Massacring in 4k: On The Production Of Rage

And How We Can Use Mindfulness To Combat It

Last week I discovered an unfamiliar feeling lurking. It squeezed my chest, tightening with every breath. I felt it in my face, pushing out from behind my eyes, pulsating inside my skull. It shot through my shoulders and swirled in my stomach. It seeped into my veins and spread into every extremity. 

At first I didn’t know what to call it. It was more intense than anger and more blinding than fear. It was sharper than hatred but hazier than sadness. It was both energizing and exhausting. As it continued to build, it permeated my being, taking over my senses. It commandeered my consciousness, igniting my thoughts into a frenzy. It infected every inch of me. And then I realized what it was. Rage. 

Once I recognized it, I understood that it was part of their plan. It was manufactured by Hamas and their abhorrent pawns to infiltrate my mind, and the minds of millions. Like sadistic paragliders soaring in to butcher the innocent, scenes of atrocities were sent across the globe to infiltrate the psyches of those who lack the perversions to imagine such horrors on their own. 

If the definition of terror is weaponized fear, then the definition of rage is weaponized anger. Hamas wants both; to behead two birds with one blade. They expertly craft terror and rage, with joy and with ease. Maestros of madness. Rage and terror are strategic tactics that civilized minds are ill equipped to combat. So they produce it with planning and care.

When Hamas set out to murder the lives of innocent Israelis, they did not simply deploy armed combatants equipped with the standard instruments of destruction. Hamas sent movie makers, armed with cinematic tools to capture their massacre in 4k. Scene: A truck driving through a desert field alongside dozens of festival goers fleeing for their lives, their peace-loving garments flowing behind them, as machine gun bullets mow them down. All filmed in a single take. Scene: A woman’s broken and raped body in the back of a pickup truck as savages chant to their god in celebration. The clips are gratuitously grotesque. This is their weaponized content.

The gut-wrenching feeling of seeing members of one's community suffer brutalities is not unfamiliar to America. We are only not even a decade removed from the televised atrocities of ISIS. The image of their heinous star, Jihadi John, still flickers in our minds. They birthed a new form of warfare that had never been experienced by the Western world. A form of warfare now being deployed by Hamas. A war of rage.

When we see the inhumane and deplorable images of terrible acts being committed against members of our communities, our bodies react with an evolutionary response. Adrenaline floods in. We ready for survival. Rational thinking subsides. Instincts drive our actions. We lose ourselves. We become something else. We become enraged. While rage may help our survival when facing an imminent threat, it can also lead us astray and cause us to lose control. It is in this state that we succumb to the intentions of those who attack us. And it’s happening to us now.

In the past week, I have heard many good humans share their desire for terrible vengeance. Peaceful people who previously felt empathy towards Palestinians are now calling Gaza’s total destruction. Flatten it. Turn it into a parking lot. I myself witnessed these thoughts swirl into my mind, as if thrust forward by an unrecognizable force. Thankfully I now see them for what they are - the products of rage. Rage will rationalize anything. 

The producers of rage seek to weaken us - to destroy us. Rage blinds. It consumes everything in its path. It spreads like flames in a dry field. It infects us like a virus. It’s a black hole, sucking everything in. If we yield to rage then our humanity is lost and we have nothing left. But we can spot rage as it approaches. We can fend it off. It is not easy. It comes on fast. It’s ruthless. But it can be silenced. With careful attention, we can subdue it. We must fight this war on all fronts, including within our minds. We must battle for our souls and our humanity and not let them be taken from us. That is the only path to victory.

To eliminate rage you must start by watching. Watch your thoughts. Pay careful attention. (If you can meditate, it will help you greatly.) As you observe, you will see every thought arise. Watch them. You will begin to see that your thoughts are not you. They are not controlled by you. They simply pop into existence. Within this field come the thoughts produced by rage. Those thoughts are not you. You know they are not you because they don’t feel like you. You know they are not you because, upon inspection, they make you uncomfortable. They will ask you to look away. They will ask you not to question them so they can wander freely in your mind. That’s how you know you’ve spotted them.

When you see them, identify them. Tell yourself (out loud if you have to) “that is rage.” Do this as often. At times you may find that every thought is rage. That’s ok. Continue to identify them. “That is rage.” As you do this, remember not to fight your thoughts. It’s very important. Do not fight them. Don’t push them away. Don’t wrestle with them. Just simply label them. 

As you continue this practice, you build a skill. A mind muscle. When your ability to watch and identify your thoughts improves, you can then recognize negative feelings they bring along. You won’t like it. And, over time, you will let them pass. They will not consume you. They may still spark from time to time. But they will not consume you. This is how you eliminate rage. This is how you reclaim yourself. Rage, like fire, extinguishes without fuel.

Is this easier said than done? Undoubtedly. Rage, like many harmful emotions, is addicting. It’s hard to let it go. Rage feels like action. It tricks you into the sense that you’re doing something. But you are not. Rage will suck your energy - energy that you need elsewhere in your life. Positive acts give your life energy. Rage suffocates.

As we continue to grapple with the incomprehensible acts committed against us and the weaponized content forcing them into our view, we must not lose sight of the fact that the only future that can be sustained is one of peace. Rage is the enemy of peace. We can’t ever forget this. We must continue to fight and defend ourselves. We must rid the world of the inhumane ideologies and practices of extremist fundamentalism. We must make sacrifices. We must do hard things. But we must do all this without succumbing to rage. Otherwise, we have lost anything worth living for.

Stay strong, pray for peace.