Joel Malm on Why We Get So Angry During Election Season and What We Can Do About It
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As if 2020 wasn’t stressful enough, we’ve entered into another heated election season and it’s causing lots of anger, anxiety, and outright rage. Even the calmest of us are prone to getting sucked into an online debate with people we don’t know (or do) and feeling the adrenaline pulsing through us as we fight to get our point made. How can a Christian think that?!
So, why do we get so angry around election time?
More importantly, is there a way to not get so angry this election season?
I believe it’s possible to stay calm and at peace even in the most heated of elections, but to do it, there are few things it’s important to understand about anger.
Courtesy of Joel Malm
1. Anger always comes from feeling threatened
In my book, Love Slows Down, I talk about the fact that anger isn’t a sin, it’s just a sign. It’s a sign you feel threatened. When you get angry at something happening around you, it’s always because of something happening inside you. Anger is a secondary emotion, it comes after we feel a threat to one (or all) of three specific things:
Security (physical, emotional, financial)
Connection (self-esteem, feeling seen and understood)
Control (sense of empowerment, free will, and having choices and options)
At the root of all anger is a fear of not getting one of those things, or fear having it taken away.
2. Fear drives action
Fear was the first emotion Adam and Eve felt when they were separated from the security, connection, and control/empowerment they had in the Garden of Eden. We’ve all felt fear ever since. Fear always leads to some response – fight or flight. When you feel threatened or afraid, your brain activity shifts from your pre-frontal cortex (the rational thinking part) to a more primal part. Fear drives you to action. And action is what politicians, the media, and companies trying to sell you something all want. They want you to vote for them, keep watching them, or buy their products. Fear has the power to get you moving in the direction they want.
Both sides of the political spectrum have their specific fears – all related to security, connection, and control. Whether it’s fear of having your guns taken (threats to security and control), fear of our country becoming uncompassionate to the hurting or refugees (connection), or fear of governments telling our church what they can and can’t do– each side sells fear that appeals to their voter base. And it works – but it also makes us angry at the other side because they are threatening those three basic things. If you live on a steady diet of hearing what the other side is threatening, it will naturally lead to anger. Fear always leads to anger.
