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https://x.com/roybelly/status/1882945942477029771
Context for the title, in case you're wondering: https://archive.is/UL7jK
"The Sin of Empathy" would be a sweet rock band name except it's not really rock so it can be a punk band name.
If Jesus showed up he would be considered a radical woke liberal.
"Love your neighbor" somehow became report your neighbor to ICE
To be fair to Trump, ideology is always co-opted and interpreted however convenient. The Nazis were "socialist" after all. NK is a people's republic. etc
love is illegal in the US
And then they discovered the true meaning of Christianity, not a story about the son of the Creator preaching and living faith, charity and humility, but a scheme to blame the murder of that prophet which was committed by the Romans who founded the church, on the ethnic group the prophet came from, the Jewish group which was historically enslaved and persecuted by the Romans.
The biggest myth in the bible isn't whether Jesus existed, or Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, tricked by the serpent (although establishing the reason for humanity's inherent evil, the whole justification for religious belief itself, according to some, is a big one). The biggest myth is the one that makes you the main perpetrator of your own suffering, while the victimizers live in palaces and mansions where most suffering can never touch them.
We should have listened when Nietzsche said "God is dead, and we have killed him." If we had listened maybe we would have asked what had replaced him. And if someone says "nothing" then they still believe the biggest myths of the bible.
They should change the name of the "no true Scotsman" fallacy to "no true Christian." I swear, nobody relies on that shit more than they do.
I get the sentiment for this one, but the pastor in question is simply acting like they're above the law. Hemant Mehta (AKA "The Friendly Atheist") covered this story on his YouTube channel:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JrlUNGFVN4I&pp=ygUgVGhlIGZyaWVuZGx5IGF0aGVpc3Qgb2hpbyBwYXN0b3I%3D
The short of it is that where this pastor's church is set up is not in the right zone for housing people, the building isn't designed for it, and he's actually puttinf them in danger. And on top of having already been in trouble for this once, I found out in the process of finding the first video that he's still doing it!
That said, I still up-voted the post, because while the pastor is actually in the wrong, so is the state. There's zero reason why these people should have to resort to sheltering in a building that isn't safe just to avoid succumbing to the elements.
I mean, we all know the Bible verse: "And so, the people of Bethlehem sent Joseph and the highly pregnant Mary away. They were in the right, since taking them in might have slightly inconvenienced them, and was against zoning regulations, posing a potential fire hazard"
Wow, the guy you linked comes off as a total tool. Pretty much all the city violations he's creepily giddy to list off with his Ajit Pai smile all turn into a moot point when the alternative is LITERALLY SLEEPING ON THE STREET. You think someone gives a single shit if there aren't enough visible exit signs? You think they care if the functioning smoke detectors don't have a record of regular inspections? He also lists off how "dangerous" the homeless are, with their drug use and past crimes. Yea, they're fucking homeless. What? You think they all have a squeaky clean record?
Look at the violations he listed and ask yourself how many of those probably apply to your own place of residence. When was the last time you had a fire inspector come and certify that your fire alarms were working? Does your house have fire sprinklers in every room? If you have a propane grill, is the tank stored up to restaurant code, or is it just stored outside on the ground? Do you have a record of when you last replaced the vent tube on your dryer? No? Oh ok. So maybe people aren't immediately in mortal danger when those codes aren't followed. And yes, there's a reason for the codes; but none of them should stand in the way of desperate people seeking shelter from the elements.
There's always more to the story. I'm not going to say the pastor is entirely blameless as it does sound like the city gave him multiple opportunities to fix violations. But when the fight is between a local government (which are notorious for anti-homeless regulations) throwing out a list of what seem like very nitpicky issues, and a guy literally just trying to give the most downtrodden people a temporary place to sleep and wash their clothes, I'm leaning toward the guy housing people being the one in the right.
How can a building be safe at one point of the day, but suddenly unsafe during another? That sounds like an idiotic code designed to punish exactly this.
In real terms, no, the risks are very low. Far lower than dying exposed in the gutter outside.
In code terms, the laws are based in safety and to keep people from slumlording.
