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Hate, anger, rage … is it ever okay to harbor these sentiments? Yes, against injustice at least.
Anger is ordinarily not a good thing, but righteous anger is important; it is required for action. Feeling angry in the face of injustice is necessary. Even Jesus got angry over how the temple of God was being abused.
Injustice makes my blood boil. It enrages me. It makes me want to scream, to do something. It’s harder still when you experience, witness, or hear about acts of injustice and feel powerless.
- Racism
- Gender inequality
- Violence against women
- Child abuse
- Religious persecution
- Poverty
- Health disparities
- Environmental abuse
- Animal cruelty…
We are reminded in Proverbs 21:13 that “whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.” How scary is that? Doing nothing has its consequences.
So today, I want to start giving a voice to those who don’t have a voice. A friend recently told me that writing letters against injustice is very powerful and cathartic. It articulates a problem and calls for action. Is this effective you ask? Amnesty International certainly thinks so: they take up human rights issues through letter writing.
The promise we have is that when justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous, but terror to evildoers (Proverbs 21:15). We don’t have to feel discouraged or powerless in the face of injustice. Our actions count for something. They facilitate change.
How do you fight injustice?
Uwana 