A warning about anger

I've had a couple past posts regarding anger, one of which was a talk I gave last fall.

Our emotions can be powerful motivators. Politicians, and those seeking for power, often use fear to move people to action. They may also get people riled up against something, which is basically the same as the scriptural term "stirred up to anger."

Those who do allow themselves to get stirred up in anger often lose their ability to see things in a rational, reasonable, or even logical light. Their emotions make it difficult for them to even want to see things from a different perspective.

Consider the following verse found in Alma 43:8, which is about a wicked leader of the Lamanites named Zerahemnah:

"For behold, his designs were to stir up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites; this he did that he might usurp great power over them, and also that he might gain power over the Nephites by bringing them into bondage."

Zarahemnah was stirring up the Lamanites to anger against the Nephites. Is this any different than some politician, celebrity, news outlet, or any other entity trying to incite anger against a person, race, belief, etc.? What about stirring people up to anger against those do oppose gun control, or those who belief in traditional marriage and who are against same-sex marriage?

Why did he want to stir them up to anger? Because he could use that anger to "usurp great power over" the Lamanites. The anger would blind the Lamanites to reason, and they would be easier to control, as long as that anger is focused in the direction Zarahemnah wanted.

This is one of Satan's tactics. It has too frequently been used by leaders to point fingers of blame, and is the basis for loss of freedoms and even of lives. Hitler used it to justify imprisoning and killing millions of Jews. But even today's politicians simply point fingers at those across the aisle, who disagree with them.

Too many people refuse to even try to understand someone else's viewpoint, and simply resort to manifestations of anger. Politicians harness, and cultivate, these emotional movements to push through their own agendas.

It is much easier to get control over people by using anger, than by trying to persuade them. The difference is control obtained through the use of fear and anger often doesn't last very long, and those feelings need to be continually stirred up to maintain control.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Coming Total Solar Eclipses in 2017 and 2024 for North America

Stretched-forth Necks

All Nations Will Be Drunken with Iniquity