UPFRONT February 13, 2006 Issue

Anger? Or spiritual awareness?

KIM SHIPPEY, SENIOR WRITER

Anger has long been with us. The Bible has its share of enraged individuals, ranging from Cain, who killed his brother, Abel, in jealous anger (see Genesis, chapter 4), to Peter, who lashed out with his sword in defense of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane (see John 18:11). Last year, continuing suicide bombing attacks in the Middle East, fiery demonstrations in the streets of Paris, and escalating homicide rates in many large cities, suggested that human beings still have a lot to learn about controlling their anger.

In the mid-1950s in London, British theater's original angry young man, John Osborne, turned anger into an art form with his phenomenally successful play Look Back in Anger. His protagonist, Jimmy Porter, vividly captured the rebellious nature of those in the postwar generation who were incensed with the state of affairs in the decades that followed World War II.

This shows how important the topic has been over the years.

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