• Just wait till it gets added to the official list •
[2 MIN READ]
Every group has its personality — organization, fellowship, or klatch. Distinctive and influential enough, a subgroup can help set the tone for an entire group, preferentially for the better. Who would want a Christian group like ACF, especially, to be shaped by a klatch that deliberately (and gleefully) rage baits?
Wikipedia defines the practice as “… the manipulative tactic of eliciting outrage with the goal of increasing internet traffic, online engagement, revenue and support.” It’s a problem in politics and popular culture (Australian Psychological Society). This should not be a thing in Christendom.
Enter the Ragers. Like a storm. “Why did you take all my cookies?” “They weren’t yours. They were mine. I put them there.” “Those were mine I put them there.” Every meeting the Ragers enter has had a version of this since they joined as ickle firsties in September (GoodReads). What club would let such behavior persist? One that recognizes it for what it is.
This semester’s club teaching theme is emotions in the Bible. We’ve studied anger already and this isn’t it. Jesus himself actually rage-baited, though not for the purpose of increasing clicks: “One of the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” And he said, “Woe to you lawyers also! For you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers” (Luke 11:45-46, ESV). This is different.
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When you look at the tone, the response, even the subject matter (Cookies! SRSLY!) —the Exaggeration — one must register it for what it is: good-natured banter. While it can exist outside of Christian faith, it depends upon a deep-seated connection, such as within faith, that will endure regardless of the behavior. It’s worth arguing that it strengthens the feeling of biblical fellowship in its practice.
If it doesn’t and tears start issuing over dessert during club-meeting lunches, there will be intercession … Ragers. We’re trying to be a Positive influence in Arcadia University.
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).
FINE PRINT [CCOmmentary #5 for 2025’10’10’F] ¶Text: Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
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