This is the 4th installment in a continuing series of essays on the seven deadly sins. You can find Bagholder’s other articles on
Wrath is defined as “persistent and inappropriate feelings of hatred and anger.” Wrath is particularly deadly as a sin because it impedes moral growth by replacing critical thought with unchecked emotion. Those infected by wrath are incapable of personal growth as their anger and rage literally define who they are. Sadly, an entire industry is built on the premise that anger must be “managed.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Hatred and anger are what psychologists call “secondary emotions.” In layman’s terms, they mask deeper and more profound issues. Focusing on those negative emotions as though they are something to be “managed” is akin to treating a symptom, not the cause. As a consequence, the underlying issues never get addressed and thus never resolved. This goes a long way towards explaining why racism, a perfect example of inappropriate hatred and anger, will not be cured in my lifetime, or yours.
When viewing the world through a child's idealistic and less nuanced eyes, life can (at times) seem unfair, cruel, and unjust. It is human nature to respond to that fact with the reflexive emotions of anger and rage. As we mature into adulthood, we should begin to recognize our idealistic fairytale-like beliefs on how the world works, rarely meshes with what we see in the world around us. This disparity leaves us with a choice. We can live happily ever after by updating our existing belief system to more accurately match reality …or… we can live in denial, reacting with rage and anger every time our idealistic beliefs conflict with said reality.
In America today, it is a sad fact far too many people succumb to wrath and choose to allow themselves to be defined by the very unfairness they see. Rather than accept life is not always fair, and decide to find a workaround, they opt instead to live life as victims. This provides these tormented souls with a self-perpetuating built-in excuse for non-stop rage. This was played out in the recent headlines where idealistic teens chained and glued themselves to rare works of art and then defaced the art with cans of soup and paint. Those are the actions of victims, upset about how the world works and expressing that frustration with pure unadulterated rage, nothing more.
As we learned in our last blog (click here), anger weakens judgment. This lack of judgment leaves both good causes and good people, to be easily subverted by power-hungry sociopaths. In other words, Wrath is the perfect tool for the powers that be to strengthen their control over the masses…. and believe me, nobody is more aware of this fact than our current crop of rulers. The best way to control a population as large and diverse as the United States is not through brute force (the stick) like the Egyptian empire did. Nor is it through incentivizing (the carrot) the masses as the Roman Empire did. The secret is the unrelenting use of psychological conditioning. Our rulers have become world-class experts at creating a shared reality through tightly framed self-affirming narratives which the masses not only swallow whole - but for some odd reason, clamor for more.
The issue does not matter. Climate change, Racism, Covid, you name it…. a polarizing narrative is already in place which is remarkably effective at disabling critical thought, inhibiting personal growth, instilling uniformity of opinion, and all the while confirming pre-existing narratives beliefs. The ultimate goal of these narratives is to manufacture universal consent. Like any good magician, our rulers are skilled at allowing those under its spell to believe they are in control when in fact, our rulers have pre-determined our range of acceptable thought and intricately woven it into every narrative.
These increasingly sophisticated narratives, or, to be more accurate, our current programming, is designed to grow membership in the collective herd at the expense of destroying individuality. Our assimilation is virtually assured with an educational system, social media, and a 24/7 news cycle - all marching in lockstep, trumpeting the same propaganda. These entities exist not to educate or inform, but to institutionalize by replacing reason and understanding with easily triggered reactive emotions.
As a result, society has become more divided, more polarized, and thus more easily controlled. This polarization effectively isolates individuals, and they are left wondering if that guy over there is one of us or one of them. The capacity to form meaningful social bonds becomes diminished, leaving most of the population in a state of constant depression, swallowing anti-depressants like they were M&M’s. With the 24/7 programming firmly in place, most people opt to travel through life - doing as they are told - on the easier and subservient path of least resistance. After all, an obedient slave is a productive slave. Unfortunately, this leaves the harder and more spiritually rewarding path of freedom, critical thought, and personal growth as the proverbial “Road Less Traveled.”
Bag stands in awe at how adeptly our rulers are able to leverage our own negative emotions against us. Human beings are social creatures. We are all wired with the innate desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves, to belong. Yet, on issue after issue, our rulers look to divide us by stoking the embers of wrath. It is no coincidence, that in a country where police kill more than 1000 people a year on average, the one case which gets national attention is where a white cop restrains a black criminal by kneeling on his neck, and that criminal dies. Instant polarization. Just like that - the HOT button is pressed, and instantly appears the righteous and the wicked - us and them - black and white … and sadly, the cycle of Hate continues.
In the animal kingdom, the Lion is widely considered the king of the jungle. His teeth, claws, size & speed are the defining characteristics that allow him to maintain his place atop the throne. What do you suppose would happen to lions as a species if their teeth and claws were to be removed? Bag would argue they would not only lose their position atop the animal kingdom; they would go extinct in no time. The defining characteristic of human beings, and what truly separates us from the animal kingdom, is the capacity for abstract critical thought. Like lions, we are done as a species if we continue to allow our rulers to remove our defining characteristic by simply fanning the flames of primitive emotions. Recognize wrath is not only the primary tool of our enslavement, but it is also the surefire path to extinction.
It is a weird feeling being in awe of the powers that be. I tend to reserve “awe” for more positive things though it undoubtedly can still be towards evil. :/