Fear

I picked up the paper this past Wednesday, and found the Opinion page.  After reading four articles, I realized they all had a common theme: fear.  Four fears in four articles: fear of pain leading up to death, fear of shattering comfort zones, fear of racism, and fear over ebola.  Was this a deliberate grouping by the newspaper?  I don't know, but it really matters not.
Some fears are worked for evil (such as demonstrated in the racism article I read).  Other fears are used for good and are useful for life.
Where does fear come from?  Is it caught or taught?  I can only answer "both".
G. K. Chesteron wrote the following in Tremendous Trifles:

"Fairy tales, then, are not responsible for producing in children fear, or any of the shapes of fear; fairy tales do not give the child the idea of the evil or the ugly; that is in the child already, because it is in the world already.  Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey.  What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey.  The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination.  What the fairy tale provides for his is a St. George to kill the dragon."

So, how do you help young children to grow and develop in this fear-filled world?  How to you teach them to overcome their fears?  Allow me to offer a few suggestions.

1. Read to them, and don't stick only to the soft, pansy children's literature.  Read the classic fairy tales from the Grimms.  If you're really daring, find a copy of Roald Dahl's book of fairy tales.  Read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter series, or even St. George and the Dragon.  As you read, you will have the opportunity to teach them when (not if) they ask questions.
2. Let them watch good movies, like the three from The Chronicles of Narnia.  Watch Percy Jackson.  "Oh, that's too scary for my kids."  Are you sure it is not too scary for you?  Watch it with them so you can be a good parent and guide, commending the good, pointing out the bad.
3. Read the Bible to them.  Teach them a whole different fear, and not a bad one at that--the fear of the Lord.  "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge" (Proverbs 1:7).
4. Teach them to know Jesus.  As the old saying goes, "No God, know fear; know God, no fear."

Fear is a reality--the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Don't run from them; face them in the strength of the Lord.

Worldviews

Search the world over, and you find basically seven major worldviews.  Each of those seven worldviews are intrinsically different.  Each one as something that drastically separates it from the other six.  The seven big worldviews are theism, atheism, pantheism, panentheism, deism, finite godism, and polytheism.
You may think, "Big deal!  So there's different beliefs out there.  It doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you sincerely believe it.  Their all equally valid and true.  Right?"  WRONG!
Logically, only one worldview can be true, which means the other six must be false.  You may interject at this point, "Wait a minute.  Who cares about logic?"  Well, if you're not interested in what's logical you may as well start talking about a square circle or a one-end stick.  Actually, forget about communication at all because all language is based on logic.
Now, let's delve into the seven worldviews and briefly define and describe them.

Theism
Theism is the belief that an infinite personal God exists (theos=god).  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are great examples of theistic worldviews.

Atheism
Atheism says that no god exists (a=no, theos=god).  This universe is all that there is; there is nothing beyond.  Some famous atheists include Karl Marx, Friedrich Nietzche, and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Pantheism
Pantheism claims that the universe is god, and god is the universe (pan=all, theos=god).  There is no separation from creator and creation; it's one and the same.  Hinduism, Zen Buddhism, Christian Science, and most New Age religions fall into this worldview classification.

Panentheism
Panentheism simply says that god is in the universe, kind of like a brain is in a body.  So the universe is god's body.  Panentheism also claims that god is in the constant process of changing., which is sometimes referred to as process theology.  Some notorious panentheists are Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and Schubert Ogden.

Deism
Deism is the view that holds that god is beyond the universe, but not in it.  Miracles are denied.  A god created the universe, but then he left it to manage itself.  Sometimes this is described as the clock-maker religion: god wound up the clock and just let it run on its on.  Some well-known deists include Francois Voltaire, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine.

Finite Godism
Finite Godism is similar to Deism in that it claims a god outside of the universe, but he is also involved in the universe.  However, as Deism would say that god is infinite, Finite Godism says that he is limited in his nature and power.  Miracles are denied.  Some who have held this belief are John Stuart Mill, William James, and Peter Bertocci.

Polytheism
Polytheism says that there are many gods, but they are finite or limited in their nature and power.  The gods are active in this world.  Some well-known representatives in this camp are the ancient Greeks, Mormons, and Wiccans.

I know I have been very brief in the descriptions, but I want to emphasize the major differences in the worldviews.  If Theism is true, then logically the other six must be false.  For example, God cannot both be infinite and finite at the same time.  That violates the law of non-contradiction.  He can't be both personal and impersonal, involved and uninvolved, beyond the universe and not beyond the universe, able to perform miracles and not able to perform miracles, changing and immutable.  All worldviews cannot be true.