Vengeance, Anger, and Looking Ahead

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"The avenger of blood may execute the murderer, putting him to death on sight."
(Numbers 35:19)
I ran into that bit from the Pentateuch in "Judas on a Pole," an episode in the second season of Bones. The writers used an 'Olde Englishe' translation that many Americans perceive as 'Biblical,' and that's another topic.

If someone murdered a member of my family, I would be very angry. There'd be something wrong with me if I wasn't.

Anger, Sin, and Getting a Grip


Anger is a "capital sin," a sin that's particularly serious because it leads to other sins. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1866)

That doesn't mean that I've committed a sin every time I experience anger. I'm human, so I experience emotions. Emotions aren't good or bad by themselves. What matters is what we do with them. (Catechism, 1767)

If I hang on to anger, let it build into a desire to harm or kill someone else: that's where it becomes a sin. (Catechism, 1762-1775, 2302-2303)

Many Americans seem to feel that God has anger management issues. After Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," followed by 273 years of hellfire lectures: that's understandable. (December 1, 2013)

More at A Catholic Citizen in America.

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