AMERICA IS CRAVEN FOR FEAR
Director Wes Craven says that it's simple psychology that compels us to expect the worst and particularly in the best of times. He should know, after all look how successful "Scream" and "Scream 2" were. And this film opened at the number one position and stayed there for several weeks. "I think American will always be afraid, in a sense, because of its great success." Craven further states, "I am not worried about running out of either relevant material or a receptive audience."

WE LIVE IN A CULTURE OF FEAR
Barry Glassner is professor of sociology at the University of Southern California and he has recently written a book, "The Culture Of Fear." He says, "We live in just about the safest times in human history and yet we're filled with a lot of overblown fears. We waste billions of dollars on fears that are blown way out of proportion."

In the wake of the Columbine High School shooting schools all over America have spent serious money on incredible security systems. Glassner says that a child is more likely to be hit by lightning on the playground than to be shot with a bullet at school. And now, metal detectors that greet students further spreads fear. Fear sells. Fear promotes itself.

Consider television and newspaper accounts of isolated murder. With crime so low such events receive enormous coverage which keeps the fear of crime high.

CRIME DOWN, GOOD ECONOMIC TIMES, BUT FEAR UP!
The Wall Street Journal reports (Feb. 8, 2000) "Americans are living longer, making more money, and investing with imperial confidence in the ever-soaring stock market. ...Yet, despite all the good news, a collective calm has not blanketed the nation. Fear has been scattered, not erased, and for some, that makes the world more frightening than ever."

FEAR IS THE CONDITION OF THE PRIVILEGED
San Francisco psychotherapist Christopher McCullough, author of "Managing Your Anxiety," says, "Anxiety is a condition of the privileged. When we're not busy dealing with real threats, we turn inward. Anxiety has overcome depression as the most prevalent mental health problem.

UNREASONABLE FEAR IS NOT HEALTHY
Healthy concerns are good, but obsession with unreasonable fear robs us of money, time and even friends. Fear has become so great that some are developing allergic reactions to people. In fact, too many of us fear strangers, and we lock our selves away in the isolation of our homes. We became anti-social.

GOD GIVES PEACE, NOT FEAR
The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but rather God gives us peace and a sound mind. But, I wonder it we really want to live in peace. I sometimes think we would rather live in our fears. Scream 3 is a fun way to laugh at our own fears. It is also an indictor of our at-home-ness with fear.

I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN YOUR THOUGHTS.

Bulletin Board:

NOT BAD FOR EVERYONE
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000
From: Wendy

Hi! David, I know many Christians will probablly disagree with me, and that's fine. But I don't think scary movies are necessarily bad for everyone. I don't think scary movies are necessarily good for young children to watch, because they are usually very impressionable and often can't differenate between fantasty and reality (although some children can, which is good). I also think watching the same scary movie over and over again (whether you're a child or adult) isn't healthy either, because it can become almost an addiction, to the point where it can disensitise. But apart from those two things above, mostly I don't see any great harm in a group of friends getting together at someone's house for a sleepover and watching scary movies. I have many great times at friends places, sleeping over and watching scary movies. I think the reason why people like to watch scary movies, is because it's almost a safe kind of fear. In other words, even though a movie maybe scary and we get scared watching them, we also know that the baddie or whatever you want to call them, isn't going to jump out of the screen and attack them. Whereas, although most of us like to scare each other silly, by watching movies like Scream, we would never for example walk down a dark lane after midnight, because common sense tells us that it's not safe, and also there is that reality that you could get attack, which makes this a real fear oppose to that of a safe fear, when watching scary movies. I don't think fear is necessarily a bad thing either, because everyone fears something, whether it be spiders (which would include me), heights or whatever. It's when that fear takes over your life, to the point where it affects you, your family, your work or social life, that it can be a problem and that's the time to ask God to take away those fears.
kind regards, Wendy ps.
Please don't post email addy
Response: Hi Wendy. You are a very special person to me. May God continue to direct your life. I agree with your thoughts. -David.