Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Is it the odd juxtapositions that dilute the meaning of important events? The solemn observances at Ground Zero yesterday contrast so jarringly with the drunken stupor that Claire Berlinski encountered last night in Georgetown. How to square the excitement of the start of college football with emotions so poignantly expressed by James Lileks yesterday? “I don’t think I’ve ever been more than a second away from the anger I felt on that day,” wrote Lileks. And by God, I’ve been in that same frame of mind since that awful day 9 years ago.
And yet September 11th is a day of celebration for the Carter family. On that day, 25 years ago, my first child was born. I spent yesterday with my son Benjamin, his girlfriend Peggy, and other family and friends. It was a rollicking fun day, beginning with a round of putt-putt played, as we found out, at the same place and on the same course, as the Obama family played just a few weeks ago during their brief stay on Panama City Beach. I asked the attendant, who had been working when the First Family showed up, how the President scored. “They all got the same score,” he answered laughingly. I guess they spread the points around as readily as they spread our property.
From putt-putt to bowling later in the day, to shooting pool, to laughing and celebrating the wonderful ways in which this young man, Benjamin, has enriched all our lives, the day was a wonderful recognition of the very best of American life and yet,….and yet, there it was, unspoken. Perhaps it’s because the juxtaposition of two major events in our personal lives; the birth of a beautiful child and the savage mass murder of our citizens just don’t belong together. Besides, Ben was here first and he certainly wasn’t consulted about the date of the attacks. So we compartmentalize. In the case of our family, it’s necessary. But when a nation compartmentalizes something of this magnitude, is that healthy?
Last night, returning home from the birthday celebration, I sat down with my wife and again watched video footage of the indecent and inhuman assault of 9 years ago. The awful roar of the engines. The sheer speed and savage finality with which the second plane full of innocent people slammed right through a building full of more innocent people shakes us to our souls to this day. Watching the images of people falling, their arms and legs flailing about in those final horrific seconds of life, the anger was just as fresh in my mind as on the day it happened. It was more than anger, that day. For me it was fury.
James writes, “There’s nothing virtuous about anger, and you sound mulish and stubborn if you say you don’t particularly want to heal. I just don’t want to.” While I don’t want to heal either, I’m not sure that I subscribe to James’ statement that there is nothing virtuous about anger. Anger that day, prompted my friend, Bob Lee, to call within minutes of the attacks and volunteer to come out of retirement and go back on active duty to fight the bastards. Anger prompted me, fresh back from a tour in the mid-east, to volunteer for another deployment to help kill as many of them as possible. They didn’t grant Bob’s request, but thankfully they granted mine.
Could it be that the more we lose touch with that anger, the more we compartmentalize? And the more we compartmentalize, the more we lose focus on an enemy that remains at war with us? To James, to Americans, to friends of freedom everywhere, I respectfully suggest that we cling to the anger, and never forget what we felt that day. For to lose those emotions is to risk losing the stomach to engage the fight that is still being waged against us. We lose sight of that salient fact at our peril.
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Jun '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Anger is useful in the same way that adrenalin is. It facilitates action. But, like adrenalin, it's not healthy to be on for extended periods. The anger has to switch to calm vigilance. It's the calm man that notices the new dangers.
May '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
I agree. Anger certainly can be virtuous, though it is not always so. Anger is properly a response to injustice. It is often what inspires us to face injustice and to overcome it.
It is emotion, rather than logic, which drives us to action. Reason merely offers us direction. Emotion is the fuel that propels us forward.
One of the worst offenses of the "Enlightenment" and its idolization of empirical science is the modern habit of dismissing the necessary role of emotion and subjectivity in our lives. You folks don't know how lucky you are to experience emotions as you do. Don't dismiss or suppress your emotions. Direct them, moderate them, and use them.
As a person who has always lacked drive, I have tremendous admiration for people who allow that inner fire to empower their actions. Anger would not exist in a world without evil, but it is not wrong. It exists because the goodness within us is incompatible with what we see. Anger is a sign that we are not as corrupt as the world in which we live.
Anger is a great tool when we use it to remain focused and devoted to justice.
Jun '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Dave, every year since that day, I make a point to watch video and re-read accounts in order to keep that memory - and emotion - within reach. Is the anger still there? Indeed. And largely, I agree that this remembrance is essential, to include the emotion. It is natural, though, that time does somewhat dilute emotions. There is a delicate balance there, in touching the anger to retain our resolve and perspective, but not to be so consumed by it that we become blind to life and people around us (e.g., the celebration of family). If there is any virtue in anger (or righteous anger), it would be reflected best in those who channel it through an exercise of self-control (maintaining a certain objectivity), than it would be in those who lose themselves in a fury that blinds them.
