WASHINGTON (AP) — Empathy is usually regarded as a virtue, a key to human decency and kindness. And yet, with increasing momentum, voices on the Christian right are preaching that it has become a vice.
For them, empathy is a cudgel for the left: It can manipulate caring people into accepting all manner of sins according to a conservative Christian perspective, including abortion access, LGBTQ+ rights, illegal immigration and certain views on social and racial justice.
“Empathy becomes toxic when it encourages you to affirm sin, validate lies or support destructive policies,” said Allie Beth Stuckey, author of “Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion.”
Stuckey, host of the popular podcast “Relatable,” is one of two evangelicals who published books within the past year making Christian arguments against some forms of empathy.
The other is Joe Rigney, a professor and pastor who wrote “The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits.” It was published by Canon Press, an affiliate of Rigney’s conservative denomination, which counts Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among its members.
These anti-empathy arguments gained traction in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term, with his flurry of executive orders that critics denounced as lacking empathy.
As foreign aid stopped and more deportations began, Trump’s then-adviser Elon Musk told podcaster Joe Rogan: “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”
Even Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, framed the idea in his own religious terms, invoking the concept of ordo amoris, or order of love. Within concentric circles of importance, he argued the immediate family comes first and the wider world last — an interpretation that then-Pope Francis rejected.
While their anti-empathy arguments have differences, Stuckey and Rigney have audiences that are firmly among Trump’s Christian base.
“Could someone use my arguments to justify callous indifference to human suffering? Of course,” Rigney said, countering that he still supports measured Christ-like compassion. “I think I’ve put enough qualifications.”
Historian Susan Lanzoni traced a century of empathy’s uses and definitions in her 2018 book “Empathy: A History.” Though it’s had its critics, she has never seen the aspirational term so derided as it is now.
It’s been particularly jarring to watch Christians take down empathy, said Lanzoni, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School.
“That’s the whole message of Jesus, right?”
Matthew 23 is about these kinds of people. Recommended reading, even for fellow atheists. Keep in mind that the scribes and pharisees that Jesus calls out over and over again were the conservative leaders of his time - “pastors and politicians” - behaving just as ours do today.
"Betteridge’s law of headlines is an adage that states: “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.”
They’re not actual Christians.
Conservative christian culture makes people objectively worse.
Sympathy is the virtue. Empathy is just the ability to take the perspective of others and interpret their emotional states. Whether or not that’s good or bad depends entirely on how you respond; how you act.
Someone with a lot of empathy can use their ability to lie, cheat, and manipulate other people. They take advantage of their understanding of others’ situations and emotional states in order to maximize the effectiveness of their manipulations. There’s nothing virtuous about that!
“Empathy is a sin” mfs when I kill them
Is empathy a sin? Some
conservative Christiansnarssists argue it can beMostly a venn diagram containing only one circle.
This is at the heart of it. They are mostly narcissist.
Conservative Christians talking about the “sins” of others.
THEY SUPPORT A CHILD RAPIST WHO IS AN ADULTERER. 🤷♂️
Something something splinter log in eye something
Fun historical fact: Adolf Hitler was not actually an atheist as is often commonly believed. He was actually opposed to atheism and tried to establish a German “Reich Church” that would teach Christianity aligned with Nazi propaganda. Sound familiar?
Not surprising considering the commonalities between cult leaders and fascist dictators. “Us” in group vs scapegoat “them” out group degenerates of the week, calling themselves family to distance from biological families and social support, hierarchy with an unquestionable leader on top, love me or suffer my wrath, etc. Even the way they talk from the pulpit or podium, no justification for any claims, just vibes and biases exploiting.
Right wing Christians want empathy to be a sin because it goes against their politics.
Empathy is a sin because it goes against their Christian beliefs. They’re being persecuted.
11th commandment “Thou shalt not do unto others as you would have them do unto you”
Anyone who thinks empathy is in any way a bad thing is person who cannot be trusted in any way.
The common factor found in all Nazis was a lack of empathy. Without empathy, we are capable of unimaginable cruelty.
Psychopaths
My theory is that this is a play by the right to try an undermine anecdotal evidence and accounts used to persuade people. About a decade ago, the left tried to use data driven arguments while the right use anecdotal evidence, and studies have shown anecdotal evidence to be more persuasive. Now, the left has learned from its mistakes and is using anecdotal evidence and accounts, and it is proving to be effective in undermining the right.
Instead of pointing out the hypocrisy of Christians saying empathy is bad, because it doesn’t work, the left should lean into this narrative. Empathy is a way people will exploit you, data driven studies are the only thing you can rely on. Then fallow that up with explaining how to know if you can trust a data source.
If the left and use the rights own strategy against them instead of trying to fight against the strategy, it will be much more effective. They may be able to start realizing that global warming is real, and racism still exist in this country.
For fucks sake, can ya all stop calling these heathens Christians? Sorry but to be called a Christian you need to follow teacheings of Christ, I know, not obvious at all! -.-’
And no, no jew-like bending rules around till they fit what you want either (wierd line hanged around…NYC IIRC…to allow them to “work” when their religion forbids?). You have the ten tenets, follow them dammit. These dumb fucks break them DAILY.
And that’s before we even go into teachings of, you know, being empathetic towards your brethern. You can even replace Jesus with Superman and…ah, sorry, forgot USA conservatists hate him too.
FFS USA.
You can “No True Scotsman” as hard as you want but they’re nailing this shit to your church door like that was the only part they learned.
Don’t give a flying fuck my friend - I will continue to call bullshit. Stop calling them christians - they’re heretics by definition, openly defying the teachings. Also, fallacy fallacy my friend, even if I used “No True Scotsman” - which doesn’t even apply here because being a Christian does have requirements they don’t follow so there’s no redefining here - that doesn’t mean I am wrong.
Call them heretics/heathens openly. I can bet my ass that would hurt ^^
