Last year, during the heat of the presidential elections, I was browsing my facebook feed when I came across an article making very serious accusations against a prominent politician. It caught my attention, so I clicked and read. Within 3 minutes, I figured out that the linked article was from a ‘parody’ website that posts false news stories. The crazy thing about it was that there was no hint of parody to the article. I discovered the truth by googling the web site name and reading the wikipedia entry about it. Lots of those websites exist, along with others that take a small bit of information that is true and contort it to make the target of the article sound crazy. Once such article I came across explained that a prominent preacher advocated beating atheist children until they believed in God. Reading the article revealed that the actual statement by the preacher was about the importance of using discipline in raising children. Nothing about beating atheists or anything of the sort. The author applied their own spin and wrote an article that was simply untrue. These kinds of articles are not unusual. They have become very common on social media sites and fulfill a specific purpose: they provide fuel for folks to become and to stay enraged. They don’t accomplish anything positive in the reader’s heart/mind. They don’t provide true information, or if they do, the information is obscured behind enough spin to make the story false. They are schoolyard gossip that is supercharged by the power of the internet. I know good folks from every facet of the political and religious spectrum, who read and share these types of articles regularly because it helps fuel anger against ideological enemies. At times, the glut of this sort of material has gotten so bad that I have left social media entirely for weeks at a time.
It is not surprising that these sorts of “news” stories are popular. Outrage and anger feel powerful. It’s hard to engage our ideological opposites without getting frustrated. Rage-inducing material just takes that response a step further and aids in maintaining the state of angry response. Of course, the problem with this is that anger is tiring and seldom makes people feel good in general. I’ve read quite a bit in the last few months about psychologists dealing with clients suffering from increased stress and fatigue due to politics. People reaching the point where the constant stream of rage is just wearing them out. A final problem, as it relates to Christians, is this environment of perpetual outrage; it is contrary to the teachings of Jesus regarding how we are to deal with those we disagree with. Jesus regularly taught about loving enemies, praying for those who persecute you, and turning the other cheek. Sure, Jesus got angry and spoke harshly on many occasions, but this was typically aimed at people who by all rights should have been on his side. The Bible regularly teaches that anger isn’t an ideal condition for us. James wrote that “…human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” This isn’t a coincidence because anger tends to infect every part of our lives. It changes our hearts in ways that are contrary to God’s design for us. There are several simple strategies for dealing with this tendency in our culture. The first step is to read with a critical eye and research for yourself. It takes effort to be well-informed. In addition, when you come across something outrageous, either in the news or coming from someone you know, take the time to pray for them and seek ways to approach the situation in ways that aren’t steeped in anger or a desire for retaliation. Finally, it is valuable to intentionally follow Paul’s advice in Philippians 4: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
