Across Maine, fear is reshaping our conversations, personal decisions and view of the world. Many of us try to unplug from “the news” because topics are so depressing: crime, violence, inflation, economic turmoil, job loss and government overreach.

To best support “Maine: The Way Life Should Be,” we must stay informed about national and global issues. Otherwise, we abdicate our citizen control and contribute to an age of fear, where turmoil and chaos reign.

Why is fear so powerful? Xenophobia defines how fear feeds off the unknown and is rarely about facts but all about power. Steve Bannon expressed fear that war with Iran would distract from the top priority of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. Immigrants are political scapegoats for economic and cultural shifts with their civil rights and due process being denied. Imagine the terror of our immigrant neighbors being scooped up by ICE and taken to an unknown detention center without an understanding of their charges or being allowed a family goodbye.

Maine’s immigrants came to the U.S. and Maine to escape how they were treated in their country of origin. In the U.S., they felt safe, able to work and to provide a better life for their family. Now in Maine, immigrants are afraid to send their children to school, attend church and see a doctor for fear of being picked up by ICE. Even though some individuals (with no criminal records) have been in our community more than 10 years, married to U.S. citizens and have citizen children, they are still ICE targets. Once immigrants have applied for asylum, they should be considered as part of a legal process and not as an illegal alien.

It is not just our immigrants. Fear affects all Mainers by filtering from national issues. Consider recent events in June: the “No Kings” protests in Maine; the violence in Los Angeles leading to a threat of federal deployment of the National Guard anywhere in the United States; and finally with the June 22 U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites, there are concerns of increased local economic costs and cyberattacks targeting our banking systems and energy grids.

The tariff whiplash is a perfect example of how Maine’s economy has been affected, causing decreased tourism and increased costs for building goods/housing facilities, groceries, energy and aluminum cans (affecting our craft beer scene). Even our lobster trade industry is negatively affected, resulting in decreased lobster purchases by China and higher Canadian costs for ropes, buoys and diesel to Maine lobster harvesters.

Our Constitution and three branches of government provide the needed balances. But fear-driven governance has GOP senators afraid to voice their concerns. Receiving party reelection support is a question when our Maine senator is targeted for not supporting Republican values. How are Mainers prepared to voice their opinions if:

• Our members of Congress are pressured to conform under threat of political retaliation.

• USDA federal grants are targeted for retribution, which affect Maine’s educational institutions (Title IX and Maine school lunch funding).

• “No Kings” protests continue to take place across Maine and the country.

• Deployment of the National Guard happens without the support of Maine’s governor.

Are we reshaping who we are as Mainers? As individuals, what are our values as community members and how do we resist intimidation and fear?

Father Jarek Sniosek reminds us: “We are social creatures; we want to belong — but this desire for acceptance may lead us to embrace falsehoods. Today, people feel pressure to conform to the views of their political party, social circle or online community — even when they sense something is wrong. Fear of being ostracized leads many to remain silent or go along with deception.”

The question remains: What will you do when fear comes? Will you make your voice heard or will you remain silent?  Fear may be unavoidable. But silence shouldn’t be an option.