the child who was now an adult was waiting for us. He wasleaning on the counter as we entered the lobby. He was wearing a gray cardigansweater, and wire-rimmed glasses were pressed against his silver hair.
As I approached him and shook his hand, I immediately recognized by his bodylanguage, his forlorn look, and his animosity, that the child who was now a manhad resigned himself to having lived with Fear. And, by his wary looks ofsuspicion and frustration, he recognized me as the enemy, a person who hadrejected Fear, a person who was trying to corrupt the minds of others by tryingto persuade them to open their closet doors and throw the monster out of theirlives.
We walked up a flight of stairs into a nondescript conference room. The manmotioned for Brian and me to sit across from him. He took out a pencil and a padof paper. He cautiously looked at me over the lenses of his glasses, with hishead slightly bent, his face masking a painful scorn, and began the interview.
He was the religion editor of the newspaper. I did not know if he hadvolunteered, or had been assigned the task of interviewing me. I only knew thathe was engulfed in great discomfort and that Fear had been successful incontrolling this man's heart and soul for many years. I asked him if he had atape recorder, so that my remarks and comments could be quoted correctly. Hetold me it would not be necessary, for he would take careful notes, as hispencil poised above his lined pages.
I knew the questions that he was going to ask, for he was not a stranger to me.I had met him in many other cities across America the previous few months that Ihad traveled. Sometimes he would wear a tie, sometimes a sweater, sometimes adress. Sometimes he was tall and thin, other times short and heavy, and evensometimes a pretty lady. No matter what the outside image, I always recognizedthe child that had grown into an adult. An aura of gloom was worn like aninvisible garment around the man. Although it couldn't be seen, it could besensed, felt; it almost was capable of being touched and tasted. It was the auraof Fear.
He began to ask me the same questions I had heard many times, in the same warytone, with the same discernible hint of scorn and discontent. He told me hewould write his notes as I gave my answers. I placed my chin on my right hand,my elbow resting on the pine-colored wood conference table, and I closed my eyesas I carefully answered his questions.
Brian and I had just flown into the "Twin Cities" on a 6:00 A.M. flight fromCleveland, and the day before had flown into Cleveland on a 6:00 A.M. flightfrom Memphis. This was the twenty-seventh city of my book tour, and although mycommitment to share what I knew to be truth had never waned, I was tired. Surelythe man would not object to my resting my head as he took his careful notes.
He asked me why I claimed that the story of the apostle Paul was not accurate.Did it not say in the Bible that Paul was on his way to Damascus from Jerusalemto persecute Jews in Syria when they had accepted Jesus as the Messiah? Did notJesus then appear before Paul, temporarily blinding him, and did not Paul thenmake a conversion?
I explained to him that Paul was not in a position to persecute anyone. I askedhow it would have been possible for a person of the Jewish faith to travel 140miles from Jerusalem to the foreign country of Syria, to persecute Syriancitizens because he did not like the way they were practicing their religion? Iasked, would it not have the same probability that Iraqis from Baghdad couldtravel to Minneapolis to persecute Christians because they were not practicingthe Islamic religion?
I carefully answered the man's question by explaining that, when Jesus came toPaul in the desert outside the gates of Damascus, Paul did not make aconversion. There was nothing to convert to. It was Paul who foundedChristianity several years later. So, how could Paul convert to something thatdid not yet exist? It was a commitment that Paul had made. Not a conversion. Acommitment to spend the rest of his life teaching the messages of God and Jesus.And it was the pre-medieval church,...