That said, I find myself unable to truly comprehend the mindset of those who would rather just erase the memory and emotion altogether. Life may go on, but we should never be so quick to dismiss those events that mark or shape us - whether those be moments of joy or pain. But let our clinging not be a shackling.
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Fine post, Dave, and good comments - I agree. There's nothing inherently virtuous about anger, or all the people who showed up at the protests in Greece to scream and block traffic and firebomb a bank would have to be regarded as fine and noble souls in pursuit of a good thing. Neither does this mean that anger discredits your motivation or reaction. As Aaron said, it's a tool. Like a screwdriver. You can use it to put something together or stab someone in the eye.
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Thanks Gents, for the perspective. I second James in agreeing with Aaron, that anger is a tool, or a fuel, if you will. With regard to Islamist terrorists, James, I think it should be used to put something together that will stab them in the eye. But then, sometimes I'm just subtle like that.
May '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
There was a thread where anger was addressed in the comments http://ricochet.com/conversations/Sunday-News-Shows-More-Beck
Achilles had a whole lot of anger. Harvey Mansfield who I believe will have an interview with Peter that will begin tomorrow, says that Achilles is the manliest of men in literature. But, Achilles was a warrior and used his anger as a tool on the battlefield. I think it must depend on what anger is a tool for.
Great post Dave. I don't have a conclusion on this, but Achilles came to mind. It's a rare thing to talk about the virtues these days.
Sep '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Allow me to clarify the issue. We are discussing righteous anger, which is not the same as the anger of the idiots who torched the bank in Greece.
For the last 50 years, liberals especially have preached that "Anger is bad" and "Violence is never an option."
Baloney.
If, for example, I ever see a mugger assaulting & robbing a blind girl, I guarantee you blood will run in the street. And I make no apology for my fierce attitude. When you suppress righteous anger, you are denying your basic humanity.
Yesterday, on the 9/11 thread, I offered pretty much the same feelings as James Lileks and Dave Carter, although I expressed myself in much more searing terms. That post was deleted – which I deeply resent because I believe that its very harshness cut to the heart of the issue – enduring rage over 9/11. When you are sharing your raw humanity, polite phrasing and muffled emotions will not serve.
The unique pride & glory of America is based on the fact that we are willing to use violence on behalf of the Right – especially in defense of other people – as Mark Steyn himself has often pointed out.
May '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
A couple of years ago, a grad student who had been babysitting for our toddler revealed some whopping misconceptions about Global Warming -- like, it would almost certainly be the cause of death for all of today's children -- and I commented on this to our left-leaning neighbor. Said neighbor expressed enthusiasm that she was so afraid, even if she was mistaken, "because fear is a great motivator."
I replied that fear may be a good motivator, but it's a lousy way to make decisions. That pretty much sums up my feeling about anger: we all experience it, but its usually best to suppress it rather than let it proceed unbridled.
Jul '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Dave, I have, in my more mature years, learned to use the energy from anger to get things done. I have used that emotional energy to clean the house or write my elected representatives. Mostly these days it falls to the WRITE THE REPRESENTATIVE side. On 9/11/2001 I was teaching Geometry in a small rural school when one of my students RAN back to class to say the Principal told us to get our TVs on. After that it was shock, disbelief, realization. In 6th grade I was in Science when someone on TV broke in to tell us of Pres. Kennedy's death.
However yesterday we attended a positive ceremony -- an Honor and Remembrance at Red Hill Methodist to honor those who served on that fateful day. All our Fire Departments and our Sheriff's Office were represented at a FLAG RAISING-- All lights blazing, ROTC brought in the flag and raised & lowered it ending with Taps by a member/veteran.
A good ending to a day to solidify my neighborhood. God Bless America.
May '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
The adrenaline rush of anger at those who mean to do us and our families harm is the survival instinct. Literally, that's what it is.
We have to keep our heads, of course, but primative instincts are in us for a reason, and we aren't so clever that we can survive without them.
Jun '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Not to trivialize, but I am put in mind of a poor football coach extolling his players to get angry! That might get the team a momentary burst, but anger will never beat well practiced talent. If the anger is not channelled into resolve it is as useless as complacency. What America does best is kill its enemies, and any anger generated by these caliphate morons should be channelled in the direction of advancing their appointed tryst with virginal pulchritude. Unfortunately, the current occupant of the White House is more likely to bow and apologize than to toss rubble about the squat we have come to know and love as the Arab world. Now, I'm not saying we should kill them all, but a prolonged game of whack-a-mole would prove beneficial to the cause of peace.
Jul '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
I always thought the Left owned anger. It resides in that hollow space where a soul should have been.
Aug '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
True. And perhaps the best time to start learning how to channel anger rightly is in childhood.
