JE11 Fear As a Motivator

            In the collection, “sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, Edwards was aware of people’s fear of being damned and going to hell. Thus, he used this point of view as a motivator. He describes hell as scary as possible. He said God is omnipotent so that if he’s angered by a person’s behavior, he or she should go to hell. I think fear is generally an effective motivator. People always move away from things they fear so using fear as a motivator usually works. However, in my opinion, it is not a good motivator. A good motivator should be coming from one’s heart such that one has passion and is ready to take the task.

            I have been motivated by fear to behave well. In my previous school, there was a policy that if one doesn't obey one of the rules, one gets a warning. The warning will be shown on the record and the only way to remove it was to do some cleaning jobs or services. Besides, if we are being caught using a “contraband”, such as iPod, it will be taken away too. I was motivated by it to behave well. And I was even the only one in the class who never got a warning. To be honest, I still brought my iPod but I never used it in places that teachers may appear. Furthermore, I behave well most of the time so the teacher wouldn't pick on me.