Sunday Musings - May 16, 2021
Righteous vs self-righteous anger?
As a very young man I was very shy about expressing my opinions although I observed a lot and was acutely aware when something did not feel “right” to me. As I grew to become a young man I was increasingly aware of how often anger took control of my voice. At that stage of self-awareness the anger which erupted most often seemed unrelated to what I mouthed. Very slowly i became aware I really wanted to shout:
Racism was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Sexism is wrong.
Homophobia is wrong.
justification for any oppression is wrong, wrong, wrong.
War is wrong.
At this stage of my life my anger was often directed at others. Others obviously deserved my judgmental anger. They were bad people. I was judging others for my perception that they were judgmental. My anger was self-righteous. I was right and other were wrong. The religious leaders I knew at that time seemed to agree that the God of their and my understanding was angry at these bad people.
There was a part of me which was very confused about the fact that the God of my understanding as revealed in Christ also expected us to love our enemies; to accept that we all sin and fall short the glory of God; to accept it made no logical sense that one could count the sin points of each of us and decide who was better or more righteous.
At the same time I believed and continue to believe that all of us have a role to play in creating a more just and loving world; a world in which all of us share the work and the resources; a world in which we respond to the pain underlying the “bad behavior”; a world in which we act as if we sincerely believe the worlds of The Sermon On the Mount; a world in which financial profit does not determine our attitude towards guns; a world which does not allow others to determine our behavior.
As I age, I am acutely aware:
· It is important to one speak out clearly and firmly for justice which is not racist, sexist,
homophobic, ageist or oppressive in any manner.
· It is important to be aware of all the ways that I am homophobic, sexist, racist, or oppressive.
· It is important to be aware one’s invitation to share the table is conditional on one’s ability to treat everyone else at the table with respect and unconditional love; to respect the decision of others to not share the table when they are unable to do that.
I am not convinced that anger is ever useful. I do not believe violence ever wins. This includes verbal, physical, emotional and institutional violence. At the same time, I must do my part to as a member of any organization, including the body politic, by clearly refusing to obey any new Jim Crow law or any law which treats others as less that; to refuse to obey any laws which suggests that one must not teach anything in school which leaves the privileged group uncomfortable. My refusal to obey such laws must be spoken with clarity and enough loudness to be heard over the noise of the fear masked as righteous anger. I must also focus on removing the remaining logs of oppressive thoughts and actions from my own eyes. I know, of course, whether I am emphasizing or identifying with the person with a spec in his or her eye; whether I am laughing at myself and whether I am relearning all that I knew as a very young child.
Perhaps there is more effective language to describe the difference between what I am terming self-righteous vs righteous anger. Perhaps there is a way to passionately express one’s refusal to accept justification for oppressive behavior in any form from oneself, others or institutions without it being heard as anger or weak. This old man is still searching for a way to honor his passion; to speak the truth as he understands it without oppressing others.
As we search our hearts, debate in churches, temples, classrooms, legislative chambers and synagogues, perhaps we will find a way to take oppression very seriously without taking ourselves so seriously.
Written May 16, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Righteous vs self-righteous anger?
As a very young man I was very shy about expressing my opinions although I observed a lot and was acutely aware when something did not feel “right” to me. As I grew to become a young man I was increasingly aware of how often anger took control of my voice. At that stage of self-awareness the anger which erupted most often seemed unrelated to what I mouthed. Very slowly i became aware I really wanted to shout:
Racism was wrong, wrong, wrong.
Sexism is wrong.
Homophobia is wrong.
justification for any oppression is wrong, wrong, wrong.
War is wrong.
At this stage of my life my anger was often directed at others. Others obviously deserved my judgmental anger. They were bad people. I was judging others for my perception that they were judgmental. My anger was self-righteous. I was right and other were wrong. The religious leaders I knew at that time seemed to agree that the God of their and my understanding was angry at these bad people.
There was a part of me which was very confused about the fact that the God of my understanding as revealed in Christ also expected us to love our enemies; to accept that we all sin and fall short the glory of God; to accept it made no logical sense that one could count the sin points of each of us and decide who was better or more righteous.
At the same time I believed and continue to believe that all of us have a role to play in creating a more just and loving world; a world in which all of us share the work and the resources; a world in which we respond to the pain underlying the “bad behavior”; a world in which we act as if we sincerely believe the worlds of The Sermon On the Mount; a world in which financial profit does not determine our attitude towards guns; a world which does not allow others to determine our behavior.
As I age, I am acutely aware:
· It is important to one speak out clearly and firmly for justice which is not racist, sexist,
homophobic, ageist or oppressive in any manner.
· It is important to be aware of all the ways that I am homophobic, sexist, racist, or oppressive.
· It is important to be aware one’s invitation to share the table is conditional on one’s ability to treat everyone else at the table with respect and unconditional love; to respect the decision of others to not share the table when they are unable to do that.
I am not convinced that anger is ever useful. I do not believe violence ever wins. This includes verbal, physical, emotional and institutional violence. At the same time, I must do my part to as a member of any organization, including the body politic, by clearly refusing to obey any new Jim Crow law or any law which treats others as less that; to refuse to obey any laws which suggests that one must not teach anything in school which leaves the privileged group uncomfortable. My refusal to obey such laws must be spoken with clarity and enough loudness to be heard over the noise of the fear masked as righteous anger. I must also focus on removing the remaining logs of oppressive thoughts and actions from my own eyes. I know, of course, whether I am emphasizing or identifying with the person with a spec in his or her eye; whether I am laughing at myself and whether I am relearning all that I knew as a very young child.
Perhaps there is more effective language to describe the difference between what I am terming self-righteous vs righteous anger. Perhaps there is a way to passionately express one’s refusal to accept justification for oppressive behavior in any form from oneself, others or institutions without it being heard as anger or weak. This old man is still searching for a way to honor his passion; to speak the truth as he understands it without oppressing others.
As we search our hearts, debate in churches, temples, classrooms, legislative chambers and synagogues, perhaps we will find a way to take oppression very seriously without taking ourselves so seriously.
Written May 16, 2021
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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