Batman And The Power Of Fear

July 23, 2012 — 35 Comments

By now you’ve probably heard of the tragic shooting which happened during opening night of Batman: The Dark Knight Rises. It was a horrific event.

12 people are dead. 58 are left injured. An untold number left fearful.

After the shooting, there were reports of movie goers who were scared to go to the movie and mayors who were going to step up theater security.

People were scared.

A similar event was the Columbine shootings in 1999. It left many people uneasy about school and their children.

The shooting left me scared as well.

Were other students going to come and shoot up a school? Were students safe? When will it happen again?

We were left fearful.

And for what? There were no further shootings. Not with the Batman shooting or with the Columbine shooting.

They were one off incidents.

How often do we let these types of events dictate our live?

Too often would be my answer.

We let an anomaly or two completely distort our view of reality. Changing our routines and destroying our peace of mind.

When it shouldn’t.

Instead, we need to process the information we’re given and make our best judgement. I doubt fear and worry is the rational conclusion you’ll come to if you think through the situation.

Here’s a situation I ran into shortly after hearing the news of the shooting -

I’m driving back from my lunch hour. On the road there’s an accident. One car was pretty damaged.

Now, if I apply the logic we use for the anomalies like the Columbine or Batman shooting, I would have to say “It’s dangerous to drive. Accidents are happening all the time. I better not drive.”

Or I could process the accident with the information I have from life experiences and my thought would be “I’ve driven for quite a few years. There’s been very few accidents that I’ve been a part of. I’ll continue driving and not live in fear.”

There will be situations in our lives that will be tragic. They’ll stand out. And we’ll come face to face with fear.

We’ll be faced with the decision of whether or not to let the fear cripple you. The choice is up to you.

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Question: How have you let a single incident affect the rest of your life? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.


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Joseph Lalonde

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  • http://deuceology.wordpress.com Larry Carter

    I don’t let incidents (or any incidents, for that matter) affect me one way or another. This morning I heard that 90 children have drowned in pools since Memorial Day. Does that mean I shouldn’t let my children swim in pools? Should we outlaw pools? Should there be tougher legislation to restrict pools? Where do we draw the line?

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      That’s great Larry that you’re making that choice Larry! For some it’s really hard.

      Bringing up the news about drowning hits close to home in Michigan. We’ve got the Great Lakes nearby. This summer there’s been a large amount of drownings. People are calling for new legislation and investigations to see what can be done to protect people.

    • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

      I’m sure it is even more than that…but you are right. Fear should not control us negatively.

  • http://www.robsorbo.com/p/welcome-from-disqus.html Rob Sorbo

    Great post. I don’t know if you’ve seen the movie yet, but one of the major themes that stood out to me is fear.

    I wouldn’t say that I’m typically one to let single events/incidents sway me from using logic. However, as a thinker who’s married to a feeler, I’ve learned that preaching logic doesn’t go very far.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      Thanks Rob. Yes, my wife and I watched it on Friday night. I could see the theme running through the movie as well.

  • http://www.lincolnparks.com Lincoln Parks

    I don’t allow events to place fear into me because its a useless emotion. Now do I sometimes feel it yes. I’m not saying it does not happen but we can’t dwell on that fact or the events because when its our time, its our time. When your earthly mission is complete your mission is over. So live your life to the fullest without fear is what I always remind myself.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      That’s my feeling Lincoln. When it’s time to go, it’s time. There’s nothing I can do to stop it.

      You said you still feel fear once in awhile. When you do, how do you handle it?

      • http://www.lincolnparks.com Lincoln Parks

        I always refer to my favorite bible verses. Faith is confidence that everything will work out in the end. And Courage is the state of mind that faith creates that allows me to face the situations.

        If you have a spirit of FEAR you are encouraged to remember scripture

        Proverbs 3:5-6
        Proverbs 3:25-26

        • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

          Those are some of my favorite verses!

          • http://www.lincolnparks.com Lincoln Parks

            Yes Brandon, I was studying and found those and reference them all the time. Awesome verses.

        • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

          Great verses for overcoming fear.

    • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

      Interesting thoughts!

