Self-Righteous Indignation

Although it happens everyday and in every way, I am still amazed when the Macro (societies) mirror the Micro (families) in large newsworthy ways as of the past few days.

Self-righteous indignation says: If you don't believe what I believe or behave the way I want you to behave or say the things I want you to say, I will punish you.

The Micro: The abusive husband says, \"You didn't cook the way I wanted you to cook. You didn't stay off the cell phone the way I told you to. You didn't..You didn't...You didn't.... You didn't behave the way I wanted you to behave and you didn't say the things I wanted to hear\" therefore he beats her, and maybe the kids and as it escalates over time, may kill her, the kids and her family members. We call it domestic violence

The Macro: A never-heard-of angry person decides to make a film that nobody ever heard of or has ever seen. A trailer is posted on the internet and seen by other angry people. \"That film doesn't believe what I believe or behave the way I want it to behave or say the things I want to hear therefore, I will punish those around you (family members?) I will kill you.\" The ultimate punishment? What is blasphemy but self-righteous indignation in its extreme? I think this is how wars get started.

Why is it important that some people feel they must be \"better than\" \"righter than\" and have a sense of self imposed justice? We are all on a tiny planet circling around the boondocks of a universe too large to even imagine. Maybe we should try tolerance, understanding and take care of our own pain before inflicting pain on others for our own selfish reasons. As my youngest daughter said upon leaving an abusive husband, \"All he had to do was be nice. Why was that so hard?\"