Do you know what violent criminals have in common? A lack of empathy.
There have been studies that show empathetic people are less likely to engage in crime. Empathetic teenagers are less likely to be delinquents.
Just look at drug lords. You think drug lords and the people who work for them are empathetic? An empathetic person would be far less likely to brutally kill innocent people who got in their way.
According to various studies, empathy can be taught. As a parent, if you want your children to grow up to be upstanding citizens—who don’t commit crimes—then teaching them empathy would probably benefit them more than going to church. Unless, of course, your church teaches empathy.
However, there are some self-professed Christians on the right who teach “The sin of empathy.” Personally, I find that a twisted interpretation of Jesus’s teachings. But men have been twisting the word of God for centuries, for their own agenda, so I can’t be surprised.
We can debate if it’s a sin or not, but the proof is in the pudding, as they say. People who lack empathy are more likely to commit crime.
According to one study, “The literature affirms that the low level of empathy, guilt, embarrassment, and moral reasoning displayed by violent and psychopathic criminals is strongly associated with empathy-linked brain regions that are smaller in size or less developed.”
Moms for Liberty, the infamous book banners also have an issue with teaching empathy in our schools. In fact, many books they specifically target are those that teach empathy.
It seems the MAGA trend these days is to get rid of anything remotely woke, and empathy definitely falls within the realm of woke. While MAGA proudly boasts about “woke free zones” they assume the only damage will be to marginalized groups, and since they lack empathy, they don’t care. However, they should.
Why?
Because someone they love may suffer the fallout. Take, for example, gun violence in our country. Shootings in our schools, mass shootings in our communities. They happen every week. Sometimes more frequently. We’re told the answer isn’t gun control. Some suggest we need to up our mental health in this country, but that ain’t gonna happen. Our health care in the US is dismal and the president is already talking about getting rid of ACA and cutting Medicaid, and possibly Medicare.
While it would not prevent all shootings, teaching empathy instead of forbidding it could help significantly. If you don’t believe me, look up some of the studies. Google is free.
But instead of teaching empathy, organizations like Moms for Liberty act like teaching empathy to young children in schools is no different than handing out copies of Hustler Magazine to third graders.
One woman from Moms for Liberty stated, “Not every human is deserving of my child’s empathy.”
Here is the problem with that. That human she mentioned may be a troubled and severely odd youngster in her child’s school. If the students in the school fail to show empathy toward the troubled child—some even tormenting and teasing him or her—well that’s one way to birth a school shooter.
If that mother’s child is gunned down by the troubled classmate, I’m not sure what benefit her dead child gained by withholding empathy.
While none of us are safe from violence in this country, raising up a generation without empathy will certainly make it worse.
Notable Quotes on Empathy
Plato: “The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.”
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: ” Empathy is not a lightweight, touchy-feely, add-on extra to the moral life. It is an essential element in conflict resolution.
Thomas Nelson Bibles: “Empathy is more than an attractive personality trait. It’s an instrument of healing. Jesus understood that better than anyone.”