Writing in the ecumenical journal Touchstone, [Leon] Podles argued that it’s especially important for Christians and other religious believers to understand that anger is not always a sin or an emotion that must be avoided. In fact, there are circumstances in which it is a sin not to feel anger. The ultimate question, he said, is whether anger leads to rational, constructive, virtuous actions.
Who would argue, for example, that it was wrong for the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to feel righteous anger about the impact of racism and economic injustice on the lives of millions of black Americans? Who would argue that it was wrong for Nelson Mandela to draw strength from the anger he felt during his 27 years in prison under South Africa’s apartheid regime?
It’s crucial in both of these cases, stressed Podles, that these men did not allow their anger to turn into hatred of their oppressors.
Instead, it led to courageous and strategic acts to accomplish worthy goals.
“Anger must be more than mere emotion,” he stressed. “Anger must also be proportionate to the evil that provokes that anger. Take road rage, for example. That kind of anger is completely irrational and it accomplishes nothing.”