Using Fear?

Question

Is it ethical to use fear as a motivator? The clergy use it in fire and brimstone speeches and governments do it all the time. Is it morally okay to use fear as a motivator?

Answer 1

Suppose your small child gets too close to the stovetop with a boiling pan of water atop it. How many of us have been motivated by the fear instilled in us by our parents when we were children?

Suppose your drill instructor promises you plenty of extra time doing push ups unless you learn to properly drill and march?

My point is that sometimes fear is a necessary component of learning the right actions. The bible is full of examples where reason failed and more dreadful acts were necessary in order to brink a stiff necked people to righteousness.

I for one believe that all the abundant living gospel being preached by the Joel Osteen's of the world has wandered away from God's call for repentence. Any pastor or priest should not be shying away from the message: "you choose the behavior, then you have chosen the consequences".

I am not advocating that one hear this message every Sunday morning, but we better hear it from time to time.

Answer 2

No it is not sir! But it is a proven system that works. Think of WMD(weapons of mass destruction) was repeated all day for months until the sheep actually believed and the purpose was served. It does not matter that there were no weapons ever found, it is all about creating the fear, for us to have a reason to get in. Once in we move to the next fear. The 3 D's. Deciet, dissumalation, and distraction. It works, good day to you.
NO FEAR!

Answer 3

Not in my opinion.

If you dont have enough good reasons to do something and you need to use threats and fear-mongering to get people to do it, then chances are its not such a great thing to be doin.

Answer 4

Not unless you're doing it to a child. My mom was great at it and my sister and I were extremely well-behaved children and are now extremely well-behaved adults.