There are two kinds of fear of God: one is healthy and essential to happiness, the other unhealthy and essential to unhappiness. Lack of the first leads to acquiring the second.
The first kind of fear of God enables those with immature intellects, unable to understand the big picture (child, adolescent, young adult), to follow Jesus’ words, “If you love me you will keep my commandments.” This kind of fear obeys before understanding – even when hormones, peers, and a crazy culture is driving them to choose the opposite. It is a fear of God based in a love of God. It seeks forgiveness and renewal whenever there is a fall.
The second, unhealthy fear of God is acquired as a result of falling into sin (a la Gn 3:8), which deforms the psyche and leads to projecting hatred of self onto others, including God. God and goodness in general become a threat, forcing one to take an honest look at oneself, which is too much to bear for the one who knows not the infinite mercy of God. Deep inside these people believe they are unlovable, and find comfort in dysfunctional cynical people who pose no threat to them. All this projection, an subconscious practice of self-protection, gives rise to a skewed view of reality.
There are two causes to this second, unhealthy fear: 1) Not being formed in the healthy fear of God, and 2) Not knowing the infinite mercy of God, who is willing heal and forgive everything to restore peace and joy.
This dynamic continues to be the underlying spiritual element of the culture war, its demarcation point being belief or non-belief in the infinite mercy of a God who loves us. God and goodness are humbly sought by those with the first fear and met with a visceral reaction by those with the second. Great damage is done to the psyches of those ravaged by the sexual revolution. To those who continue to live without experiencing the infinite divine Mercy, anyone who loves God and doesn’t hate themselves becomes the enemy.