Empathy trumps Religion

[ashling]

[peace13]

1. So true.

In my family we have many 'religious' folk who do not have one once of empathy.

[laundry_queen]

2. Yep. When people need extrinsic motivation to make moral decisions

then they lack the intrinsic motivation that is empathy.

I've known some people who were religious that had loads of empathy (my grandmother comes to mind) but they generally didn't preach or believe that people who weren't religious were inherently 'bad'. The only ones who claim that non-religious people are amoral are those who would be if they, themselves, didn't cling to their religions.

[peace13]

4. Well put! n/t

[UnrepentantLiberal]

10. When I find out someone I work with is a Christian

I know I'm going to have problems with them. I've only worked with one who wasn't a snake.

[Flashmann]

11. I've only worked with one who wasn't a snake.

In my 59 years,I've been exposed to too many self proclaimed Christians to even try to count...In every case but one,this sorry collection of hypocrites are demonstratively full of shit....

They want to cram bible parables and the teachings of Jesus down others throats,while ignoring them,in their actions,themselves...They preach for you to turn the other cheek,yet themselves screech for vengeance....When you call for vengeance,they wail that vengeance is the Lord's....

They preach the nobility of helping and/or feeding the poor and the infirm...They concoct entire sermons,around that concept,for their weekly little clique meetings,that they so quaintly call "church"....Then they rush right out to stump and vote for the candidates who will push to defund or otherwise make impossible the VERY things they claim are so very Christian like and of such spiritual import....

The lone exception,my brothers Father in Law,actually lives what he preaches...All of his spare time is spent in hospitals,homeless shelters and fund raising events,benefiting a family who lost their home to a fire,for example,rather than for some vague "big picture" charity...

He is a Gospel singer,of substantial renown,with several albums and CDs...He literally gives every cent he earns from recordings and appearances to the very causes,one would expect from someone claiming to believe what the "good book" teaches....All the while,living as a pauper, with his wife,in the same shitty little 1300 Sq foot 3 bedroom house they raised 4 kids in,and working a low paying 40 hour a week crappy job so he can pay for it all.....

I'm not especially spiritual....Certainly not religious,I can count on one hand the times I've been in a church in the last 40 years....I had to go to Sunday school and church as a kid....I know what "the word" is......I say all of this,to quailfy this:

What you say,"one who wasn't a snake" is probably a much better* description of reality than many people will admit.....

Just sayin'

[Zorra]

3. K&R nt

[Brickbat]

5. K&R.

[kairos12]

6. Definition of Conscience

I know that empathy is different from conscience but I wanted to share a definition of conscience that I found relates to your post. I came across a definition of conscience that said conscience is a sense of right and wrong based on the emotional attachment to others. As religion divides people into "our" camp and "their" camp, it necessarily blocks the connections needed to treat people in a civilized manner. Hence, the epic violence religious groups have inflicted on the world seemingly without empathy or a conscience.

[cer7711]

7. Kurt Vonnegut Said:

"The only religion a man needs is kindness."

[ieoeja]

8. The difference between Conservative and Liberal thinking.

Many years ago I read a statement by the Indiana President of Right-to-Life in which he said something along the lines of:

"Liberals believe that people are basically good and that government should be there to help. Conservatives know that people are inherently evil and need God and government's laws to control them."

I've quoted that to many self-styled Conservatives over the years. And they agreed with the statement.

We read that statement and see it as a sad commentary on Conservatives and are surprised that a Conservative would make that statement. They read it and see it as pointing out how naive Liberals are.

[forestpath]

9. K&R