I know what it means and why they say it but it bothers me. That phrase...anyone else? Thoughts? I am not trying to offend just interested in what people think?

Usually they use the '' God fearing '' term to potray to other individuals that they're good people

It annoys the hell outta me.
Never once, in my nine years of Sunday school,
was I told to fear God.

Maybe they are dislexic.
Actually mean dog fearing.

It means live right or else...It's archaic bullchit...Some will try to sugarcoat it by saying the word fear is synonymous with nicer words like piety and respect, but that is just more bullchit...I'm not a god fearing woman, but I'm guessing if I was it would feel similar to having a bad case of constipation...

^^^^^ ^^^^
Trembling in fear of constipation
Feel the wrath.

I totally agree about it reflecting distance.

historically fear has been the greatest tool available to control groups of people.
What better way to get people to follow an imaginary, fictitious being or beings...........
Without fear and faith, religions would be a very small influence on humanity

scammers. But then, I am an atheist and biased.

Isn't it a natural reaction to hate what we fear?

I think for most part, it means to be "in awe" of God.

Like when you hold someone in the highest respect and admiration, you won't do or say anything to "wrong" lest you put yourself in a bad light for him/her

Then again, that's just me...

Then they should say "God admiring".
Or "God respecting".
Actually, those don't sound too bad. Seriously.

I think the "fearing" part is mostly due to the fact that they recognized God as a supreme being who can punish when angered Or in part due to the "fear" of doing wrong and offending

Kinda like how kids fear their parents, I guess, but on a grander scale since we're talking about God, the Father.

yes pansy, I agree

fear is recognizing that something can be have unwanted consequences, or someone

respect(latin 'look back'), requires acknowledging the impact or potential impact


I feared the consequences of my actions from my parents, who loved me

I fear the consequences of my actions as an adult from my partners(fearing they will leave, fearing I will hurt them,,etc) whom I loved

fear has an unnecessary negative connotation as if its simple instead of complex,, sometimes fear is necessary, sometimes its even good,,,

no , I loved my parents though I feared the consequences from them of certain actions

I don't hate the law, but I fear consequences of breaking it,,,

wouldn't that be gniraef dog?

my grandpa used to always say! I will put the fear of God in you...
as he was reaching for his leather belt...

you better fear god, how else are you going to do his bidding? fear god, fear the devil... kinda like 2 sides of the same coin...

some people want others to heed them, and do use fear to accomplish a greater leverage of the self power.

throwing "god" into the mix, of course, can put more weight behind their words..

thing is, these tell others to "fear god", because they them self live in perpetual "fear of god"...

but those are just natural human fears, channeled thru religious teachings.

somebody along the path told little red riding hood to fear god, and so she did???

no...

little red riding hood was already afraid of walking thru the forest

but there is no outside word that can convince one to "fear", lest fear was already present at the time of hearing.

a being in human form, first fears death, so than "bad happenings" possible to it self.

that is present from birth with or without religion.

religion was simply a way of expressing those first had fears into words.

it is not just religious people who have passed psyche belief that creates fear.

the only way to not be unwantingly controlled by fear, is to not think of fear as a "negative"...

to not then fear, "being afraid".

a paradox as it were.

if the mind does not think of "fear" as a bad thing, then the old emotion fear simply turns into unemotional knowing of data, and outside words cannot educe nor control with words the thoughts, emotions, or actions of the self.

don't be afraid of being afraid,, now THAT I understood,,,,and totally agree