Addressing National Rage
Written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than humans.””
You cannot watch the news without hearing about people punching airline attendants or employees at the fast-food drive-thru. There are as many reasons for the anger and violence as examples of inappropriate behavior. Uncontrollable emotions take place in children, youth, and adults. Some people blame the isolation, financial instability, and other specific causes. Yet, each of these possible causes existed long before the pandemic.
In his Mother Jones article, Kevin Drum, “Mad as Hell,” offers another recognizable reason for American society’s anger. Americans have a history of loving conspiracy theories. When we were stuck in our homes during Covid, we had more time to play on social media and feed our conspiracy addiction. Therefore, QAnon and other ridiculous conspiracy groups were able to take hold. Yet, polls show QAnon followers are a minute number of the overall American population.
Further, social media has only been a part of our lives for about twenty years. The arc of increased anger and violence has been rising in this country for longer than social media has been in existence. Drum asserts, “When you’re faced with trying to account for a sudden new eruption on the political scene like Donald Trump, it’s easy to think that the explanation must be something shiny and new, and social media is the obvious candidate.” However, drum believes the root cause is something more insidious.
While nationally, our income has improved, and we are no more conspiracy-minded now than in the past. Yet, some challenges have gotten worse than in the past. Drum states, “From a political standpoint, the critical one is trust in government. As we all know, trust in government plummeted during the ‘60s and ‘70s thanks to Vietnam and Watergate, and then flattened out for the next few decades. Between 2001 and 2019, trust in our political system and its leadership dropped by 20%. Likewise, confidence has declined as news organizations have become more politically manipulative. Neither side of the political aisle has fared well for all their machinations. Yet, neither side seems to make a significant ethical change.
Today, pray for our society and its anger management issues. Whether Kevin Drum is correct in his assessment or there are other reasons for our corporate rage, our hope comes from the Holy Spirit’s transforming power. No political group is more powerful than God. God calls us to speak out against false news and political manipulation. Sadly, Christian people land on many different sides of the political and conspiracy spectrum. God’s guidance and our faithful response are the means to calming our society and bringing mutual respect back to our national politics. Politics has the potential for significant positive change, so we must continue to strive to improve our nation's political environment prayerfully.
