W. David Jenkins: A Vote Against Fear

"What luck for the rulers that men do not think."
— Adolph Hitler

A little more than three years ago, my life changed. Although I had missed the initial report, my eyes were on the television when that second plane came into view, made a sudden turn and convinced me of what I had been thinking all along. We really are under attack. We really are at war.

I vaguely remember the rest of that day or the days that followed. I remember not being able to leave the eerie glow of my television. I remember not being able to believe what I was watching. I remember the fear of tomorrow – of things unknown that were to come. I wondered what else this obvious but still largely unknown enemy of America had in store for us. I wondered if he who hated our freedoms enough would take advantage of our weaknesses. I wondered if the country I loved so dear would be able to rise to the challenge and meet that which threatened us head-on or would America become an unwilling victim – afraid of its own shadow?

In the immediate aftermath of that horrible Tuesday, it seemed as if the whole world had come to our rescue. It seemed as if the global community had gathered together and was offering whatever we needed in our time of sorrow. We were all one family and we had all awakened to the new threat which affected each and every soul on this shrinking planet. All four corners of the globe announced their undying alliance with us in our newfound struggle.

But our mutual enemy was stronger than we first perceived.

Little did anyone realize that the threat to our desire for global stability and sense of security was so ambitious. The enemy was determined, as we would learn, to spread his tentacles across the globe in order to fulfill his mission based upon a perverse interpretation of religion. The enemy draws strength from his belief that God is on his side and that he will prevail someday. No country or its people are safe from the enemy’s evil quest to attain power through fear – and I see signs almost every day that the quest is making slow but determined progress. He has found and exploited America ’s vulnerabilities and we find ourselves in a daily struggle to defend ourselves against the enemy who wishes to oppress us.

I never would have imagined that America could become so changed and so paranoid as it has become in the last few years. But our enemy is clever and calculating and there is still so much to learn about him. Our enemy takes great satisfaction in knowing that we live in fear as that insures a tight grip can be maintained over how we live, how we think and what we say. The enemy is confident that our fear can change our conduct – how we raise our children, how we look at our neighbor or some stranger or how we view those who would lead us.

The enemy has managed to make fear and suspicion a part of our everyday lives. Success in this evil mission is measured by not only the degree of fear we choose to live with, but the length of time we are to be gripped by this fear. Unfortunately, I believe the enemy has won to some degree as I see many who will never shake the effects that the last few years have had on them. They are forever changed, they are forever damaged which increases my determination not to become another victim. To witness the sad metamorphoses of many of my fellow countrymen and women at the hands of the enemy should be a call to arms to insure that the fear be stopped. We must take up the fight against fear and make this country proud, respectable and brave once again.

I refuse to live in fear. I always have – even after that Tuesday morning I still refused. I know who that enemy is and I will do nothing that enables that enemy to do anymore damage to the country I love. America must act, we must learn to think again and we must recognize the immediate threat posed by the enemy. But we must, first, recognize just who that enemy is.

I will be voting against fear. I will be voting for the future of the America I grew up in. I will be voting for the America I want my children to grow up in. I will be voting for hope and I will be voting for the promise of a more peaceful future.

I will vote against this enemy of America and I shall vote against anyone who hates us for our freedoms. Hopefully, enough Americans will do the same and correct the mistake that is George W. Bush.

W. David Jenkins III is a free-lance writer and activist living in upstate New York . He’s also a contributing author for “Big Bush Lies” (RiverWood Books) and “The Girl with Yellow Flowers in Her Hair” (Pitchfork Publishing)

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