How do we stop from being furious?

In the Two Towers, the King of Rohan asks the question: "What can men do against such reckless hate?"

The hate in his case is coming in the guise of countless inhuman orcs, spurred on by the tyrannical ambitions of an inhuman wizard. It is really fun to read and watch this conflict in the Lord of the Rings, but the problem is that in that context it is entirely reasonable and appropriate to slaughter the foe. Thousands of brutal, slavering orcs are wiped out without remorse, and we cheer, because we can. They are like zombies, acceptable sacrifices to our lust for violence against human-shaped things. They can be killed in good conscience because they lack free will, and can only be directed towards evil. They not only can be destroyed, but they must be.

Our flesh and blood enemies are not so.

Let me be clear. I believe it is absolutely wrong to speak and think and act cavalierly about the slaughter of our human enemies around the world. It is wrong to arm ourselves to the teeth so that we can engage in firefights with our neighbours. It is wrong to bomb civilian sites in the hopes of getting some of the "bad guys". We are not, as followers of Jesus, permitted to dismiss the life and soul of anyone, let alone our enemies, for whom we are expressly commanded to love and pray.

But when I talk about enemies here, I am also referring to those who are speaking atrocity in the name of Christ. Those who are painting entire cultures as terrorists. Those who are displaying zero compassion towards people fleeing warfare. Those who are using vets or the homeless as political and PR tools to show why our nations should not be hospitable to anyone else, yet have shown no desire to actually help vets or the homeless at any other time. Those who immediately respond to mass shootings with arguments about vehicle deaths, so as to prevent any reasonable discussion about the culture of intentional violence rampant in America.

I find it really, really difficult not to be furious with "these people."

This is not a "left" vs "right" thing. I am not left or right. Show me an issue and I will show you where I come down on it. I am Trinitarian if anything.

This is about pledging allegiance firmly to a state or nation or ideology, and placing that allegiance over and above one's devotion to Christ, and then declaring that you are doing so as a proud follower of Christ. It is hypocrisy and idolatry, and it infuriates me. And I have a hard time stepping away from that fury.

I think I should be angry, that anger is the appropriate response. In the same way that I pray for God to frustrate the plans of Daesh, I also pray for God to frustrate the plans and close the mouths of those spewing hatred in his name. But I am not permitted to view these "enemies" as orcs. They are not mindless; they are not without will; they are beloved of God; Christ died for them. My responsibility, as a Christ-follower, is to find ways to love them.

Lord, change my heart. Help me to see them not simply as "them", but as people who are afraid, who have been made to be afraid, who are enslaved to the fear that the true enemy sows into our hearts, and who are acting and reacting out of that fear. Help me to speak words of liberation and truth, and to be set free from whatever fears are in my heart that are affecting my capacity to love. Help me to know and live the difference between righteous anger and demonic fury. I pray this in your name, prince of peace. Amen.