FEAR
"Do not be afraid, for I am with you" (Isaiah 41:10) is a sentiment repeated all through scripture, Abrahamic and otherwise. Religion generally counteracts fear--our instinctive physical reaction to impending danger, loss, or insult. Fear is a surge of adrenaline that causes sweating, dilation of the eyes, a fast heartbeat, a surge of blood to muscles, imprinted memories, and an impulse to freeze, flee, or fight. For the millions of years our progenitors wandered in small bands exposed to carnivores, starvation, and strangers, terror helped them survive, but today, when wild beasts are rare, food warehoused, and most strangers harmless, fear can be useless and corrosive. Chronic anxiety afflicts us in social situations where we can't freeze, run, or fight--not productively anyway. Fear erupts as road rage, PTSD, agoraphobia, blanking on exams, and other dysfunctions, and chronic stress degrades sleep, health, and pleasure. Fear ...