"We fear," remarked an Eskimo shaman respondnig to a religious question from the explorer Knud Rasmussen some fifty years ago. "We fear the cold and things we do not understand, but most of all we fear the doings of the heedless ones among us."

and from the end of the essay:

"Our minds, if not our clothes, are hung with invisible amulets: nostrums changed each year for our bodies whether it be chlorophyl toothpaste, the signs of astrology, or cold cures that do not cure: witchraft nostrums for our society as it fractures into contending multitudes all crying for liberation without responsiblity."

Loren Eisley, "The Winter of Man", in "The Art of the Essay"

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. And hate leads to the dark side.

Yoda, Return of the Jedi

Frank wondered below if, in the first quote, "the heedless among us" referred to non-believers in a religious sense. I don't take it that way.

The Inuit way of life doesn't allow for such ethereal prejudices. Practicality if the core of their survival in such extreme conditions, and the heedless who do not follow the traditions necessary for survival, by squandering seal oil for luxurious heat, practicing unsanitary waste habits, wearing inadequate clothing, creating strife - heedless of the customs that ensure continuation for themselves and, in a delicately balanced society, those around them.

I'll let the second quote speak for itself, except to say that I think ,uch of organized religion is such an amulet or nostrum.

And fear - the basis of all our woes. What makes me afraid is that we are at a point in history where the selection of the person to take the most powerful seat in the world was done largely on the basis of fear, and anger, and hatred.