A friend of mine confesses, “Every time I listen to the news, I could just spit nails. My blood pressure goes up and I want to yell at my television when I hear about the most recent Trump caper, attacks on schoolbooks and the rule of law, and people who foment violence and racism in the media.” I commiserated with her and admitted that I also get angry when I see the unwavering support still given by so many Americans to former President Trump (including his completely false claims about the results of the last election), the continuing denial of climate change by so many of our political and religious leaders, and the many forms of voter suppression that rob certain groups of people of their right to participate fully and equally in the democratic process. Anger can be energetic and has a purpose in advocacy for justice. But anger also divides and exacerbates the stress we experience as individuals and citizens in our uncertain time.
I have been pondering the angry prophet Amos, having just finished a manuscript to be published in the Fall, “The Prophet Amos Speaks to America.” Amos was righteously angry at the gap between the wealthy and poor, farm foreclosures perpetrated by urbanites from Jerusalem, and the collusion of religion and political power. He called out the temple priest for his support of the wealthy landowners. Justice will roll like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream and that stream will either refresh you or wash you away.
I am trying to be righteously angry, these days. I am also trying to be a prophetic healer, using my anger in constructive ways to bring healing to communities and avoiding contributing to further polarization. Injustice must be called out. Representatives must be reprimanded when they put power over people. Prevarication must be protested. Yet, we must also take a breath, choose our words wisely, and remember that oppressor and oppressed are joined in the fabric of relatedness. In speaking of racism, Michael-Ray Mathews, Deputy Director of Faith in Action, asserts that white supremacy harms the souls of white people. Liberation is for all of us, healing embraces everyone. If our righteous anger further separates us from our kin, we will not achieve the dream of liberty and justice for all.
Anger is energy and it can either heat or burn. It can even be a positive factor in spiritual and political passion when it is channeled by a sense of solidarity with those whom we support and a willingness to see this same solidarity with those whom we oppose. Anger channeled through compassion and self-transcendence enables us to be effective in confronting injustice without losing our souls.
I have found that spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation help channel our anger into effective advocacy and protest. The most graphic example for me involves Donald Trump. It is easy for me to see Trump and his MAGA sycophants as alien, unworthy of compassion and even objects of hate. I have succumbed to such feelings. I have also realized that such alienation neither helps me personally nor helps the causes that are important to me. Accordingly, I have made it a point to pray for Trump and to look for God’s light in the MAGA crowd. I still oppose their tactics and politics, but I do so from a spiritual center and not a place of hate. A.J. Muste once said, “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way,” and that is the path I choose to follow. To protest with a peaceful spirit, and advocate with a healing heart.
Let us be angry at injustice, righteously angry, and make good trouble, as John Lewis asserts. Let us also pray for those who see us as “enemies” and challenge what we hold most dearly, and then we will be aligned with God’s way.
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Bruce Epperly is author of over sixty books, including the trilogy on process theology and politics – “Process Theology and Politics,” “One World: The Lord’s Prayer from a Process Perspective,” and “Talking Politics with Jesus” – as well as “The Elephant is Running: Process and Open and Relational Theology and Religious Pluralism” and “Prophetic Healing: Howard Thurman’s Vision of Contemplative Activism.”
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