Anger, revisited

A couple days ago I wrote about the politics and uses of anger. My niece reminded me that SoulForce, and the non-violent protests of Gandhi and ML King on which SoulForce is built, would disagree with those comments. There are times when I present ideas on this blog and don't always parse them to say what pieces I agree with and which I don't. Even the ones I disagree with (and don't roundly condemn) are worth airing and poking at.

This is a chance to recommend SoulForce, and in particular, their online "journeys" into the teachings of Gandhi and King. I've done the 4 Step Journey. It works through (1) Experience the Suffering, (2) Identify the Cause of Suffering (which includes a way to view our adversaries as worthy of reconciliation and a victim of misinformation), (3) Help Those Who Suffer, and (4) Help End the Cause of Suffering. I highly recommend it.

I see that SoulForce now has a much more comprehensive 17 step journey. I'll have to study it sometime.

Back to anger, which gives me a chance to split hairs. Yes, I believe anger fuels our activism. We see a situation and with indignation (at least) say, "This is not right." I believe that anger also fueled Gandhi's and Kind's actions, though I know there is no way for me to know for sure without some of their writings confirming or denying that.

However, if I understand my SoulForce lessons properly, the anger over the situation should not spill over into anger directed at our adversaries. The aim is reconciliation, not destruction. From what I've seen over the last two weeks, most of the protests over the Calif. marriage ban have followed the SoulForce ideals of non-violent confrontation. These protests have been amazingly peaceful, in spite of some media voice trying to portray them as a violent mob. There are, of course, exceptions with lots of anger, even vandalism, directed at the Mormon church.