  • http://undistractedchristian.com/ Tyler Hess

    I think it depends on how personal it is for me…a shooting several states away doesn’t really scare me, there are weirdos sometimes, that was an obvious anomaly.

    But if that shooting happened during my batman showing…I don’t know if I’d be able to go back into a theater again ever. That would take a lot of prayer, I’m sure of that.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      True Tyler. Events like this would depend on how close to home they hit.

    • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

      Very true! I agree with you.

  • http://intentionaltoday.com/ Ngina Otiende

    I am just finishing up a chapter in my ebook about the power of thoughts and how they can control our feelings. My thinking is that if we keep God’s perspective on life, we will not struggle with fear and defeat as much as we do. We get into so much trouble when we try to handle life by ourselves.

    That said and done, i still encounter fear and such, just that I work on keeping ‘God’s perspective. Makes all the difference

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      I think you’re onto something with keeping God’s perspective on our lives. He knows what’s going on and what’s going to happen. And it’s all meant for our good. He’s left our reaction to it in our hands.

    • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

      Very cool!

  • Dannoman88

    I agree that we should not let fear of incidents like these cripple us. Fear is a reaction. I did not respond in fear, but perhaps worse, a sense of indifference because these incidents happen all too often. Fear is a reaction. So is indifference. We need to take some kind of action to create change so that these incidents lessen in the future.

    • http://www.danerickson.net/ Dan Erickson

      My gravatar was offline for some reason. It’s working again now.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      I often wonder if these types of events are happening more often or, because of our news system, are being reported to a wider audience so we think that they’re happening more frequently.

  • http://www.brandongilliland.com/ Brandon Gilliland

    It is definitely a terrible event…my prayers are with the families affected by this!

  • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

    I’m so glad you addressed this topic. Fear is gripping our nation in so many ways- economy, wars, unemployment and now this. I’ve already heard so many use this tragedy for their political agenda’s pro-gun or no- gun.

    Jesus says he has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind!
    2 Tim 1:7

    It’s either fear or love. you walk in one or the other, not both.
    If we walk in Christ, we are walking in love and we need not fear. However the enemy tries to take that sound mind from us. Putting on the Armor of God helps combat those assaults.

    • http://alanamokma.wordpress.com/ Alana Mokma

      TCAvey – how do you put on the armor of God and what does this mean?

      • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

        Alana, so glad you asked! It is a wonderful gift from our Savior Jesus Christ.
        You can find the scriptures in Ephesians 6:10-19
        I have written a post on it that you can check out here- http://tcavey.blogspot.com/2011/08/armor-of-god.html
        I’ve also written a post on Spiritual Warfare you can read here- http://tcavey.blogspot.com/2011/10/shadows-of-truth.html

        But here is a quick run down of the armor of God.
        I begin with the head and work my way down.
        Following the scripture I mentioned above, each morning as I pray I put on my Armor.
        I put on the Helmet of Salvation to guard my mind against the lies of Satan. Knowing I am saved by grace and my Redeemer lives to set me free!
        Then I put on the Breastplate of Righteousness to guard my heart/emotions. To know what is right and to do what is right. To help me live above the feelings I may have or the lust of my flesh.
        Next I put on the Belt of Truth to help me recognize the voice of God from all the lies in the world. I want to know the truth, to hear the truth, to walk in truth and to speak the truth even if it is uncomfortable.
        Next comes the Sandals of Peace. That is walking with God, not trying to control God but submitting to Gods will and His word on how I should live. I have peace as I follow Him. It doesn’t matter what this world does or says I am saved! I trust in my Heavenly Father to fulfill His promises. I read my Bible daily and I have peace in what I find there. This peace helps me walk on the bumpy roads of life.
        Next I use the shield of faith to protect me from all the darts satan throws at me throughout the day. The Bible says he is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. The shield of faith protects me as I walk with God.
        Finally I have my only offensive piece of Armor, the sword of the Spirit. That is the Bible. Even Jesus used scripture to speak against Satan. It is a powerful tool, unfortunately many do not read it. We must know it like we do our addresses (I will confess I pray to know more) for in the scriptures we can find answers to all our problems. It really isn’t as hard as we like to make it. It simply takes faith and asking God to reveal His word to us.

