Empathy, to Charlie Kirk, meant trying to feel someone else’s pain or sorrow as if it were your own. Charlie said, “I think empathy is a made-up, new-age term that…does a lot of damage.” Psychologists say that sympathy is a feeling of sincere concern for someone, that empathy involves stepping into that person’s shoes to actively share in their emotional experience, and compassion is recognizing someone’s pain or suffering and feeling moved to take action to alleviate it.
Pope Leo XIV teaches that empathy and compassion are essential elements of shared humanity. Elon Musk and JD Vance have implied that the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit. Commentator Ben Shapiro declares that “facts don’t care about your feelings.” Allie Beth Stuckey’s book title is “Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion.” Empathy is supported by educators, mental health professionals, healthcare providers, and psychologists as a core skill for building trust and connections.
Modern organization managers promote empathetic leadership to foster collaboration and employee wellness. Empathy can tell us that someone’s suffering matters; facts can help us understand why it is happening and what response is actually effective. Why are views of empathy different?
Babies are born ready to connect. They cry when they hear other babies cry. Toddlers start to comfort others. Children learn that other people have different thoughts, beliefs, and feelings. Teenagers may experience a temporary dip in empathy as they focus on finding their own identity. Adults continue to refine empathy by seeking shared identities and listening without judgment. What is your empathy experience?
Empathy critics frame unchecked empathy as a political vulnerability and a manipulative tool used by progressives. Rather than viewing empathy as an unqualified moral good, some right-wing and Christian conservative figures argue that empathy can manipulate caring people into accepting all manner of sins according to a conservative Christian perspective, including abortion access, LGBTQ+ and black rights, illegal immigration and certain views on social and racial justice and maybe advocating tax dollar spending to help groups. Some call for empathy for the mega-rich who invest in the economy and groups protecting our borders.
Is real empathy focused on an individual to whom you can relate? Or can empathy extend to groups? Is empathy itself the problem, or is the problem selective empathy, when we extend compassion to people we identify with while dismissing the suffering of people we don’t? Can we practice empathy while still relying on facts, thinking critically, and avoiding selective or politically manipulated compassion?
The different views about empathy appear related to how empathy works. In the Good Samaritan parable (Luke 10:25-37), the religious and political leaders pass by the injured, robbed man. Pope Leo notes that being in a rush or prioritizing one’s own journey stops people from helping others. The Samaritan saw someone suffering, got involved, and acted without first deciding whether that person was deserving or shared his beliefs. The parable is silent about following action, like making the road safer or advocating for the suffering man’s group.
In communities like Pocatello or Huntington Beach where we live, we hope that people will be good Samaritans, connect with people in physical or mental pain, and offer immediate personal help that may have a cost in dollars and time. We hope that those who practice empathy hear cries of suffering, take action and follow up, as the Samaritan promised the victim and innkeeper. We hope that our faith traditions of Christianity and Buddhism call us in empathy to suffering individuals. We hope that our friends and colleagues don’t consider our empathy toward suffering individuals to be toxic or interfering with good governance.
Consider discussing aspects of empathy as individual and group connections in your dinner-table, church or civic group conversations.
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