Using fear tactics is one of the most common methods of promoting preparedness – the fear of war, crumbling governments, economic collapse, food shortages, chaos, and The End Of The World As We Know It or TEOTWAWKI.
In April 2017, Dieter F. Uchtdorf,then counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, addressed the subject of fear. He said
“Historically, fear has often been used as a means to get people to take action. Parents have used it with their children, employers with employees, and politicians with voters.
Experts in marketing understand the power of fear and often employ it. This is why some advertisements seem to carry the implicit message that if we fail to buy their breakfast cereal or miss out on the newest video game or cell phone, we run the risk of living a miserable life, dying alone and unhappy.
We smile at this and think we would never fall for such manipulation, but we sometimes do. Worse, we sometimes use similar methods to get others to do what we want.”
He continued “It is true that fear can have a powerful influence over our actions and behavior. But that influence tends to be temporary and shallow. Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts, and it will never transform us into people who love what is right and who want to obey Heavenly Father….[God] wants to change more than just our behaviors. He wants to change our very natures. He wants to change our hearts.”
If we want others to embrace preparedness, self-reliance, and provident living for more than a short period of time, we need to use God as our guide when we teach preparedness.
Elder Uchtdorf then taught
“God motivates through persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned. God is on our side. He loves us, and when we stumble, He wants us to rise up, try again, and become stronger.
He is our mentor….
He desires to stimulate us with faith.
He trusts us to learn from our missteps and make correct choices.
This is the better way!”
He defined one of Satan’s methods of using fear and followed it with a contrasting approach.
“One of the ways Satan wants us to manipulate others is by dwelling upon and even exaggerating the evil in the world.” [or reasons to be prepared]
“…We are blessed to have the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which gives us a unique perspective on the world’s dangers and shows us how to either avoid these dangers or deal with them.
“I don’t believe God wants His children to be fearful or dwell on the evils of the world. ‘For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.’
….TheLord often reminds us to ‘be not afraid,’ to ‘be of good cheer.’ and to ‘fear not, little flock.'”
To use this positive approach is not akin to hiding our head in the sand. Elder Uchtdorf said “We are … not ignorant of the challenges of the world, nor are we unaware of the difficulties of our times. But this does not mean that we should burden ourselves or others with constant fear….let us set aside our fears and live instead with joy, humility, hope, and a bold confidence that the Lord is with us.”
Through prophets and apostles, God has instructed us how to deal with the prophesied evils, dangers, and destruction of our time. He would not tell us what will happen and not give us a way to avoid or deal positively with them. If so, He would not be the just and loving God that He is.
We cannot teach preparedness and self-reliance by using fear when we want to change minds and hearts. Fear and faith cannot occupy the same space or the same mind or the same heart. The spirit of fear will not teach and change hearts and minds. Only the Spirit of God and of love will change hearts when we are teaching the seemingly temporal subjects of preparedness and self-reliance.
To teach preparedness without using fear tactics we must:
• Use gentle persuasion
• Be long suffering
• Avoid criticism
• Be encouraging
• Be a mentor
• Teach from the perspective that God has given us direction on how to avoid or deal positively with the world’s dangers
• Teach that “…if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear.” (D&C 38:30)
• Teach with the Spirit of God because “…if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.” (D&C 42:14)
We are trying to change both behavior and hearts when we teach preparedness and self-reliance. It will only be accomplished when we teach in the spirit of love and not in the spirit of fear.
For further reading, see:
“I Prepare You Against These Things”
Ideas for Encouraging Personal and Family Preparedness
Provident Living and the Relief Society
Preparedness and the Scriptures
