Thanatophobia: A tool for manipulating people

BY Argie Simonis 

I did not know until recently that the term "thanatophobia" existed which is in fact a medical term and is defined as follows:

Death anxiety (thanatophobia) is the stress caused by the thoughts of death. This anxiety is defined as a "feeling of fear, stress or anxiety when one thinks about the process of death, or the cessation of existence." ~ source Wikipedia

I think this definition is quite comprehensive and informative. I will address two key issues:

1. What causes this fear and anxiety?

2. Fear becomes a tool for manipulating entire nations.

- Fear of the unknown

This is the "dark room" syndrome. You are scared when you are in a dark room without light, because you can not see what is around you, but as soon as you turn on the light the fear goes away because you can see.

- Fear of losing control.

As long as you live you are in control of your life, but when physical death comes things change.

- Fear for those we leave behind.

With physical death, we will be separated from our loved ones on Earth for a while. If they are also Christians, we know that separation will be like a brief blink of an eye compared to the eternity we will spend with them in Paradise.

- Fear of the process of death.

No one knows how he will die. Quick and painless death in his sleep?

A prolonged illness can be frightening. If you know for example that you are diagnosed with a terminal disease, it can be just as frightening.

In the hands of people in power and authority who have neither fear of God nor morality, the fear of death can become a weapon of manipulation of entire nations. Every day we see that most of the campaigns and discussions in the media have the following as their main topic:

"Stay at home because if you go out you will get sick and die.

You must get the vaccine I am giving you so that you do not die."

As you understand, if you listen to this every day and all day, you will become obsessed and psychotic, and fear will become your daily torment. And that's good enough for these "experts" to have a submissive and slavish society. So how do we deal with this?

Even if all of the above are true, death is only for a moment. A moment we will eventually all go through. And when this moment is over, we can claim what the apostle Paul says:

"For our conversation is in heaven; from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:

Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like to Ηis glorious body, according to the working whereby Ηe is able even to subdue all things to Ηimself." Phil. 3:20-21

See also what Paul says earlier in the same letter:

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Phil. 1:21

The fear of death forces people to compromise their beliefs and leads them into slavery (Hebrews 2:15). The understanding that death leads the believer to a state that is infinitely better than life here on earth erases all fear and allows believers to act according to the Lord's instructions, regardless of the consequences. Death is not the end. It is only the beginning for those who believe in Christ. With physical death you do not cease to exist. You just change residence:

"Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." 2Cor. 5:6-8

The worldwide spread of the fear of death enslaves humanity, which leads to living in miserable situations instead of facing death. Only Christians who truly understand that the sting of death has been removed (1 Cor. 15: 55-57) are free from the torment of the fear of death (1 John 4:18). A person who is no longer afraid of death can neither be intimidated nor manipulated. And this can only be done with the knowledge that comes from the study of the Word of God.