Should a blind person be permitted to carry a loaded weapon? That was the focus of a 2015 court battle in Ohio. Advocates for extending “Conceal and Carry” laws to include blind citizens said the visually impaired should not be discriminated against because of their disability. It is the right of every American, regardless of their ability, to own and carry a gun. Amazingly, the Ohio court agreed. Similar cases in New Jersey and Iowa resulted in similar outcomes. In Texas and Michigan, blind people are not only licensed to own guns, but they are also permitted to hunt. In all of these states, however, blind people are not licensed to drive.
These examples reveal the gap between legal sense and common sense. A consistent legal or constitutional argument may exist for why a blind person should be allowed to carry a loaded weapon, but I think most people intuitively recognize the foolishness of this policy. (A fact revealed by the incredulous tone of European newspaper articles reporting on the American courts’ rulings.) Just because something is legal does not mean it is wise.
A similar gap exists regarding anger. There is a biblical case to be made for Christians wielding “righteous anger.” There are many examples of God becoming angry in Scripture, including the unpopular stories of divine wrath in the Old Testament, or those of Jesus overturning tables in the temple or calling down judgment upon religious leaders in the Gospels. If our Lord demonstrates righteous anger, shouldn’t we be permitted to follow his example and wield anger as well? These are arguments I often hear from culture-warring Christians who want to justify their use of outrage to attract attention to their cause or take shots at their opponents on social media. They say their anger is godly because they are defending what’s right.
To be fair, I believe that in the right hands, with the right training, and from the right heart, anger can be used redemptively. Yet in most cases, it is only a destructive force. I rarely see everything clearly, and I cannot see into a person’s soul to discern their motives. That’s why a weapon as dangerous as anger is best wielded only by those with perfect vision and discernment unimpaired by sin. For this reason, I trust Jesus to use anger righteously, but I don’t trust myself. I have misfired too many times, and I have hurt too many people with my anger.
Adding to our misgivings about anger is Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. After quoting the commandment prohibiting murder, he pivots from the external act of violence to the internal posture from which it emerges. Murder and violence are terrible, but before they hurt anyone, they incubate in the heart. Anger, Jesus said, is the real problem we must address. Is anger always wrong? No. But it is so destructive and dangerous that we ought to extract it from our lives rather than justify its presence with elaborate biblical or cultural arguments. Just because anger is popular does not make it wise.
Daily Scripture
Matthew 5:21–26
Galatians 5:16–24
Weekly Prayer
From Clement of Rome (c.96)
Open the eyes of our hearts to know you, who are the highest of the high, the holiest of the holy. You bring down the haughtiness of the proud, and thwart the schemes of the dishonest. You raise up the lowly and cast down the lofty. Riches and poverty, death and life, are in your hand. You alone can discern every spirit, looking into the depths of every soul. You protect those in danger, give hope to those in despair, and guide every creature on earth. By your power the nations of the earth can flourish and increase.
Grant us, Lord, we beseech you, your grace. Pity the poor, encourage those who are sad, enlighten those whose spirits are in darkness, heal the sick, guide the confused, feed the hungry, release those who are unjustly imprisoned, support the weak, comfort the faint-hearted. Let all the nations of the world know that you are God, that Jesus Christ is your child, and that we are your people.
Amen.
