“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann was a German political scientist who developed a mass communication theory called the Spiral of Silence. The Spiral of Silence is a term meant to refer to the tendency of people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. People who feel they are in the minority, sense isolation, fear or exclusion and tend to remain silent instead of voicing opinions. Often used in a political or media content, Noelle-Neumann’s Spiral of Silence mass communication theory explains the growth and spread of public opinion.
It’s time to break our silence and exchange fear for love.
People, like myself, who have lived in fear for a variety of reasons, often tend to stay silent until they experience that “Ah-Ha” moment and come to realize that fear is useless.
As a young man, my fear always centered around my sexual orientation. As I have grown older, my fear has shifted to fearing success. What a quagmire; life is a process...I am letting go of my fears.
In today’s society, there seems to be a cultural bias that leans towards fear? Cable news tends to report more negative aspects of life and politics: Are things really bad as they appear (political climate) or is our current climate permeated by a lack of leadership, poor communication skills or…fear? Where has open, honest and respectable dialogue gone from our leaders? The Spiral of Silence is alive in our own fears.
One of the ways of letting go of fear is to embrace communication from the standpoint of love. That is what the Love Not Fear Movement is all about. I think all of us recognize from our diversity, we are not always going to agree, nor am I am suggesting that we live in a
Pollyanna world. However, when we focus our communication to others with love, we tear down walls, not build them. We lift people up, not criticize them. We disagree with respect, and learn from our differences. We then break the Spiral of Silence
How do we build a community that surrounds us with the 
message of love? Listen in and learn how Jeff Johnson is eliminating fear (and the Spiral of Silence) through the Love Not Fear Movement! Because in the end…Love Is The Winner!
Chris MacLellan is the author of “What’s The Deal with Caregiving? and the Executive Producer and Host of Healing Ties Radio.
