{"id":922,"date":"2018-10-11T12:57:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T12:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/?p=922"},"modified":"2018-10-20T17:02:08","modified_gmt":"2018-10-20T17:02:08","slug":"saying-goodbye-righteous-indignation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/yourmorningcupofinspiration\/2018\/10\/saying-goodbye-righteous-indignation.html","title":{"rendered":"Saying Goodbye to Righteous Indignation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"body-clouds-early-morning-823694<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen a lot of indignant people on the news lately. An indignant Supreme Court nominee.\u00a0 Indignant U.S. senators.\u00a0 Indignant activists.\u00a0 Folks are brimming with righteous indignation because they feel that they have been wronged.<\/p>\n

So, to jump on the band wagon, during the past two weeks, I have tried to muster up some of my twenty-something indignation. I am a proponent of the \u201cMe Too\u201d movement, and the past two years certainly have given women a reason to be outraged.\u00a0 The problem is that I am no longer twenty.\u00a0 I am almost 50, and righteous indignation no longer comes easily to me.<\/p>\n

My problem is that whenever I get angry about someone\u2019s behavior, that still, small voice says to me, \u201cHmmm. Are you sure that you are in a position to cast stones?\u201d\u00a0 Well, no.\u00a0 The still, small voice is irritating, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Because I would like to rant and rave and be judgmental, as I did in the good old days.\u00a0 I enjoyed being young, thinking that I knew everything, and knowing for sure that everyone else had gotten it all wrong.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve grown up. Being mad and outraged is no longer fun.\u00a0 Now, when I see man\u2019s inhumanity to man in the world, I don\u2019t feel pissed off.\u00a0 Instead, I am saddened.\u00a0 I also am reminded of my own wrong doings.\u00a0 And I am chastened when I think about my own past sins, bad choices and failures.<\/p>\n

For instance, when I see stories of women and children being abused, I don\u2019t feel angry. I recognize that we human beings are deeply flawed, and that the world has a lot of very mentally sick people in it. Evil in the world is a natural consequence of that.\u00a0 What I do feel is incredibly sad.\u00a0 Then my maternal instinct kicks in, and I want to hug every abused woman and child and tell them that it will all be OK.<\/p>\n

Now my lack of righteous indignation hasn\u2019t made me brain dead. I just have a practical view of things.\u00a0 Rationally, I know that there are some people in this world who aren\u2019t fit to be part of society.\u00a0 They are either violent or perverted, or both.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t make me angry with them.\u00a0 But I also don\u2019t want them roaming free around my neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Likewise, there are some people who aren\u2019t meant to be in roles of leadership because they lack the maturity and temperament to lead. That doesn\u2019t make them bad people.\u00a0 It just makes them ill-suited for certain jobs.\u00a0 Why should their flaws and limitations make me angry?\u00a0 We are all human beings, and God created us to be imperfect.<\/p>\n

More personally, I could probably name off the top of my head about 10 people who I occasionally interact with, but who I would gladly never see again. I\u2019m not mad at them or outraged by them.\u00a0 Nor am I sitting around feeling irritated with something they may have said or done.\u00a0 I just would prefer not to deal with them because they are difficult to be around.<\/p>\n

I recently was chatting with a friend of mine who told me, \u201cI\u2019m not seeking happiness anymore. I just want peace.\u201d\u00a0 That is what happens when you get to be of a certain age, I suppose.\u00a0 Your top priority is to have peaceful relationships \u2013 and a peaceful mind.\u00a0 Righteous indignation disrupts that peace.<\/p>\n

Now some might say that without righteous indignation, the world will continue to be an unjust and unsafe place for women, children and animals. I disagree.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to shout at anyone to create political change.\u00a0 I have my vote to do that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t need to protest to feed people.\u00a0 I can give food to my local food bank.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t need to get angry and loud about the abuse of animals.\u00a0 I have three pets in my house from animal shelters who reflect my views on that topic quite clearly.<\/p>\n

Righteous indignation is not going to change our world. That kind of indignation is all about sound bites and getting votes.\u00a0 It isn\u2019t about creating real change.\u00a0 Real change comes from the quiet, dogged, strategic actions of people like you and me.\u00a0 It comes from voting our consciences and living lives that reflect our values.\u00a0 Being noisy will never change the world, and righteous indignation is nothing but noise.<\/p>\n

(Photo Courtesy of Pexels)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve seen a lot of indignant people on the news lately. An indignant Supreme Court nominee.\u00a0 Indignant U.S. senators.\u00a0 Indignant activists.\u00a0 Folks are brimming with righteous indignation because they feel that they have been wronged. So, to jump on the band wagon, during the past two weeks, I have tried to muster up some of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSaying Goodbye to Righteous Indignation - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Saying Goodbye to Righteous Indignation - Your Morning Cup of Inspiration\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019ve seen a lot of indignant people on the news lately. 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