Fear and Power

[Keith Ewing]

Greetings, my friends.

I wish to speak on a subject that somewhat pertains to the Ansteorran 
Website topic that we have been talking about. It also pertains to 
current events in the world. It also has to do with my philosophy of 
life. 

I'm talking about random acts of violence from faceless antagonists 
whose motives are incomprehensible to us. Some recent examples here in 
our country: Flight 800 that blew up over Long Island, the bomb at the 
Olympics, The Unabomber, the churches throughout the South, the Federal 
Building in my home town. 

It's not just bombs either. Two examples stick in my head because I was 
close to them geographically when they happened. A man drove his truck 
into a Luby's cafeteria in Killeen TX on Mother's Day, and shot and 
killed several people. Another man walked into his place of employment 
(the post office) in Edmond Ok and blew away several of his coworkers.
On a smaller scale are all the stalkers, gangbangers, and serial 
killers. 

All of these things tend to promote a feeling of fear. We have other 
fears that are not quite so violent but are still legitamate. We fear 
anonymous harrassing phone callers, pedophiles, irate religious right 
wingers, satanic cults, the IRS, the FBI... the list goes on.

All of these faceless antagonists have one thing in common. They want 
to control our lives. They want some measure of power over our lives.
My message is this: DON"T GIVE THEM THAT POWER!

It is rational to fear these people. I'm not saying that you shouldn't 
fear them. I'm saying that the brave thing to do is to not let them 
affect the way you live or your outlook on life. Bravery is not 
fearlessness. It is facing your fear and fighting it. Don't let them 
control you.

Be brave, my friends. 


Kein MacEwan

mka Keith Ewing