Is the world becoming more filled with hate and anger?

Is the internet making people more violent? Is it allowing people a means to behave in a such a way that they would not normally do in real life...Can this behaveior translate over into real life? With this past summers rise in violent flash mobs attacking people, and just the general disturbing trend of down right hate filled mean comments on forums, and news stories (not talking about SI) I was thinking about the danger there is in the anonymity of the internet and how that affects us in life. I have also heard it mentioned that the evil and hate you are seeing now is just a reflection of the world as God withdraws Himself more because of the times we now live in? Does anyone have any thoughts on this, I realize through out history there has been times of brutality so perhaps this is not anything new...all I know is you can not seem to walk down the street or even read a simple news story with out some unkind or hate filled comments coming up. There just seems to be an attitude of hate and anger in the world that seems to be getting more and more acceptable by society as a whole??

rdg

What makes me so sad is seeing this behavior and attitude carried over to the children. Even younger teens and children being rude, mean and just down right hateful toward each other. Very sad...

rdg

In our part of the country males still open doors for females, or, at least they do for for me in the public - can't speak for others. When a male does this, I will always thank them.

Missippi is behind in many things and ahead in some things we should be ashamed of, but in courtesy I would say we shine! :-)

Having visited the north a lot it does seem to me the people there are angrier, ruder then in the south. But then, the south has always been known to be more courteous...actually, our granddaughter prefers the south for this very reason! She said people here will talk to you, they smile in contrast to her community where this does not happen often.

In any case, it seems to me that as a Christian it is my responsibility to always be courteous, be polite, be kind at every opportunity I have. It is amazing what happens when you do this. So, if people are getting meaner I suggest you start a move in your community and show them a better way!

Blaine, I hope you will not allow radical feminists to impact your kindness to others...keep it up. It may teach someone, encourage someone - it usually works this way.

I noticed it does depend upon the part of the Country we are in as well. I am here in Nevada and there are still men of all ages who will open the door for me. I try to really thank them as to encourage them.

There is an ethnic group here, to my surprise, who will go right in front of you, in the car or in the door way, male or female. They seem to constantly have the right away if its in the car or in the door way etc. Really sad.

Then in Wyoming, I was shocked at the politeness of the men of all ages there.

I taught my little grandson to open the door for others and he loves it as he gets a lot of attention. And he still does it as older.

Amen, G.R. I agree, lets never stop being polite no matter what the response is.

yes.

by Joyful_Heart on 2011/9/7 16:09:28

"I noticed it does depend upon the part of the Country we are in as well. I am here in Nevada and there are still men of all ages who will open the door for me. I try to really thank them as to encourage them.

There is an ethnic group here, to my surprise, who will go right in front of you, in the car or in the door way, male or female. They seem to constantly have the right away if its in the car or in the door way etc. Really sad.

Then in Wyoming, I was shocked at the politeness of the men of all ages there.

I taught my little grandson to open the door for others and he loves it as he gets a lot of attention. And he still does it as older.

Amen, G.R. I agree, lets never stop being polite no matter what the response is."

A very nice post. Your moniker, 'Joyful Heart' suits you very well.

I think we need to remember that as our societies turn from their Christian and Bible based heritage to humanistic evolution based philosphy we will see more and more hatred, rudness, selfishness etc. As a child brought up in the Uk I still remember having Bible lessons in primary school and the lessons of the sermon on the mount are still fixed in my mind. If only children in this generation in junior school had this taught instead of the multi-faith or no faith stuff they are taught nowadays.
To the Bible despisers of this world, etc. I say what is so wrong with the teaching in God's wonderful Word 'Do to others what you would have them do to yourself', 'Love your enemies', 'Be kind to one another'? Why not teach this to this generation children.
When I was a child even non-Christians were familiar with these principles.
One thing though we can be encouraged with, yes the world is a more hateful, spuetful, selfish place. Yet when it is darkest even a small sputtering candle gives out a light that can't be missed. As believers when we stand out as people who are different, whose lives show through our love, politeness, care etc. motivated by Christ, it WILL stand out in a dark world.

I dont believe the internet is doing it but you hit the nail on the head when you said there is more hate and anger in the world. I have been noticing this too, bigtime. Esp. where i live in the midwest. It is not the internet, it is caused by the PRIDE and ARROGANCE of Americans. Pride is the root of it all. Hearts have become SO VERY hard here. I met hateful and angry people when i was growing up 35 years ago too, but today it just seems like you can't meet hardly anyone who is not angry at some level. People have the attitude that they can demand what they want everywhere and many are spoiled. The degree of narcissism in this country is frightening.

