Beware the Angry Prophet for the Holy Spirit of the Lord is in him and will strike down with furious anger those who persist in iniquity. And you will know the Name of the Lord when He lays His Vengeance upon you. ANGRY PROPHETS OF HISTORY - THEN AND NOW The first historical report of the Angry Prophet is perhaps the story of Elisha, the son of Shamphat who walked in the footsteps of the prophet Elijah when Elijah died and rose to heaven on a pillar of fire. It is briefly written (Holy Bible, 2 Kings 2) that Elijah’s spirit -- the Holy Spirit of God -- passed to Elisha who went on to perform many miracles, one being briefly described as the trans-formation of a poisoned water source in Jericho into a clear spring. (2 Kings 2:19-22.) Elisha then went to Bethel where he was mocked by a gang of “children,” who then were savaged by two bears who came out of the woods--presumably at the behest of the Holy Spirit —to punish their iniquity. (2 Kings 2:23-25.) Scrolling forward a few thousand years we come to the enormously popular Academy award winning movie Pulp Fiction, written and directed by Quentin Tarrantino and produced by Danny DeVito's Jersey Films, in which Samuel L. Jackson plays a murdering Angry Prophet who, through Divine Intervention, comes to repent his evil ways. Quoth Samuel, not once but several times: There's a passage I got memorized, seems appropriate for this situation: Ezekiel 25:17. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you." (Jules, played by Samuel L. Jackson, in Pulp Fiction.) Don't bother looking it up, folks; it ain't there. Tarrantino's poetic license.
The most recent account of an Angry Prophet is that of an Australian grandmother who laid her vengeance --whether in furious anger or cold blood is not known -- upon two men who raped her grand daughter. Her tale -- thanks be to God for the Internet -- is reported on this website by Thersites, our Roving Reporter. Well, as Howard Beale asked, What's wrong with being an Angry Prophet denouncing the hypocrisies of our times? No doubt about it, we've got plenty of hypocrisies to denounce. Let's hear what Howard Beale and some of the boys at UBS had to say about this. (Insert photos from movie.)
-- The driver turns around, he
says: "Don't do it, kid, you
got your whole life ahead of you!"
The room ROCKS with LAUGHTER. When it subsides,
BOB McDONOUGH, standing in the doorway, says:
McDONOUGH
Well, if you think that's funny,
wait'll you hear this. I've
just come down from Frank
Hackett's office, and he wants
to put Howard back on the air
tonight. Apparently, the ratings
jumped five points last night,
and he wants Howard to go back
on and do his angry-man thing.
STEINMAN
What're you talking about?
McDONOUGH
I'm telling you -- they want
Howard to go on yelling bullshit.
They want Howard to go on
spontaneously letting out his
anger, a latter-day prophet,
denouncing the hypocrisies
of our times --
HOWARD
Hey, that sounds pretty good --
MAX
Who's this they?
McDONOUGH
Hackett. Chaney was there, the
Legal Affairs guy, and that
girl from Programming.
MAX
Christenson? What's she got to
do with it?
GIANINI (in b.g.)
You're kidding, aren't you, Bob?
McDONOUGH
I'm not kidding. I told them:
"We're running a news department
down there, not a circus. And
Howard Beale isn't a bearded lady.
And if you think I'll go along
with this bastardization of the
news, you can have my resignation
along with Max Schumacher's right
now. And I think I'm speaking
for Howard Beale and everybody
else down there in News.
HOWARD
Hold it, McDonough, that's my
job you're turning down. I'll go
nuts without some kind of work.
What's wrong with being an angry
prophet denouncing the hypocrisies
of our times? What do you think,
Max?
MAX
Do you want to be an angry prophet
denouncing the hypocrisies of
our times?
HOWARD
Yeah, I think I'd like to be
an angry prophet denouncing
the hypocrisies of our times.
MAX
Then grab it.
Yeah, folks, like Max said, grab it. If you can't think of a good hypocrisy to denounce, just run your eye down our list in the left column. If noth-ing there inspires you, then you just gotta be brain dead. Join the Howard Beale Memorial Society. Get mad. Fight back. Get even. * * * | 