Children first learn how to channel emotions from their parents, and it's no surprise, really, when children raised by "Enlightenment" parents (as per Aaron's quote below) don't know how to get angry in an effective and dignified fashion.
Aaron Miller:
One of the worst offenses of the "Enlightenment"... is the modern habit of dismissing the necessary role of emotion and subjectivity in our lives. You folks don't know how lucky you are to experience emotions as you do. Don't dismiss or suppress your emotions. Direct them, moderate them, and use them.
This is something our Founders understood, something, moreover, that I think Enlightenment-age Anglophones in general usually got. The Continental Enlightenment, on the other hand, saw Reason and Emotion as opposed, rather than complementary, aspects of human nature. And for this they reaped the reward of bloody revolutions in France where "Reason" was brutally worshiped with the most unbridled (since never guided) emotivism, as well as the excesses of Romanticism.
Sep '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Bless you, Cas. May I recommend Victor Davis Hanson's Carnage and Culture (2001). Hanson argues that the military ascendency of the West came about because we are just really, really good at killing people – a lethal proficiency based on individualism & consensual government. I see Yankee pragmatism in it, as well. The idea is to inflict maximum damage on the enemy with minimum risk to yourself. That would certainly explain America's dominance in the use of artillery. To my way of thinking, there's no essential difference between an American soldier firing a howitzer and a factory worker operating heavy equipment.
Edited on Sep 12, 2010 at 4:46pmSep '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
The Left owns petulance, and pious, phony outrage. Honest anger belongs to the Right. Has Obama ever truly been angry? I can see him throwing a girly hissy-fit, but...
Aug '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Thank you, Dave. I recently had a deacon try to convince me that anger was always evil and Jesus in the Temple driving out the moneychangers with a whip was filled with "zeal." I'm thinking, whip equals anger, not "zeal." Period. Zero tolerance for anger is part of a very sick ideology that is ruining our society. We are supposed to be satisfied watching actors get paid a lot to pretend to be angry so we can vicariously "discharge" our anger. Institutions stuffed with females incapable of properly interpreting male emotion, let alone anger, without dialing "911" are harming both individuals and our social structures. I seriously entertain the hypothesis that the widespread pressure to suppress all public expressions of even slight irritation is actually resulting in people inappropriately losing their cool, if not worse. Many starter motors in my vehicles have found their proper seating precisely because at that moment of high frustration, with arm and neck muscles aching, uttering a rough word or two--my irascible spirit finally came through. Control is not "never being angry;" control is being angry well. Our therapized, castrating, Prozac culture cannot accept what Aquinas, Aristotle and Jesus knew perfectly well.
Sep '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Thank you as well, David, for bringing up "Christ and the Money Changers." I love that story. Even though the event occurred 2000 years ago, in a culture very alien to our own, is it so difficult to imagine Christ laying about him with the whip, shouting, "Get the hell out and stay the hell out! This is a temple, not a G--d--n bazaar!"? That is honest, righteous anger – a healthy thing. Suppose he had gone mincing through the temple, saying, "Aw, gee, fellas, you really shouldn't be here. Please, pretty please, why don't you pack up and go somewhere else?" Right.
The scriptures make it very clear that Christ's violent gesture made quite an impression. The critical point is, Christ was not acting out of mindless, irrational, incomprehensible rage. People understood exactly what he was doing and why he was doing it.
"Zeal", my butt. Your deacon was being glib.
Edited on Sep 12, 2010 at 8:44pmAug '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
MFR, I am ignorant of the intriguing historical point you raise. Your comment engendered another extremely interesting thought (for me) regarding the nature of the complementarity of reason and emotion. Thanks!
May '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Emotion is powerful in collective action as well as individual action. I thought of this while watching this week's Uncommon Knowledge with Harvey Mansfield. How much change was affected in the 1960s and 1970s because the revolutionaries had the stronger will to fight? Pat's thread on the Left's love of intimidation is also relevant.
Conservatives need to get, if not angry, riled up if we are to defeat the Left. The right ideas are useless if we lack the fervor to defend them. I've often said conservative leaders need to be charismatic. All people need inspiration.
Jun '10
Re: Can Anger Over 9/11 Be Virtuous?
Dave, I also believe anger can be very useful. And those who believe "violence never solves anything" have never read history. But everything in it's place. My son was born on 12 September. My wife, commenting about the return of mandatory registration for the draft, often expressed her concern that there would be a war the minute he turned 18. He turned 18 on 12 September 2001.
I will not forget my friend, Liam Colhoun, who made it out of the towers but was killed when he went back for a friend. But I will also compartmentalize it to the extent I does not disrupt our happiness at the birth our son.
You've said it better than I could, Dave.