Great timing! I'm finishing up my series on Pride, and the next Deadly Sin I'm covering is Wrath. This piece provides lots of food for thought and even a couple of quotes (properly credited and with a link to this article, of course :) ).
Social media rewards wrathful behavior and victimhood with attention. Anybody who has ever dealt with toddler tantrums knows exactly what that leads to.
The distinctions you seek to make, between "anger" and "wrath", between "fair justice" and "vengeance", only make sense in a dignity culture that has a well functioning system of rule of law, so one can safely outsource punishment to the justice system.
When that system breaks down, it is necessary to fall back on the old honor culture system, where it is necessary to show strength to earn respect and avoid getting victimized.
Great timing! I'm finishing up my series on Pride, and the next Deadly Sin I'm covering is Wrath. This piece provides lots of food for thought and even a couple of quotes (properly credited and with a link to this article, of course :) ).
Social media rewards wrathful behavior and victimhood with attention. Anybody who has ever dealt with toddler tantrums knows exactly what that leads to.
"You had me..." with the last two titles of your articles :)
“Sing, goddess, of Peleus’ son Achilles whose anger wrought woes a thousand fold upon the Acheans.”
-- Opening lines of “The Iliad”
Cautionary tales against anger go back to our earliest stories.
Emotion is more powerful than logic.
This is why it is important that we don't let "bad" forces control our emotions.
The distinctions you seek to make, between "anger" and "wrath", between "fair justice" and "vengeance", only make sense in a dignity culture that has a well functioning system of rule of law, so one can safely outsource punishment to the justice system.
When that system breaks down, it is necessary to fall back on the old honor culture system, where it is necessary to show strength to earn respect and avoid getting victimized.
https://scholars-stage.org/honor-dignity-and-victimhood-a-tour-through-three-centuries-of-american-political-culture/