        That is the Armor of God. Bible Scholars can break it down more- but over the years this is what I have put on daily.
        I hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions and I hope you check out those posts on my blog. Love to help you in any way I can.
        God bless.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      I struggled with writing this post due to the nature of the incident and how recently it happened. Yet I felt it provided a great backdrop for the topic.

      Like you mentioned, different agendas have already been raised due to this incident. And they’re pushing the fear factor buttons to reach their goals. It’s so sad to see this happening.

      Great verse you posted. The end is especially comforting. We’ve been given a SOUND mind. That means the mind should be at easy and processing our situations with a clarity above all else. Man, that is great!

      • http://tcavey.blogspot.com/ TCAvey

        There is truth and power in the word of God if we will only trust it and use it.
        To be honest I heard a great message at my church this past week that really opened my eyes to the fear satan likes to instill and the power of God’s word against those lies.
        You should check out Michael Leehan http://www.soluschristusministries.com/itinerary I’ve done a few posts on his book Ascent from Darkness (testimony). But this past week he was a guest speaker at our church (he goes all over the nation). One of the best speakers I’ve ever heard! A must hear for everyone. Our service started at 10 am and didn’t end till after 2pm!

  • http://alanamokma.wordpress.com/ Alana Mokma

    Fear is a HUGE issue for me. I fight fears that something bad is going to happen to me or fears that if I act myself, people may reject me.

    Last summer I broke my collar bone in a cycling accident. Now, I have anxiety almost every time I ride.

    You are right, if I were to think logically in the moment, I would calm down.

    Joe, in what ways do you bring yourself back to reality when you experience fear?

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      That’s a tough spot to be in Alana. I’ll be praying that you receive peace and that the fear subsides.

      Wow, that sounds like quite the accident. I can imagine the anxiety that could arise from breaking a collarbone.

      When I begin to get anxious and fearful, I try to make myself to a step back and analyze the situation. If it’s something I’ve done many times before I recall the successes and the amount of times I’ve done it without any negative consequences.

      If it’s a car accident, I remind myself that I’ve been driving for many years. Many days with tons of safety. I break it down like this: Even if I had one accident a year, that’s less than a 1% chance of an accident. Now, I’ve gone many more years than that without an accident. Doing it that way takes away the fear.

      • http://alanamokma.wordpress.com/ Alana Mokma

        Thanks for your prayers!

        Yes, sometimes I am able to take a step back and analyze the situation. The more often I do it, the better I am able to take control of my fear. It’s the part of getting it to be one of my initial actions that is the trick. It will be helpful to compare it to past situations to help me to realize that this particular instance is probably no different.

  • http://alanamokma.wordpress.com/ Alana Mokma

    I mean, when you are in the midst of a frenzied fear – sometimes I get so worked up that I do not even consider talking myself down.

  • http://www.changevolunteers.org/ Change Volunteer

    My prayers are with the families of the affected. But we are humans. We will get scared and avoid the alley where its dark and lonely. That is human tendency. But I am not sure when will the time come for us to stand up for what is right, stand up for ourselves if not for others.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      I believe that that fear is a safety mechanism, meant to keep us safe from danger. Yet we let it run wild when we hear of one incident. While incredibly sad, it was great to hear of stories of men protecting their women during this horrible incident. Three men overcame the fear and gave up their lives protecting those they loved.

  • jeff

    Fear is the primary motivator in my life, though not necessarily in the ways you may think. I have allowed some obscure incidents in my life to dictate how I allow myself to dress, speak, and behave. I truly hate the prison I have placed myself in.

    Even the people I associate with have been relatively limiting to me. Fearful in every way.

    I have continued to disassociate from people who contribute to my sense of fear. Fear of criticism. Fear of expectations. Fear of raised eyebrows. Fear of being completely disliked. Fear of not having the energy and ambition to pursue the activities I wish to enjoy.

    A few minutes of freedom are priceless.

    • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

      Jeff, I’m sorry to hear that. Sounds like it could be a major struggle.

      If you have a minute, I’d recommend you download Julien Smith’s free eBook The Flinch. It’s a great book that discusses ways to overcome the fear.