Part 1

Unlike the January discussion on law, the theme for discussion in February is an adjective rather than a noun because, from time to time, we are all angry about something or someone. Generally anger is not welcome, either for the recipient or for the angry person. Anger can so easily become out of control, especially when it’s shared by others. The storming of the Capitol in Washington two years ago is an example of how anger, stirred up and manipulated, can lead people to irrational violence. 

At the same time, anger can provide the energy for needed change and it can stir people to act, particularly if it stems from a sense of injustice. Anyone who has witnessed a picket line in recent weeks will have witnessed quite a lot of good humour but also anger provoked by a sense of being undervalued and not listened to. Anger can lead to constructive action, as for instance the anger generated by the murder of George Floyd by a policeman that led to the formation of Black Lives Matter; and the murder of Sarah Everard, along with other scandals, has provoked anger and a widespread demand for reform in the police service. 

Please see the diagram and its explanation at the bottom of the page ...

Discussion

• The recent proposals by the House of Bishops on same-sex marriage.
• The ban on wild camping on Dartmoor.
• The widespread sewage pollution of our rivers by water companies.
• The injustice of public sector pay in relation to that in the private sector.

Part 2 

A reading of the Bible reveals quite a lot of anger. The prophetic writings may contain passages of comfort, hope, and sometimes joy, but they also express real anger, divine anger, at the social injustices of their time. For instance, the prophet Amos has a whole litany of wrath to be poured out on both Israel’s neighbours and on Israel itself, those ‘who sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals’.  Or in Ezekiel, we find God pronouncing that ‘Soon, I will pour out my wrath upon you: I will spend my anger against you’. Even the Book of Psalms is not all like the Lord being my Shepherd; the Lord is also the one entreated to ‘Let burning coals fall on them! Let them be flung into pits, no more to rise!’

It may be said, well that’s the Old Testament, but the New Testament reveals a God of love not of wrath. But that demands quite a selective reading. In the Gospels, Jesus speaks of some of the Pharisees as a ‘brood of vipers’ and a whole chapter of Matthew’s Gospel is devoted to the woes on the scribes and Pharisees: ‘hypocrites’, ‘blind fools’, ‘whitewashed tombs’ – you cannot fail to feel the anger here. And Jesus’ anger finds physical expression in the casting out of the money changers – Jesus made ‘a whip of cords, drove all of them out of the temple, and poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables’. The great apostle of love (1 Corinthians 13), Paul, is certainly not immune from anger – ‘If anyone proclaims a gospel contrary to what you have received, let him be accursed’. 

Questions

• How often did Jesus show he was angry? What caused it?
• Can we reconcile ‘Put away all bitterness and wrath and anger’ Ephesians 4:31 with ‘Be angry but do not sin’ Ephesians 4:26?
• How might we as Christians harness our anger today? Is it right to be angry –is there such a thing as anger being good?
• When is an expression of anger seen as a righteous action, as a creative force?

Part 3 

The Revd. Helen Burnett, a member of Extinction Rebellion and Christian Climate Action, speaks on its motivation and means of action.

Followed by questions and discussion.