QUOTE: "One thing though we can be encouraged with, yes the world is a more hateful, spuetful, selfish place. Yet when it is darkest even a small sputtering candle gives out a light that can't be missed."--rOBYN

Very good point! Your reminder makes me so happy, and gives hope. Cuz I noticed this principle when i sit in my kitchen and turn on the light during the day; the light doesnt help much or make a difference during the day. But at night it really lights up the place and helps me see everything clearly. The darker the night, the more powerful the light.

hi, when you meet a guy at work or at church and he is a jerk you tend to be civil toward him or her.(been a jerk most of my life and am an authority on jerkdom)when on the net one tends to be brave because he is not going to punched or shot and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" no fear of reproach or harm.rudeness is rampent on the net.jimp

"There just seems to be an attitude of hate and anger in the world that seems to be getting more and more acceptable by society as a whole??"

I remember an incident that happened on the bus a while back. An older man making his way through the narrow isle of the bus must have bumped or brushed another rider, a young woman. So great was the offence of that incidental contact with another mere human being, that for the next twenty minutes or so the young woman gave the man no peace or quarter. Battered by incesent demands for an appology he finally responded to her in exasperation 'you're not God!'.

No she was not God. But the modern philosophical humanism that has so pervaded the thought and fabric of western life has trained a new generation of young people to act as though they were - gods.

Human beings can be petty without any encouragement. When they've been convinced through every form of media, education, and entertainment, that the world revolves around them and their greatest end and goal of life should be the achievement of their own personal happiness, petty can become outright cruel.

If man is capable of evil, he's even more so as a god.

Petty gods disdain and punish even the slightest offence and insult to their diety, without mercy.

by ChrisJD on 2011/9/22 3:38:05

"There just seems to be an attitude of hate and anger in the world that seems to be getting more and more acceptable by society as a whole??"

I remember an incident that happened on the bus a while back. An older man making his way through the narrow isle of the bus must have bumped or brushed another rider, a young woman. So great was the offence of that incidental contact with another mere human being, that for the next twenty minutes or so the young woman gave the man no peace or quarter. Battered by incesent demands for an appology he finally responded to her in exasperation 'you're not God!'.

No she was not God. But the modern philosophical humanism that has so pervaded the thought and fabric of western life has trained a new generation of young people to act as though they were - gods.

Human beings can be petty without any encouragement. When they've been convinced through every form of media, education, and entertainment, that the world revolves around them and their greatest end and goal of life should be the achievement of their own personal happiness, petty can become outright cruel.

If man is capable of evil, he's even more so as a god.

Petty gods disdain and punish even the slightest offence and insult to their diety, without mercy.
_________________

Wow this is exactly the attitude of heart that I have been seeing all around me as well. I really do believe it is a sign of GOD withdrawing HIMSELF because of our sin and unwillingness to repent.

God bless
mj

"a young woman. So great was the offence of that incidental contact with another mere human being, that for the next twenty minutes or so the young woman gave the man no peace or quarter. Battered by incesent demands for an appology he finally responded to her in exasperation 'you're not God!'."

Too bad your wife was not along to ask this female why she is so angry! I suspect there is an underlying cause, not obvious to the casual observer, for her anger. While it may be humanism, I suspect she is a victim of abuse, rejection by one or both parents, or she had an abortion or "all of the above." As the numbers of females grows that have had abortions you can reasonably expect to see more angry females. This is all part of what is called post-abortion-syndrome - angry at any and all males.

Sad.

Hi again everyone. Ginny, thankyou for the insight you shared, it made sense.

I've been thinking about this thread over the past week off and on. When something is in the back of your mind you take more notice of the things in front of it, that relate.

For example, I spotted an advertisement soliciting participants for a clinical study about... yes, anger. A local university wants to examine the effectiveness of 'anger managment techniques' in treating IED. No I did not know what IED was either - Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

I also remembered some other details of the story I told you all about the young woman that relentlessly harrassed a man maybe 20 or 30 years her senior for an appology after he inadvertenly bumped into her on a crowded bus. I had forgotten about the two young boys that had taken her side during the dispute and were threatening the man. They acted like they wanted to do something to him but were afraid to do it on the bus so I followed behind when he got off. They continued to follow him afterwards and they dashed into a departing train when they saw him get on it.

Sunday I took an early morning bus to NY. There were a few people there waiting for it to arrive. Two women showed up that were drunk and loud enough to be noticed. The bus arrived late and crowded. I got a seat. Not everyone did because one woman was using two seats to sleep in and so someone had to wake her up or go without a seat which they paid for. The one that had to wake her up... was the one that had been drinking.

It was perhaps 5 minutes before the two were nearly fighting and a shouting match broke out. The sleeping woman was offended because the drunken woman smelled of drink. The drunken woman, not intimidated, told her she'd have to deal with it. The sleeping woman insisted she shouldn't have woke her. The driver had to seperate them.

A line from the University's website describing the research study has at least this much right:

Anger and aggression are everywhere – on the road, in the schools, at little league games, at home, and at work.

Every year they have a huge free-for-all gathering in the Nevada desert. A entry at Wikipedia about the event says it is described by many participants as:

an experiment in community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance.

They call it "Burning Man".

Whatever the study on anger finds, more humanism will not put the fires out.