A Day of Rage for Grenfell Tower? How unChristian, some say. We should be about prayer and positivity, not anger.
Sorry, but I don't buy it. My Bible is full of denunciations of wickedness. Never mind the prophets and all that 'Woe to the bloody city' stuff, here are the words of God in Exodus: 'Do not take avantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I wil kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless' (22:22-24). Enough rage there?
And what about Jesus in the Temple?
Those who lived in Grenfell Tower were not all widows and orphans, though rather more of them are now. They were not wealthy and influential, though, and that made them vulnerable – the point of the Exodus commandment.
I understand why some people are criticising the idea of a Day of Rage. No one wants to see violence. There's a risk that anger will degenerate into scapegoating, with individuals singled out and unfairly blamed. And I understand the reaction against the 'it must be someone's fault' culture that can't bear to think that terrible things just happen. In a society that can no longer find solace in the idea that tragedy is the will of God, it becomes even more important to find a human culprit. It's not always possible.
And I understand why survivors don't want the tragedy politicised by people with agendas that don't seem to relate to theirs, and feel cynically used rather than supported.
But do the advocates of prayer, candlelit vigils, 'just being with' people and a ministry of encouragement really not get it? Rage is just as much a human emotion as grief, and it's just as justifiable. We don't like it and we don't trust it because it's uncontrollable. Rage breaks things. Rage is dangerous. Grief is acceptable.
However: there's plenty to be enraged about. Just how much, we don't yet know. But there are plenty of indications already that the victims of the Grenfell Tower did not, in fact, die because they were unlucky; they died because they were poor. Because of their poverty and lack of influence, their homes were a death-trap.
We already know that the Government and managers were warned repeatedly about fire safety. We know that campaigners for fire safety were threatened with legal action. We know that fire-resistent cladding could have been fitted for a tiny additional cost.
And if, as it will probably turn out, those homes met the legal minimum standards for fire safety, that makes it worse. This thing was not done by criminals; it was done by accountants. And when that happens, rage is an entirely appropriate, proportional response.
Rage against a society that values people by how much they earn.
Rage against a culture that aquiesces in monstrous inequality.
Rage against powerlessness.
That sort of rage is biblical. And yes, it breaks things, and it's dangerous.
And that's why I really hope there are Christians taking part in the Day of Rage this afternoon. I think we should be enraged, because rage can drive change.
But it can also be just rage, and that's another reason I hope there are Christians there. Rage can lead to pointless violence. Police and anyone official become targets of hatred. All the darkness of the human soul is unleashed. That rage is just another manifestation of the evil it's directed against.
Christian rage is different. It's not hatred. It's against wrongdoing, not wrongdoers. It is based on compassion for the victims, and it goes hand in hand with committed ministry to them. It strives, as far as possible, to reflect the pure anger of God rather than the corrupted anger of human beings. And that's why I hope there are Christians there, with crosses and dog collars as well as Socialist Worker Party placards: because Christians are peacemakers too, and part of our role is to redeem rage.
But should we be enraged about Grenfell Tower? Pray and light candles, by all means: but yes, we should.
Follow Mark Woods on Twitter: @RevMarkWoods
