The Jewish concept fear of God, or fear of heaven, is a component of conscience. We will approach its meaning indirectly, through the following religious commandment.
“Do not curse the deaf and do not put a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your Lord, I am God” (Leviticus 19:14)The classic commentator Rashi explains that since no one else can know for certain what is in this person’s heart, the scripture therefore charges man to “fear God.”
To fear God means acting with integrity, not deception.
The problem is, we’re so busy being put off by the religious tone of fear of God and the connotations it hold for us of fire and brimstone that we miss its import. Fear of God is not only a religious imperative but a particular kind of feeling that prompts you to act on your conscience.
After Viktor Frankl was liberated from the concentration camp he said that he no longer needed to fear anything but God.
What does this mean? He didn’t have to be afraid of what people will think of him. The only thing he needed to fear was the awful possibility of going against his own convictions, jeopardizing relationships that are precious to him, failing to be true to himself, in short losing his humanity.
Therefore, we will explore the meaning of this basic human capacity as it exists and is manifested, outside of any religious context.
The concept that describes this feeling and that most closely approximates the religious concept of fear of God is moral courage, and a group of people dedicated to reporting incidents of those who have demonstrated moral integrity and courage is The Moral Courage Project. Their home page states: “How did apartheid come to an end in South Africa? How was German Nazism resisted in the early days of Hitler’s power? How has racial segregation been challenged in America? Through “moral courage” — the willingness to speak truth to power and risk backlash for a greater good…”
Here is the wikipedia definition. “Courage is the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. ‘Physical courage’ is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while ‘moral courage’ is the ability to act rightly, i.e. ethically in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal or discouragement.”
Here are some selections from a couple of websites I found meaningful:
Here is one person’s description. “Moral courage is essential not only for a virtuous life, but a happy one. Without courage, we have no control over our lives. Our fears corrode our spirit and confine us like a barbed wire fence. That’s why they say a coward dies a thousand deaths, a brave man but one.
Integrity is essential to self-esteem and the admiration of others. It requires us to put our comforts, possessions, friendships, and even jobs at risk in the defense of deeply held principles.
It takes moral fortitude to be honest at the risk of ridicule, rejection, or retaliation or when doing so may jeopardize our income or career. It takes boldness to be accountable and own up to mistakes when doing so may get us in trouble. It takes backbone to stand tough with our kids when doing so may cost us their affection.”
Here are some selections from a blog post written about the film “The Last Days of Sophie Scholl:”
“The sources of her courage are clear. First, it was her conscience. She followed what she knew inside to be right and true, regardless of the propaganda, the rationalizations, and the myriad of ways leaders and elites try to blur reality and make the wrong seem right. Think about how our leaders at times defend seemingly indefensible acts or policies, with supporters clinging to those rationalizations to justify misdeeds. To be honest about our own actions is rejected as ‘moral equivalency,’ when it’s really moral honesty.
We let our conscience get clouded and deluded. It’s easier. We want to do it, we learn how to do it from the first time someone convinces us it’s OK to cheat on an exam or keep the extra change the cashier mistakenly gave. Deep down we know we’re wrong, but we can hide it from our conscious mind, at least a bit. Once we get used to being able to do that, it’s not too far to the point that we’ll go along with things that otherwise might be seen as evil or unjust, especially if everyone else is buying the rationalization and it would be inconvenient or even detrimental to swim against the stream.
Conscience. It’s real. We all have it. Some, like Sophie, can cut through the BS and make it the most powerful force behind her choices. Most do not.
She also was a Lutheran with a strong belief in God and the Christian values of human dignity and worth. Her faith told her the difference between good and evil, and give her an alternative perspective through which to judge National Socialism and the actions of the Third Reich. She believed that standing for what is right and moral was more important than what happened to her body or material existence — the soul is eternal, bodies are not…
I do believe that one has to have a strong sense of faith in the idea of the soul — in love, or a sense that the spiritual is more important than the material — if one can really avoid being manipulated and lost in this world. This world is full of confusion, temptation, and alienation. Without something to believe in, without meaning, life becomes unbearable.
Ultimately, that brings me back to conscience. Perhaps there is a natural religion that transcends the human constructed faiths there in our sense of right and wrong. Call it a Rousseauean instinct for compassion, an evolved each of human community, or a spiritual connection with the oneness of life, but I believe it exists…
One gets the sense that the ability to stand for truth and conscience, fully accepting the consequences, gave her a sense of liberation — she was being fully human and fully honest, something most people aspire to, but do not truly achieve. Moreover, she did this in the most extreme of circumstances, setting an example for generations to come.”
To end, let us return to a Biblical source, which does employ the religious expression “God fearing” yet this text represents a paradigm for the human capacity for moral courage. It demonstrates what happens when people act based on the truth of their conviction, rather than political correctness.
“The Egyptians ruthlessly imposed upon the Israelites the various labors that they made them perform. Ruthlessly they made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks and with all sorts of tasks in the field. The king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, saying, When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the birthstool if it is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live. The midwives, fearing G-d, did not do as the king of Egypt had told them; they let the boys live. So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, Why have you done this thing, letting the boys live? The midwives said to Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; they are vigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth. And G-d dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and increased greatly. And because the midwives feared G-d, He established households for them.” (Exodus 1:15-22)
The commentary Mei Shiloach, known as the Ishbitzer, explains this passage:
“When a person has fear of another human being of flesh and blood he has no sense of security because fear instills the opposite of security. But fear of God brings serenity. This idea is reflected in the words ‘He made for them houses.’ A house is a place where one feels secure. They were God fearing and therefore felt secure.. Thus, they felt secure because they were G-d-fearing, they were not afraid of Pharaoh’s decree. Thus, ‘He made for them houses.'” (Mei Shiloach on Exodus 1:15-22)