Anger: to be or not to be?

 We have always been told and rightly so, that anger is bad and that being angry is dangerous to one’s health and that of others. One does not have to think too deeply before examples of people who have reacted angrily in different situations have ended up destroying themselves and others. Take for example, a husband or wife who kills the spouse in a rage or sets all academic certificates ablaze in a fit of anger. Examples can go on and on. Religious leaders warn us about anger, saying it is a sin that will lead to hell. Verses abound in the Bible about the dangers of been an angry person. An angry man is equated to a foolish man (Ecclesiastes 7:9). A fully enraged person is incapable of thinking logically and coherently. According to Proverbs, an angry person is like a city without walls; without defense. It seems nothing good can come out of anger. I beg to differ under some circumstances. I contend that anger if well controlled can achieve great things. Anger is like fire; neither good nor bad, whatever it becomes or achieves, is dependent solely on the user. Imagine what life will be without fire in its various form. I bet you wouldn't want to live in such a world. Neither would I. 

Two passages from the Bible have caused me to recalculate my views about anger. First is the anger Jesus displayed in John 2 where he chased out the merchants in the temple. His actions were described as "the zeal for your house consumed me" (John 2:17). The second is in Ephesians 4: 26-27 which says “be angry but do not sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger". None of these two verses record anger as a negative emotion but rather as one that spurred one to take appropriate positive action to set things right.  As example abound of people who have used anger negatively so do examples of positive use. A perfect example is the case of Jesus mentioned earlier. I also think of the great men and women who have over the centuries fought against inhuman treatment of others. Apart from love and hate, I believe that anger had been a great motivating factor.

Take for example, Rose who refused to get up for a white person or Nelson Mandela who would not give up on seeing equality among all people. Anger, when deployed properly, can bring about positive changes in the life of an individual or society. Collective anger of a people will ultimately lead to a revolution. The fact that Africa is plagued by bad leaders is because the led are not sufficiently angry about the situation. They complain and murmur but are not spurred to take tangible action to hold their leaders accountable for their actions. Lack of anger in a student about poor achievements will result in continuous poor marks. There needs to be a certain amount of dissatisfaction and anger about a situation before a change is achieved. Perhaps you haven't seen a change because you are not angry enough about your situation to change it. 

Before I get crucified for campaigning in favour of anger, let's look at different types of anger.
1. Sustained vs. carefully released anger.
Imagine opening a bottle of your favourite carbonated drink after shaking it vigorously. The result will have the drink all over you and not just in your cup. What a waste and mess to clean up! When anger is allowed to fester over time, it becomes toxic. Many of us have learnt not to show that we are angry, so we smile and bottle them up and sometimes it gets too much and we explode. Fermented anger will sour relationships. No wonder we are admonished not to let the sun set on our anger. Unresolved issues like untreated ulcers will result in pain. And so anger-triggering issues must be dealt with promptly in the most effective way. 

2. There can be effective and non-effective anger. Non-effective anger produces no positive results. The way anger is expressed may determine its effectiveness. The best way to react to abuse is to live above it. As a mom I learnt the hard way that the most effective way of expressing my anger is not to shout and beat but by firmly giving constructive criticism and following up on instruction, if need be time and again.

3. Anger can be productive or destructive. Anger that ends up destroying rather than restoring relationships or bringing about positive change in a life is definitely destructive. Production anger should generate a determination and ideas that will jump-start a change in the right direction. Perhaps instead of having a shouting match about a teenager’s dirty room, divert the anger to helping the child develop a system of cleaning up and subsequent consequences of not keeping the room clean.

4. Anger is either people directed or issue directed. I believe that Jesus anger was directed at the act of selling and not the people. He came to deliver the people from powers that made them contravene the will of God. When angry, the focus should be on the issue and not the person. Most times, the terrible things we say to people in a rage makes it difficult to continue a relationship even when the issues are resolved. Our children should know we dislike and are angry about their actions or inactions  and not them as individuals. So instead of getting angry with people, get angry at issues like societal decadence, godlessness, poverty, dishonesty, marriage break up and such things.

So what type of anger am I advocating? I guess it can be classified as holy anger which I will define as: God-glorifying, carefully released, effective, and productive and issue directed anger.

Excuse me while I go dish up some holy anger as required.

Have a wonder filled week.

I Bi Dem.