Fear, Control, and the Shared Ground Beneath Our Divisions

If we want to understand why our culture feels so fractured right now, we have to look beneath arguments and positions and ask a deeper question.

What are people afraid of?

Most Americans are carrying profound anxiety. I know I am. And beneath anxiety is almost always fear.

Fear of chaos.
Fear of loss.
Fear of being overwhelmed.
Fear of the future.
Fear of not being safe.

And beneath fear, very often, is an old wound.
And beneath that wound is a child trying to figure out how to survive in a world that once felt unreliable.

This is not unique to the political right.
It is the human condition.

Why Control Feels So Compelling

One of the reasons white Christian nationalism is so powerful is that it promises control.

Clear boundaries.
Strong leaders.
Order imposed from the outside.

It speaks directly to the frightened part of us that wants the world to stop feeling so unpredictable.

But the temptation toward control is not limited to nationalism. Many of us numb fear in other ways. Endless scrolling. Constant distraction. Streaming until we fall asleep. Dopamine on demand.

Some coping strategies are more socially acceptable than others, but they often serve the same purpose. Avoiding what is happening inside us.

Even certain forms of Christian theology can function this way. When the cross is reduced to a mechanism for future escape, it quietly appeals to the same instinct. Just get through this life so you can go somewhere better later.

We have done the cross a disservice by flattening it.

Shared Humanity Does Not Mean Shared Conclusions

Naming fear does not excuse harm.
But it does change how we engage.

When we forget the shared ground beneath our divisions, it becomes easy to dehumanize. To reduce people to labels. To assume bad intent rather than wounded formation.

Empathy does not require agreement.
But it does require curiosity.

If fear is the engine driving so much of what we are seeing, then theology matters more than we think. Because theology determines whether fear turns into control or is transformed into love.

That is where we have to go next.