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Thomas M Cassell's avatar

Well said Thomas.

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Carlton Huffman's avatar

When non-believers see the hypocrisy more clearly than those who call themselves believers, you can see how profound the rot is within the Church.

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Allison Mahaley's avatar

Such a sweeping statement is like saying all Democrats are corrupt. Yes, there have been recent convictions of Dems for taking bribes, and the Dems have a history of other corruption especially when dealing with unions, but for the most part, Dems aren’t corrupt. “The church” is not a singular thing.

And I would say that there are many religious groups that continue to fight on behalf of “the least of these.” IMHO-the real difference is that most mainline Christian denominations and other left leaning ones have played by the rules and kept partisan politics out of the pulpit while most right leaning ones have thumbed their noses at the separation of church and state and ignored the threat of losing tax exempts status endorsing right-winged candidates directly-including and especially Trump. There has been for years now liturgy provided free of charge to non-denominational Christian churches preaching “prosperity theology” and other distortions of the gospel. The right winged strategy left no angle to chance when they hatched this plan to undo Brown v Board of Ed and they even captured some of the Black churches in their attempts by pivoting to anti-LGBTQ when overt racism became taboo. The Heritage Foundation of course being the largest and most powerful.

And, while I am writing this epistle, let me say that the most effective thing the right has done is organized outside the party creating a strong network for messaging and shoring up support for anti-government ideals. AND these folks are less likely to feel the pain of the loss of social programs immediately because they have a network of support…in short, they look to the church and we lefties look to the government….I could go on and on.

I agree with Thomas 100% on this post and like everyone else, am horrified by this administration and dumbfounded by the lack of vigorous opposition. But I personally am finding the most fervent and passionate opposition within my denomination of UUs. Not a Christian denomination but “church” nonetheless. And we are in solidarity with United Methodists, Church of Christ, Reformed Jews, Lutherans, Presbyterian, American Baptist and other others who continue to fight for justice.

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Judy Cain's avatar

For a guy who doesn’t call himself a Christian, you sure nailed what it means to be a Christian. Or at least part of it. I think you must’ve been paying attention in Sunday school :-). Thanks for a good column; I really enjoy reading your stuff.

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Bonnie's avatar

Right on Thomas!

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Phil Edge  NC's avatar

Spot on , Mr. Mills. Wouldn't empathy qualify as the term "Woke" that is criticized and scorned by the MAGA masses? Trump's Christians come across as the mob in the story of Herod's game show selection for crucifixion of either Jesus or Barabbas. (I am an atheist, BTW.)

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Allison Mahaley's avatar

Me, too. But I am churched. Go figure.

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Phil Edge  NC's avatar

Reformed, moderate Southern Baptist here. Churched , and left long before the "hand wavers" took over the SBC.

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LuEllen  Huntley's avatar

Well spoken/written, clear with command, and timely as this dispatch addresses this moment head on. In gratitude for PoliticsNC. Everybody stay well.

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Judy Weigner's avatar

Thank you Thomas! Well said!

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Rick High's avatar

There are Old Testament Christians and New Testament Christians. OTC have either never read the New Testament or just don’t follow its teachings.

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Big B's avatar

I understand the sentiment, but technically, if one is strictly Old Testament “Christian”, then they wouldn’t have been exposed much to Jesus Christ, making that label, OTC, an oxymoron!

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Grainger's avatar

There are a few issues here. Empathy, Christians, and Jesus’ teachings. I’ll work backwards.

Jesus’ teachings were empathic, not always empathetic. And when they were empathetic, there was a singular purpose. He indeed taught us that if some asks to go one mile, you go two.

He did show compassion on those in need. But he compelled the individual. Not the state. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.” Here he made the distinction. Therefore, the issue of compassion is from the individual towards the individual. Policy and government are not what he was referring to.

And as far as deporting illegal immigrants who have committed a crime, this is common sense. If there was a mistake in the process, deal with it. But if at the time you went with the info you had, and that info stated all on board are hardened criminals, then you can’t reject that idea. Unless you like hardened criminals in your country illegally.

Christians celebrating their deportation is not out of line at all. If they were celebrating the mistake made by deporting someone in error, different conversation. There is nothing non-Christian about wanting your community safe.

Empathy, this is where it gets interesting. The definition and distinction must be made here. Cognitive empathy is when you can fully understand and comprehend what the other person must be going through. Emotional empathy is actually experiencing the same emotion someone else is experiencing. Most of what you have referred to in your article is cognitive empathy.

Musk was referring to emotional empathy. And he was right. Emotional empathy is not just a weakness, but a dangerous threat to good reason and sound policy. I’ve written a short article on why this is. But the short version is it clouds our judgment. Here…

https://open.substack.com/pub/tidbitsofaudacity/p/does-empathy-equal-morality?r=h20p2&utm_medium=ios

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Margaret Rowlett's avatar

David French recently wrote a column for the New York Times called "Behold the Strange Spectacle of Christians Against Empathy" citing developments that include the publishing of a best-selling book by Allie Beth Stuckey called "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion." What an upside down world we are living in! Christians against Christ-like empathy!

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Grainger's avatar

Christians are finding themselves against emotional empathy. Not cognitive empathy. And only at the policy level. Not individual. Cognitive empathy is the understanding and full comprehension of what someone must be going through. Emotional empathy is actually experiencing what one is currently going through. This is good for the counseling room but terrible for making policy. https://open.substack.com/pub/tidbitsofaudacity/p/does-empathy-equal-morality?r=h20p2&utm_medium=ios

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Leonard Prosnitz's avatar

I was not aware of the Elon Musk quote but it makes a lot of sense now. Neither Musk nor Trump has much if any. Consider the effects of the USAID cuts on the Sudanese, e.g. Very little has been written about this in conventional media.

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Grainger's avatar

Musk was referring to emotional empathy. Not cognitive empathy. And he was referring to the state level. Not individual. Emotional empathy at the individual level works for certain domains, like the counseling room. But it is a dangerous threat to reason and sound policy.

Emotional empathy clouds judgment. Cognitive empathy is the mental ascertainment of exactly what one may be going through. Emotional empathy I actually experiencing what they are going through. https://open.substack.com/pub/tidbitsofaudacity/p/does-empathy-equal-morality?r=h20p2&utm_medium=ios

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