What Is So Wrong with Empathy?

It Is a Poor and Sorry Substitute for Love

Well, I’m happy to report that the birthday was not only endured but was successful. I am a little appalled by how old all of my children are. I know it was bound to happen, and would be bad if it didn’t, but, as everyone else in the entire history of humanity has remarked, it goes by so fast.

File:Theodore Apsevdis Jesus.png - Wikimedia Commons—Jesus interested to read your tweets about how empathy is never wrong or misdirected.

Anyway, the word of the day, if you have been wandering around online at all recently, is “empathy.” I think scare quotes are appropriate because it is 2024 and the meaning of everything is on fire. It could be one thing, it could be another. In order that you may know that discussions about this word are venturing into the realm of truth, light, nay even sanity, I present to you a smattering of Tweets. Like this one:

Imagine trying to convince people that being empathetic is actually bad.

And this one:

Ah yes empathy, the worst thing ever.

And this one:

Ayo…. serious question… White evangelicals… are y’all okay??? Your books have always been a lil weird, but some of these last few have seemed particularly unhinged…

And this one:

We've truly lost it. Caring about people and not abandoning them,helping and loving others is considered bad.

All these sentiments, including the poor punctuation, are in response to Allie Beth Stuckey’s book announcement (it’s available now if you’re interested). She said this:

2 days until the release of Toxic Empathy!!! Every Christian woman in your life needs this book before the election. It’s short and easy to read but thorough in its refutation of the 5 most popular lies of progressivism.

All those upset tweets made me think that Stuckey must be onto something, and having a free audible credit, I got it and am about halfway through. I am happy to report that, at least so far, there is nothing alarming. In fact, if you feel a little bit unmoored, stressed out in this political season, unsure about what to think or feel, I am finding it a settling and propitious listen.

A few weeks ago, or whenever, I forget, I came across a post by someone explaining that the oft-quoted verse from Jeremiah, “the heart is deceitfully wicked, who can understand it” would be more faithfully rendered as “the heart is very deep, who can understand it.” [I just spent ten minutes looking for it and can’t find it again, to my great sorrow.] The Tweeter used the opportunity to explain that the motivations and inclinations of the human person are not necessarily wicked, but rather inscrutable, and then took the opportunity to try to say that we should not all think of ourselves as bad.