14 DAY TRIAL // Case Western Reserve University psychologist Julie Exline says that if you feel you're angry at God sometimes, you shouldn’t worry, because you're not the only one, and this is actual an ancient feeling.
After trying a different approach of the matter, Exline, an associate professor in Case Western Reserve's College of Arts and Sciences, explained that “many people experience anger toward God.
“Even people who deeply love and respect God can become angry.
“Just as people become upset or angry with others, including loved ones, they can also become angry with God.”
She says that this usually happens after someone dies, when people are ill, after accidents of after natural disasters, but this anger is not limited to these traumatic situations.
Some people get angry when they are disappointed, when they fail of when they get hurt by someone they love, so the ultimate responsible for their misery is God.
And because they are angry, they start seeing God as cruel or uncaring, and they believe that God abandoned, betrayed, or mistreated them.
Exline says that admitting their anger towards God can be very difficult for people, since many can be ashamed and refuse to acknowledge their feelings.
Tthe most difficult is for those who believe that they must focus on the positive side of religious life, but Exline explains that “religion and spirituality are like other domains of life, such as work and relationships.
"They bring important benefits, but they can bring difficulties as well,” and “anger with God is one of those struggles.”
Exline, has been studying anger toward God over the past decade, and she carried out studies involving hundreds of people, including college students, cancer survivors and grief-stricken family members.
According to her findings, Protestants, African Americans, and older people have a tendency of reporting less anger at God.
On the other hand, people who do not believe in God can still harbor anger, and when this anger is frequent, intense or chronic, that's when it becomes most distressing.
Before being able to overcome anger at God, people need to take some of the same steps necessary to resolve other anger issues.
“People may benefit from reflecting more closely on the situation and how they see God's role in it.
“For example, they may become less angry if they decide that God was not actually responsible for the upsetting event, or if they can see how God has brought some meaning or benefit from a painful situation.”
Anyway, people who feel angry toward God must be reassured that they are not alone, and that such struggles are part of many people's lives.
In her article, 'Anger toward God: Social-Cognitive Predictors, Prevalence, and Links with Adjustment to Bereavement and Cancer', Exline suggests that people should try to be open and honest with God about their anger, instead of pulling away or hiding their negative feelings.
The article is published in the new issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.