Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli

In the 1976 film classic Network, news anchor Howard Beale declared, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” At his urging, people everywhere threw open their windows and shouted the same grievance. Their angry scream now seems to fill the air.

Commentators self-righteously slanting the news; talk-show hosts belittling others to provoke audience laughter; politicians demeaning those with contrary viewpoints; celebrities from the entertainment world thrashing traditional values with aplomb; intransigent legislators incessantly quarreling over government policies; insults, and sarcastic tweets: we are in the midst of “the madding crowd’s ignoble strife.”

Anger in the supermarket when the checkout line is long and the cashier slow. Anger in airports when planes are delayed or when luggage cannot be quickly retrieved. Anger in restaurants with slow service. Rage at political events that have to be guarded against violence. Domestic violence. Road rage. Like an infectious disease, anger is contagious.

A wide range of issues cause people’s anger to flare up: from disagreements with our political leaders to the price of gas for our cars. The environment. Wage inequality. Marriage. Sexual freedom. The litany could continue. The fact remains. We are living not only in an age of polarization but in an age of anger.

Today’s pace of life is frantic. Constantly rushing from one activity to another leaves little space for catching one’s breath. As a result, our stress level increases and our ability to tolerate any inconvenience diminishes. Thus, when someone does not agree with us or go along with us, we are more easily disturbed and prone to anger.

While there are many areas of our national life that need to be changed, the very fact that we have made such progress should encourage us. Perhaps one antidote to our anger is stepping back from the annoyances, the disagreements, the polarization, the political wars and cultural battles and begin to take stock of our blessings.

Our standard of life is better today than 50 years ago. What 60 was two generations ago, 80 is today. More senior citizens are remaining active and mentally alert than in the last quarter century. Household incomes are higher than in the 1980s, while the cost of living has also increased. Technology has not only made our lives more comfortable but has allowed us to have instant communication and easy access to information. (cf. Quin Hillyer, “No Good Reason for Angry Americans, Washington Examiner,” Washington Examiner, March 9, 2017)

Each new generation seeks to improve the standard of living inherited from the previous generation. We are forever a people in search of Utopia. Could so much of the anger in today’s society rise from the restless effort to create a Utopia on earth with no agreement on what it should be? Has humankind flexed its muscles so much that is has forgotten that it is human? Does the banishing of God and religious values from society foster a false understanding of what it truly means to be human? Always in search of the Promised Land but without the road map that comes from God, we will wander aimlessly in the desert, led by our emotions and be forever frustrated and angry.

Anger is a human emotion, not bad or sinful in itself. But, like every other emotion, such as fear or sorrow, it must be controlled. In the Phaedrus, Plato puts on the lips of Socrates his famous allegory of the chariot to describe the human person. In the allegory, the charioteer represents human reason that must hold the reins and control human emotions. Reason itself is a gift of the Creator. It distinguishes us from all other creatures. It enables us to discover the Creator’s design for his creation. He enables us even to grope in the darkness for God who wishes to reveal himself and his plans for us.

In an age of anger, Isaiah challenges us saying, “Come now and let us reason together” (Is 1:18). It is time not to sneer at and angrily dismiss one another, but to enter into rational dialogue. As The Washington Times columnist Suzanne Fields observes, “Gone is the love of sharpening the mind by arguing with respect for conflicting values. Everyone is a sophomore, demanding the dogmatism of the intolerance inherent in the curse of the politically correct.” In an age of anger, we are challenged to examine our priorities and expand our vision.