Semi-public sleeping areas need to provide accessible beds, adequate fire alarms/suppression, and sufficient bathroom/sanitation access. Think of it like the requirements to run an actual shelter.
Ideally, this would be a temporary situation, and they'd either relocate the people to somewhere with facilities or, if they intend to run a shelter, properly convert the church.
The actual code this church violated has to do with the plot of land, not the building itself. It has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with the people controlling how others use land they didn't own.
"the sin of empathy" has been a Christian doctrine in conservative circles for a few years (at least since 2019).
Churches with universalist doctrines were supporting social change. The Christian reactionaries did their thing by organizing themselves in opposition to this change. Some particularly conservative Baptist called Rigney decided to avoid emacipatory arguments all together and attack what he saw as the pillar concept instead: empathy. 2019 https://ghostarchive.org/archive/UXWex
Also in classic reactionary style, he was cribbing off left thought. Empathy has been a target for criticism from the left going back to at least 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_Empathy
I don't have theological opinions. But I feel like the culture I grew up in valued empathy maybe a little too much. I used to believe that people who did the horrible things lacked empathy. But that can't be a universal truth. I see people celebrating the cruelty in policies like mass deportation. You can't enjoy somebodies pain if you can't recognize it. I've also come to learn that being cruel to others can be pro-social.
It's tribalism plus brainwashing. They believe the right way to show empathy to the in-group is to attack anyone in the out-group. Driven by zero-sum thinking and beliefs around "natural social hierarchy" being necessary.
I haven't read Bloom's book, but I draw from other sources. I avoid corporate social media and its "conversations" and have been doing so quite happily for nearly 10 years.
I catch little pieces of it, like this, and it reminds me of why I stay away. I dislike the cluttered analysis and damnation or vindication of human actions and feelings sprouting all over the place; Shame, empathy, envy, anger, whatever the flavor of the month is...
Buddhist philosophy teaches us that we are aggregates of various delusions (and science has come to a similar conclusion). Spontaneous compassion, which can come from anywhere, it can't be "Rationalized," is one of the greatest tools we have for breaking patterns, of exercising a wild detachment from these aggregates, that destroy our society and ourselves.
All the tools, even the maligned ones like shame and guilt, may lead a person to these sorts of spontaneous acts of compassion, not only toward others, but toward themselves (there is ultimately no difference).
However...Of all the malign-able features of the human condition, empathy must be the strangest to hone in on.
The definition provided by Bloom is not satisfactory: The cold and detached act that arises from "imagining yourself in their place" is what some in the therapy field would call sympathy.
The being in the moment and doing what is needed in that moment is empathy, Empathy should be considered derived from compassion, it is the present choice, sympathy, the rationalized, detached choice, is the lesser guide, but of course it can lead somewhere, too.
If the empathy is missing from the effort to help than I doubt, however rationalized it may be, however well meaning the bureaucracy, NGO, or organized effort, that it will be helpful.
This is the first post on social media I have made in about 8 years that wasn't somehow related to tech support. Be merciful.
I'm sure somewhere in the bible, there is a line to justify the lack of empathy. Regardless of factions and sects, any religious person would not be doing what they do if it isn't prescribed in their sacred text.
The entire Old Testament was about a "jealous god" going around committing genocide based on perceived slights. You can find something in there to justify any horrific shit.
It really seems like they're on the verge of just accepting that they're evil but deciding that that's good
Isaiah, verse 5:20, which says, "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness."
The Bible's just chock full of biting criticism and warnings against the behavior of people who pretend their hate and bigotry is a tradition they must follow.
Oh hey I'm pretty sure I've seen people people put that on signs while protesting against gay pride lol.
The problem with morality is that it's difficult and it's really easy to twist any guidelines into whatever you want, and what you instinctively want is almost certainly to feel like you're smarter and more moral than others as you are right now with no self reflection and minimal effort. If you have internal prejudices you can probably twist whatever system of morality you have into saying they're good and right and those criticizing you are actually bad.
You have to want to actually be good. And empathy is a good place to start, but listening to others about their needs and experiences is also crucial. And while you do it you've gotta remember not to prioritize the feelings of the bigot over the affected (I'll try to remember to link the contra video I borrowed that observation from)
waow lowkey based