Dealing with Anger

[Knowing Thomas]

Hello everyone,

I'd like to put to words a problem that I have been having for several years now.

Let's say that I am browsing the internet/watching TV/reading a magazine/playing an online computer game/reading a book and then suddenly I stumble upon something that makes my blood boil.

For example:
*a "comedian" quote mocking believers/religion/Christianity plus "me-too" reader comments
*a communist poster writes how he wishes he could ban all religion, blow up churches, and put faithful in camps
*a communist who denies the atrocities of Lenin, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hoxha, Ceausescu, Castro, etc, how they aren't real communists (I once met someone on a gaming website who seriously stated that the Holodomor was the fault of the capitalist west)
*told that the Romans had the right idea and that Christians should be fed to lions again
*that I am incapable of higher thought or glorious Science because of my faith
*common debunked myths (christian "dark ages", Jesus copy cat loonies)
*a "news" report about how Christianity is dying and how the glorious Lords of Secularism will save us on the march of Progress™
*another "news" report about homosexual marriage and how it is inevitable that all churches will perform ceremonies and you must accept it or you're going to get fired or death threats for opposing Progress™ (this is the most common one atm)
*enjoying a book (tends to happen with historical fiction or sci-fi, which are my favorite genres) when suddenly the author goes onto a tangent into religion bashing

My face gets red, my stomach churns, I lose my appetite or I start binge eating, I can't sleep, I swear like a sailor, I want to reach out and fight at times; scream.

However, I hate getting into arguments, because it just makes me even angrier.

Do these make me question my faith? Of course not. They are nothing but hateful idiots. What makes up of maybe 70% of the anger is that I fear of someone in their tweens or teens, seeing this stuff for the first time and not having any education to combat it. THIS is what makes me furious and I find it hard to let go.

[Manwë Súlimo]

I sometimes get angry, most of the time I'm either merely annoyed or even amused. The part about Christianity dying is hilarious, though. The sheer tonnage of Christianity's wannabe pallbearers who have died without seeing their prophecy come to fruition could sink an aircraft carrier.

[Scrawly]

I think its best to keep in mind that the world is fundamentally anti-Christ and the people of the world are under the spell of Satanic forces and therefore celebrate stupid anti-Christian comments for the most part. Moreover, you cannot save anyone and proving that God and science are compatible, for example, is not going to accomplish much in the heart of an individual who is yet to be born again.

I would advise refraining from areas that boil your anger because it is probably making your personal spiritual life suffer and therefore rendering you ineffective in speaking the truth in love/proclaiming the gospel to the lost.

[KingsGambit]

I would advise refraining from areas that boil your anger because it is probably making your personal spiritual life suffer and therefore rendering you ineffective in speaking the truth in love/proclaiming the gospel to the lost.

At times for me, this has involved staying away from certain sections on here, even.

[Truthseeker]

Welcome to Theology Web!

Someone recommended a book about our "negative" emotions: The Upside of Your Dark Side:Why Being Your Whole Self--Not Just Your "Good" Self--Drives Success and Fulfillment. Here are amazon.com reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Upside-Your-Da...dp/1594631735/
I have not read, let alone ordered, the book, so I can't give a personal recommendation.

[Scrawly]

Welcome to Theology Web!

I think you mean welcome back to Theology Web!

[Scrawly]

Another point I might add, would be that often times when I see situations similar as to what you describe, I use it for personal insight and confirmation of the biblical description of the depravity of mankind and their suppression of God in unrighteousness.

[Darth Executor]

Just think about how they're all gonna roast in hell for it, flesh peeling off the bone with a singing sound like bacon in a frying pan. The impulse will be to pity rather than be angry at them.

[Manwë Súlimo]

That's the spirit.

[Paprika]

For crying out loud, get a grip on yourself. You're no use to anyone in such states, plus you're being self-destructive.

Disengage and seek help.

[Zymologist]

Listen to some peaceful music to soothe the soul. I'd be happy to offer some suggestions.

I have a similar problem. There's a whole lot of stuff I see on the internet that really pisses me off (what's the internet for, eh?). I just have to do something else, reminding myself that the people who pissed me off don't care that they made me angry, and my anger doesn't accomplish anything productive anyway.

Not that it's wrong to be angry, though. I suppose that depends on what you're getting angry about.

[Knowing Thomas]

I think you mean welcome back to Theology Web!

Yep, I was a member on the old forums. Back when I first joined I was very unsure of myself when it came to my beliefs, when I thought that the new atheists might have been right (how things change ), and a lot has happened since then, both good and bad.

I admit sometimes I'm essentially asking for trouble by going to sites like imgur and getting bombarded with image macros (like what happened just an hour ago), but its often the case it is something I couldn't have predicted (during a multiplayer match in a Napoleonic War computer game?!). Since I've made this thread, it has been getting easier though. My typical tactic is to block/turn off the source/person and sometimes re-read this thread and so it is easier to let go.

However, I have OCD (officially diagnosed) and while medication and making friendships have helped immensely, that doesn't mean I can completely avoid anger and obsessions.

One of those is my church (part of the ECLA) and the topic of same-sex marriage. I am dead set against a church blessing or leading of a homosexual marriage but I don't want to leave the church of my grandfather and grandmother mother who put decades of service into it (my grandfather worked with the sound system in the back where I would sit with him and my grandmother was with the choir) alongside many other fond memories. I don't know if my pastor has ever presided over one and the whole topic gives me great distress.

[Thoughtful Monk]

One of those is my church (part of the ECLA) and the topic of same-sex marriage. I am dead set against a church blessing or leading of a homosexual marriage but I don't want to leave the church of my grandfather and grandmother mother who put decades of service into it (my grandfather worked with the sound system in the back where I would sit with him and my grandmother was with the choir) alongside many other fond memories. I don't know if my pastor has ever presided over one and the whole topic gives me great distress.

Oh boy. That's causing a lot of emotion for many people right now. I get its hard for a lot of people to see something they've put effort into being taken away from them. Staying with that church certainly may be the correct answer. I suppose it might be worth the effort to find what the pastor's / congregation / church leadership position is. You might not have to directly ask. Just listen and after awhile the position may be revealed.