About two decade ago, I had a pet dog. One fine evening, I took him along for a stroll. On the way he spotted a stranger (another dog) which soon became his enemy. The fierce fight began between the two creatures. In my helpless situation my angry pet dog turned to me and bit me so badly for no mistake of mine. He shifted his anger on me and I became the innocent victim.
I guess this simple but true illustration rings a bell? Many innocent people are going through this experience more often than we hear. The consequence of shifting anger on the innocent is heard very often especially in the hands of military personnel, IRB personnel, factional and militant groups, etc., the latest one being the infamous assault of some farmers by the 22nd Assam Rifles at Mao Gate and not forgetting the innocent Naga brothers and sisters in the NC Hills of Assam in the cruel hands of the Black Widow faction of DHD. This is the root cause of fear psychosis among the innocent public in the contemporary scenario of the people almost everywhere. Who will deliver us from this state of mind? It is everybody’s responsibility to work for the well being of one’s society, yet people who’re responsible for creating fear psychosis must be willing to initiate in doing away with this social evil. As long as lives exist on this planet conflict will abide as well. Conflict, misunderstanding, miscommunication or communication gap are all part of human life; however, there is always room and opportunity for fact finding through mutual communication even during the most tensed situations if and when one uses one’s reasoning capacity. This opportunity must not be missed.
“Why does the wicked prosper and the innocent suffer?” is an unanswered question down through the ages. From spiritual point of view, it is another story, but from social and political point of view it is the work of a few irrational people. The wicked always takes the upper hand in this crooked and perverse world. The ability to reason or rationalize what is wrong and what is right is what makes human beings different from that of animals. Are some people whom our Creator created to be rational beings turning into “beasts” with human appearance? God forbid. We’re rational beings, but if we become irrational we demoralize ourselves. It is said that we don’t get drunk with wine alone, but we get drunk in anger, too. That’s when we become irrational when we get angry. Well, to be angry is human, but anger must be handled with reason and patience so that evil consequence is not created out of anger. The Scripture does not say that one should not get angry. Instead, it (Scripture) encourages healthy and reasonable anger, but not without condition. The condition is that, anger should not lead a person to sin (Psalm 4:4; Ephesians 4:26). Hence, victimizing the innocent fellow beings by shifting anger is a terrible sin. For a non-Christian these things are beyond his head. Or even if he understands, he will not believe, but for Christian brothers and sisters, the severity of shifting anger on the innocent needs to be done away. Do not hurt the sentiment of the innocent people, for in doing so you gain nothing, but create greater division and bitterness, thus invoke the wrath of God upon yourselves. Let there be peace, and let it begin with me and you.
C. Cho-o
