Act Justly: An Antidote For Outrage

“There was never an angry man that thought his anger unjust.”

Saint Frances de Sales

Addicted to Outrage

The topic of outrage is a researcher’s dream–no need to search far for examples. Today, even mild offense at perceived injustice erupts into viral disgust. According to recent studies,

1. Anger is addictive. After an anger adrenaline rush, the primordial area of our brain begs for more. We find courteous, moderate discussion chemically boring, so we reach for another unhappy high.
2. Anger can be dangerous. Medical research proves that chronic anger can lead to heart disease, diabetes, eating disorders, and mental/emotional ill-health.
3. Anger is profitable as well as entertaining. The growing “Outrage Industry”, centered on crude, demeaning rants about public figures or topics, is turning bullies into billionaires, at our blood pressure’s expense.
4. Anger often leads to a sense of moral superiority–when the people around us refuse to join in.
5. Anger is selective. Blame-throwing is so much less painful than admitting our own complicity with injustice.
6. Anger is contagious. According to social media research, strong emotions travel faster online. But nothing moves faster, and is “shared” more often, than outrage.

Except for Awe. When we encounter something bigger and better than ourselves–more beautiful, more kind, more just, more redemptive–the natural response is to stop… and to share. Researchers discovered that awe is even more contagious and addictive than anger, and so much better for our health.

So, how do we cultivate awe?

Act Justly

In our series, An Alphabet of Life: Wisdom Learned in the Verbs, we begin with the question facing every human being: “What is the good life? In a world so angry, so broken and confused, how do I not only stay sane, but thrive?

The ancient prophet’s answer is ever new: “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

The good life is not found in our powerful emotions–it is something we are caught in the middle of doing.

• Angry? Act justly in every thought and encounter, even when the world around you is unjust.
• Disgusted? Love kindness, invest yourself whole-heartedly in mercy, and never trade it for darker thrills.
• Horrified? Walk humbly with God, obeying his voice, in certain hope his justice and mercy will prevail.

Choose Life or Death

Life: Because God delights in human flourishing, his justice bends toward the vulnerable and powerless, the alien, and the poor–the unfortunates most often despised.

To heal, save, transform, redeem, repair, restore, defend, plant, uplift, encourage–these are biblical verbs of life.

Death: The devil, the self-proclaimed ruler of this world, delights when humans, made in the image of God, diminish. So, our world teaches us to favor the rich, the powerful, the self-sufficient and self-made.

To destroy, discourage, deface, demean, devastate, despise, divide, deceive, humiliate, exploit–these are biblical verbs of death.

Read the verbs, slowly, again.

Every time you act, think, listen, and speak, you choose either life or death–not only for yourself, but for the rest of us.

Team Human

Earlier this year, my husband and I were in line to board our airplane. The terminal space provided was small and crowded, making it impossible to avoid the conversations clamoring around us. The topics and opinions shared were neither uplifting nor reasonable. Everyone was angry about something.

My husband looked at me, his eyes wide with dismay, and I almost blurted out, “I don’t think these are our people.” Instead, I heard God’s almost audible whisper, “Forget pasting labels and choosing sides–I want you to root for Team Human.” Just like that, everyone in the terminal became my people, simply because they are His.

Further reading: Psalm 33: 4-5 Psalm 103 Psalm 106:3 Proverbs 11:2 Isaiah 56:1 Jeremiah 9:23-24 Jeremiah 22:3 Matthew 5:7 Matthew 23:23 James 3:13-18

Sources:

• Anger and health risk: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3019061/
• Kindness and Anger: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27100366
• Outrage Addiction: https://qz.com/1333018/how-americans-can-break-their-outrage-addiction/

Join me next time for Become in our series: An Alphabet of Life: Wisdom Learned in the Verbs.