Sarah Gassen: How to respond to fear

We will soon close out 2015. Done. Chapter over. Adios.

It’s been quite a year. Difficult circumstances to wade through in our own lives, despair and suffering around the world.

And it feels like we’ve had more opportunities to fear than to hope.

We’ve certainly been encouraged to fear, courtesy of the GOP, particularly by presidential candidates: We’ve been told to fear all refugees — even Syrian toddlers — and that Muslims aren’t real Americans. We’ve been told that the answer to mass shootings and gun violence is more guns — but not more training or study of the problem.

We’ve been told lies about what Planned Parenthood is and does, and then we’re told that it’s an outrage to even think for a moment that a man who murdered three people inside a Planned Parenthood clinic was affected by the lies he’d been fed. A perpetrator may be disturbed, but that doesn’t mean he lives in a bubble, immune to the world around him.

We’ve been told that belief has as much weight as scientific evidence — that it’s possible to not “believe” in global warming, as if it were a religion instead of a fact.

We’ve been told that poor people are lazy, that their biggest obstacle is simply not trying hard enough. We’ve been told that helping low-income, working parents pay for good child care isn’t necessary, and that childless adults are expendable and undeserving of assistance with medical care.

We’ve been told that women shouldn’t make medical decisions for themselves. We’ve been told that voting rights are fungible, that purposely making it harder for some Americans to vote isn’t being done with intent to affect election results.

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It’s a long and depressing list.

So, what to do?

First, recognize that fear spurs reclusion and isolation, creates suspicions and divisions. It spurs us to react instead of to think, to confuse loud voices with leadership. It’s a tool that’s being waged against the American public by those with much to gain from our complacency.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t dangerous people in the world, those who seek to do us great harm. But outlandish, damaging and futile proposals are more likely to take on the patina of legitimacy to fearful ears. We decide how we respond.

And then, do something. Feed a stray cat, help a child learn to read, donate time and resources to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona or many other organizations that do good, powerful work. Use your talents and interests to give to others. Pick up trash on the trail. Look around, and find a way to help.

Maybe this is too simple, too Pollyanna-ish to sound like a good idea. What good will it do, you may ask. The problems are massive and the world is a dangerous place — feeding a stray cat or being kind to a stranger in need isn’t going to change that.

Surrendering the will to even try allows fear to win.

Here’s looking forward to a more hopeful 2016.