This memorial in stained-glass at the United Nations is a tribute to the late Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961), and the 15 UN staff members and UN peacekeepers who died with him. Their plane crashed while flying to a peace negotiation for the Congo Crisis in Northern Rhodesia. A UN Staff committee was formed to ask world-renowned Belorussian-born, French Jewish artist Marc Chagall (1887–1985), whose work Hammarskjöld had greatly admired, to create the memorial. (Photo Courtesy of John Sumwalt)
Special to United Methodist Insight | May 6, 2026
There is a lot of anger on social media these days – and on the cable news shows, and in many other places. The blessed tie that binds those of us who follow Jesus is being severely tested. Incendiary rhetoric from all sides has made it nearly impossible to have a civil conversation with Christian friends.
Most of us have strong opinions on all the hot issues. I certainly do. I am glad to share my opinions with anyone who is will listen. And, of course, I think I'm right about everything. Just ask my wife.
I confess that there are days when I forget my Jesus-loving, baptized self, and let my reactionary anger color a response to a Facebook friend who dares to disagree with my point of view. When I catch myself, I remember John Wesley’s three simple rules for followers of Jesus: “Do No Harm, Do Good, and Attend to the Ordinances of God.”
It is the first one that judges me most. I wonder after every angry exchange, did I do harm? Were my words needlessly hurtful?
Yet, it is necessary for followers of Jesus to speak plainly, and sometimes forcefully, about the issues of the day. In my United Methodist denomination, we promise in our baptism and membership vows to both repent of sin and to “…renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, (to) reject the evil powers of this world…”
And when we are asked, “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?” We are supposed to answer yes. I did, and I do.
Jesus cleansed the temple and had other moments of righteous anger. But I am not the Messiah, so I pray desperately for clarity about these issues that arouse such hot anger and for gentle, not searing words to express it.
Words have power and can wound others more easily than we know. Once off the tongue, or posted into the vast, infinite social media ether, they cannot be rescinded. Yes, one can apologize, and I have done, but… how to do better?
What I am not willing to do is to suggest that anyone who disagrees with me is not Christian. Whenever I am tempted to think otherwise, which is often these days, I remind myself of what John Wesley had to say about disagreements among believers:
"We believe Christ to be the eternal, supreme God... But as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think."
The same might be said about any hasty judgments one might be tempted to make about a neighbor's patriotism. The country needs patriots of many different stripes. The late columnist Sydney Harris used to insist in his syndicated columns that a nation needed differences of opinions in order to stay strong:
"Liberals and conservatives alike are equally convinced that if every citizen thought their way, most of our problems would be solved. After all, what we really mean by 'right thinking person' is a person who thinks like us....”
Harris added, “We would not be better off, we would be worse off if any single viewpoint dominated our national life, whether it be the viewpoint I happen to favor or the one I dislike. Disagreement or dissensions are not impediments to national welfare, but indispensable adjuncts to every bone and muscle and nerve in the body politic."
Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator in the Bush Administration, spoke of differences of opinions in her party:
"The party is big enough for people to have diverse opinions on certain issues, and it's OK to be pro-choice and pro-life and still be a Republican. It doesn't mean you're evil or bad or anything else, you just are in a different place on those issues... People are fed up with nastiness in politics, the extremism. We're not a nasty, hard-edged, mean-spirited country, and if you looked at our politics you'd think we were."
"Freedom of Speech" is the first of the Four Freedoms, a series of oil paintings by Norman Rockwell, inspired by United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address. The painting was published in the February 20, 1943, issue of The Saturday Evening Post. (Public Doman Photo via Wikimedia Commons)
Our Buddhists friends tell a story about their founder that might help us Christians negotiate the more than usual nastiness of the current political season:
"One day Buddha was walking through a village. An angry and rude man came toward him and began insulting him. ‘You have no right to teach others!’ he shouted. ‘You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake.’
“Buddha was not upset by these insults. He just smiled. The man insulted him over and over, but the only reaction he could get back from the Buddha was a smile and silence. Finally, the rude man left.
“The disciples were feeling angry and one of them asked the Buddha, ‘Why didn't you reply to the rude man?’
“The Buddha replied, ‘If someone offers you a gift, and you refuse to accept it, to whom does the gift belong?’
“The disciple was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, ‘It would belong to the person who brought the gift.’
“The Buddha smiled and said, ‘That is correct. It is the same with anger, we do not have to accept.’”
John Sumwalt
The Rev. John Sumwalt is a retired United Methodist pastor and the author of "Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives."