Allie Beth Stuckey on how leftist mantras exploit Christian compassion: 'We think we're more loving than God'

[Michie]

Empathy, a virtue Christians are called to exemplify, is being redefined in an era of increasingly polarized viewpoints and weaponized to undermine moral clarity — and the ramifications are devastating.

That’s according to Allie Beth Stuckey, author, speaker, commentator and the host of the BlazeTV podcast "Relatable" who, in an interview with The Christian Post, opened up about her latest book, Toxic Empathy: How the Left Exploits Christian Compassion. In it, she delves into the distinction between compassion grounded in biblical principles and an empathy that, she says, can cloud moral clarity.

“Empathy really is not a biblical command. Empathy means to feel how someone else feels. That can be good or it can be bad. It's not virtuous in itself,” she said. “Empathy can motivate us toward love. It can also blind us to reality or morality.”

Continued below.

Allie Beth Stuckey on how leftist mantras exploit Christian compassion: 'We think we're more loving than God'

In an interview with The Christian Post, Allie Beth Stuckey warned that empathy, a virtue Christians are called to exemplify, is being redefined in an era of increasingly polarized viewpoints and

www.christianpost.com

 

[stevevw]

Empathy, a virtue Christians are called to exemplify, is being redefined in an era of increasingly polarized viewpoints and weaponized to undermine moral clarity — and the ramifications are devastating.

That’s according to Allie Beth Stuckey, author, speaker, commentator and the host of the BlazeTV podcast "Relatable" who, in an interview with The Christian Post, opened up about her latest book, Toxic Empathy: How the Left Exploits Christian Compassion. In it, she delves into the distinction between compassion grounded in biblical principles and an empathy that, she says, can cloud moral clarity.

“Empathy really is not a biblical command. Empathy means to feel how someone else feels. That can be good or it can be bad. It's not virtuous in itself,” she said. “Empathy can motivate us toward love. It can also blind us to reality or morality.”

Continued below.

Allie Beth Stuckey on how leftist mantras exploit Christian compassion: 'We think we're more loving than God'

In an interview with The Christian Post, Allie Beth Stuckey warned that empathy, a virtue Christians are called to exemplify, is being redefined in an era of increasingly polarized viewpoints and

www.christianpost.com

More than that empathy can cause someone to even act hateful and mean towards someone who is not in your tribe or inner circle. Or may represent something you dislike or are biased against.

If empathy is not grounded then really its another human feeling or an instinct. Thats why I think the idea of sacrificial love is the basis in Christ. Or the 2nd greatest commandment. But sacrificial love which is really putting your own feelings aside is a radical idea to secular ideology.

The classic example of the Left using empathy to manipulate is how they would say to parents that it was better to have a living son than a deceased daughter about their trans son or biological daughter or visa verse. But it happens in many smaller ways.

But that is Woke, thats how it works. Its a new religion and morality that is being preferred and pushed by the Left. Its a copycay belief that has taken the place of Christianity.

But I think its evolved beyond emotional blackmail and manipulation of Christian sentiments. It went to another level during the election. It was outright meanness, spite, hate, venom being spewed out by many, in the media, online and by the polititians themselves.

It went beyoong appealing to outright saying the Rich and Christians by extention are well you know all the names. Lets just leave it at garbage. But that is taking empathy and flipping it where its tribal and antagonistic towards the other group.

But hopefully this will all settle down and both sides will come to the middle. Both sides can become extreme and turn tribal. Its no good for Christians even on the right when it becomes tribal because things become instinct and everyone gets out of tilt.

But I think its important to have a basis for empathy which is beyond party politics. The problem is the Left fiond that hard because they belieeve nothing is greater than the human. But thats the only way we can move beyond and get back to basics.

 

[FireDragon76]

No, no, no!

Conservative Christians don't get to redefine words like "compassion" to mean something other than their ordinary connotations. I refuse to go the path of Orwell's 1984. Freedom is not slaver and ignorance is not strength, and 2+2 doesn't equal 5 in any possible world. Likewise, you can't square demonizing minority groups and people that don't agree with you ,like LGBT people, as evil threats to society, with any sense of compassion. Xenophobia and fear aren't compatible with compassion.

 

[Richard T]

More than that empathy can cause someone to even act hateful and mean towards someone who is not in your tribe or inner circle. Or may represent something you dislike or are biased against.

If empathy is not grounded then really its another human feeling or an instinct. Thats why I think the idea of sacrificial love is the basis in Christ. Or the 2nd greatest commandment. But sacrificial love which is really putting your own feelings aside is a radical idea to secular ideology.

The classic example of the Left using empathy to manipulate is how they would say to parents that it was better to have a living son than a deceased daughter about their trans son or biological daughter or visa verse. But it happens in many smaller ways.

But that is Woke, thats how it works. Its a new religion and morality that is being preferred and pushed by the Left. Its a copycay belief that has taken the place of Christianity.

But I think its evolved beyond emotional blackmail and manipulation of Christian sentiments. It went to another level during the election. It was outright meanness, spite, hate, venom being spewed out by many, in the media, online and by the polititians themselves.

It went beyoong appealing to outright saying the Rich and Christians by extention are well you know all the names. Lets just leave it at garbage. But that is taking empathy and flipping it where its tribal and antagonistic towards the other group.

But hopefully this will all settle down and both sides will come to the middle. Both sides can become extreme and turn tribal. Its no good for Christians even on the right when it becomes tribal because things become instinct and everyone gets out of tilt.

Lots of people exploit compassion. Some preachers do that with giving all the time in some churches. First, they might coerce you, but they also play with emotions, using scriptures too in ways that are unintended. Unbelievers will use other scriptures like support for the poor as a Christian principle even when it goes through the government. (It can be but when you have policies that pay people not to work for example, it is clearly not. ) Compassion too must call sin a sin. If we accept sinful groups and embrace what they are doing, it that is the opposite of compassion because they are outside the will of God. Thus, while we can accept them, we can never accept their sin or imply that it is something that is good. That is why we all need more discernment and greater fellowship with God to be sure what we are doing is God's will.

 

[Merrill]

No, no, no!

Conservative Christians don't get to redefine words like "compassion" to mean something other than their ordinary connotations. I refuse to go the path of Orwell's 1984. Freedom is not slaver and ignorance is not strength, and 2+2 doesn't equal 5 in any possible world. Likewise, you can't square demonizing minority groups and people that don't agree with you ,like LGBT people, as evil threats to society, with any sense of compassion. Xenophobia and fear aren't compatible with compassion.

I don't think she is "redefining" anything, or making an illogical argument. Did you actually read the article?

Her claim is that making decisions entirely based on empathy, and short-term emotional impulse, can cause us to make bad decisions, and fail to see the full complexity of an issue. I think that is correct

Your "empathy" might tell you to give $5 to the drug addict in the street--which is a bad choice. The money will be spent on drugs. Your reason, and Christian foundation, will tell you to volunteer in a homeless shelter or halfway house in order to truly help people like this.

Your empathy might tell you that opening the southern border is a good thing, as desperate families can come to the US. Your reason will tell you that it furthers the criminal enterprise of coyotes, smugglers, and drug runners, creates chaos in schools and hospitals, etc.

"Stuckey’s work draws from a long-standing Christian principle that love must be grounded in truth ...Empathy really has no concern with what is actually true. It's only concerned with how someone feels, which can only get you so far,” she said. " --of which I agree completely

The social justice movement, post-modernism, wokeists, etc. prey upon Christian principles and empathy in order to engage in entryism. Vote for the socialist dictator because he will "help the poor". Let the 8 year old boy take puberty blockers, or the 12 year old girl get top-surgery so they can "feel better about themselves", and we should deny them! Give COVID vaccines to POC first, because they are oppressed and deserve it (so much of the old white people), and it is the "Christian thing to do"!

 

[FireDragon76]

I don't think she is "redefining" anything, or making an illogical argument. Did you actually read the article?

Her claim is that making decisions entirely based on empathy, and short-term emotional impulse, can cause us to make bad decisions, and fail to see the full complexity of an issue. I think that is correct

Your "empathy" might tell you to give $5 to the drug addict in the street--which is a bad choice. The money will be spent on drugs. Your reason, and Christian foundation, will tell you to volunteer in a homeless shelter or halfway house in order to truly help people like this.

Your empathy might tell you that opening the southern border is a good thing, as desperate families can come to the US. Your reason will tell you that it furthers the criminal enterprise of coyotes, smugglers, and drug runners, creates chaos in schools and hospitals, etc.

"Stuckey’s work draws from a long-standing Christian principle that love must be grounded in truth ...Empathy really has no concern with what is actually true. It's only concerned with how someone feels, which can only get you so far,” she said. " --of which I agree completely

The social justice movement, post-modernism, wokeists, etc. prey upon Christian principles and empathy in order to engage in entryism. Vote for the socialist dictator because he will "help the poor". Let the 8 year old boy take puberty blockers, or the 12 year old girl get top-surgery so they can "feel better about themselves", and we should deny them! Give COVID vaccines to POC first, because they are oppressed and deserve it (so much of the old white people), and it is the "Christian thing to do"!

This conceptualization of truth is based on a foundationalist epistemology that is authoritarian in nature, and doesn't account for the pervasive noetic effects of sin.

 

[Merrill]

This conceptualization of truth is based on a foundationalist epistemology that is authoritarian in nature, and doesn't account for the pervasive noetic effects of sin.

this has nothing to do with foundationalist epistemology

someone is trying to sound intellectual while making nonsensical posts

 

[FireDragon76]

this has nothing to do with foundationalist epistemology

someone is trying to sound intellectual while making nonsensical posts

They are just making an authoritarian appeal... claiming to have a market cornered on truth. In this case, they think they know more than the rest of us what compassion looks like. They are wrong, and arrogantly so.

 

[Hazelelponi]

They are just making an authoritarian appeal... claiming to have a market cornered on truth. In this case, they think they know more than the rest of us what compassion looks like. They are wrong, and arrogantly so.

Are you doing ok?

 

[stevevw]

Lots of people exploit compassion. Some preachers do that with giving all the time in some churches. First, they might coerce you, but they also play with emotions, using scriptures too in ways that are unintended. Unbelievers will use other scriptures like support for the poor as a Christian principle even when it goes through the government. (It can be but when you have policies that pay people not to work for example, it is clearly not. ) Compassion too must call sin a sin. If we accept sinful groups and embrace what they are doing, it that is the opposite of compassion because they are outside the will of God. Thus, while we can accept them, we can never accept their sin or imply that it is something that is good. That is why we all need more discernment and greater fellowship with God to be sure what we are doing is God's will.

Yea in a day and age that if full of information coming at people from all directions and different claims about whaqt is truth and what is good for us it can get quite confusing.

I guess thats when Gods truth steps in. How do we know Gods truth. Well Jesus said I am the truth. So we have an example of this to go by.

The truth is hard sometimes as it doesn't always match peoples feelings. Telling the truth can seem imcompassionate as it may hurt some. We must be gentle with the truth. But in the end it is what it is and it takes a certain way of being and living that certainly this world disagrees with and even claims is cruel and hateful.

BUt in the end its the most compassionate thing to do is to tell the truth, which is Gods truth because it literally saves someones life. But not as this world would say but eternal life.

 

[mindlight]

More than that empathy can cause someone to even act hateful and mean towards someone who is not in your tribe or inner circle. Or may represent something you dislike or are biased against.

If empathy is not grounded then really its another human feeling or an instinct. Thats why I think the idea of sacrificial love is the basis in Christ. Or the 2nd greatest commandment. But sacrificial love which is really putting your own feelings aside is a radical idea to secular ideology.

The classic example of the Left using empathy to manipulate is how they would say to parents that it was better to have a living son than a deceased daughter about their trans son or biological daughter or visa verse. But it happens in many smaller ways.

But that is Woke, thats how it works. Its a new religion and morality that is being preferred and pushed by the Left. Its a copycay belief that has taken the place of Christianity.

But I think its evolved beyond emotional blackmail and manipulation of Christian sentiments. It went to another level during the election. It was outright meanness, spite, hate, venom being spewed out by many, in the media, online and by the polititians themselves.

It went beyoong appealing to outright saying the Rich and Christians by extention are well you know all the names. Lets just leave it at garbage. But that is taking empathy and flipping it where its tribal and antagonistic towards the other group.

But hopefully this will all settle down and both sides will come to the middle. Both sides can become extreme and turn tribal. Its no good for Christians even on the right when it becomes tribal because things become instinct and everyone gets out of tilt.

But I think its important to have a basis for empathy which is beyond party politics. The problem is the Left fiond that hard because they belieeve nothing is greater than the human. But thats the only way we can move beyond and get back to basics.

No right-minded person will miss pronouns, baby killers, and perverts running the show. But compassion remains a key Christian virtue even if it is misused when applied to people making bad decisions about sexual or gender identity.

The biggest reason inflation hit Americans so hard even while the economy continued to grow is that the benefit of that growth was unequally distributed. Compassion for poor people could mean redistributive taxation, infrastructure investment, and better public services which give opportunities to all Americans rather than just the privileged few. Isn't that the American dream? You guys voted against that. Blaming your local troubles on illegal aliens whom you can now gleefully deport will probably do more harm to the economy than good. But whoever said this was a rational decision.

 

[stevevw]

No right-minded person will miss pronouns, baby killers, and perverts running the show. But compassion remains a key Christian virtue even if it is misused when applied to people making bad decisions about sexual or gender identity.

The biggest reason inflation hit Americans so hard even while the economy continued to grow is that the benefit of that growth was unequally distributed. Compassion for poor people could mean redistributive taxation, infrastructure investment, and better public services which give opportunities to all Americans rather than just the privileged few. Isn't that the American dream? You guys voted against that. Blaming your local troubles on illegal aliens whom you can now gleefully deport will probably do more harm to the economy than good. But whoever said this was a rational decision.

Actually I think it was the other way around. There was almost 80% Trump support in the poorest areas and the predominant issue was the economy. They were struggling pay week to pay week and in high credit card debt. They wanted a change from the last 4 years so that the economy could improve.

Illegal aliens was another seperate issue. But most voted for economic reasons because that was the reality of their lives. Issues like illegals just compounded the economic dispair they already felt.

But you allude to an important issue overall and that is the secular State as opposed to Christian compassion. While I think the State can display some Christian values I don't think it will ever be a theocracy. The system doesn't allow it.

The State will not have Christian compassion. It can't no matter who is in government because they are not a Christian movement. The only hope of Christian compassion is the churches and charities that work tirelessly for no money helping the needy.

So if there was perhaps any way to increase this I think governments should support the churches and charities and not attack them as a threat. Let them flourish to be able to do more good work. The good thing about that is they are not or should not be party affiliated but be doing Gods work rain, hail or shine.

 

[mindlight]

Actually I think it was the other way around. There was almost 80% Trump support in the poorest areas and the predominant issue was the economy. They were struggling pay week to pay week and in high credit card debt. They wanted a change from the last 4 years so that the economy could improve.

Illegal aliens was another seperate issue. But most voted for economic reasons because that was the reality of their lives. Issues like illegals just compounded the economic dispair they already felt.

But you allude to an important issue overall and that is the secular State as opposed to Christian compassion. While I think the State can display some Christian values I don't think it will ever be a theocracy. The system doesn't allow it.

The State will not have Christian compassion. It can't no matter who is in government because they are not a Christian movement. The only hope of Christian compassion is the churches and charities that work tirelessly for no money helping the needy.

So if there was perhaps any way to increase this I think governments should support the churches and charities and not attack them as a threat. Let them flourish to be able to do more good work. The good thing about that is they are not or should not be party affiliated but be doing Gods work rain, hail or shine.

The economy grew the last few years, the benefit of that went to rich people. But Americans voted out the party that wanted to see poorer Americans get a fair slice of the cake. In what universe does that make any sense?

Institutionalising compassion is more efficient. West Europe has better health care for all for half the price of the US system for example

 

[stevevw]

The economy grew the last few years, the benefit of that went to rich people. But Americans voted out the party that wanted to see poorer Americans get a fair slice of the cake. In what universe does that make any sense?

I guess in the universe of the very people who are poor. They percieved that the current administration was not supporting them and Trump would. To say that they are all wrong, that they are deluded and did not see the the Dems as their saviour is in itself unreal. It is rejecting the capability of those affected to work out what is best.

Yes the economy is improving but that is not what they are basing things on. They are basing it on the cost of living. Inflation already did the damage and increased the cost of living beyond the average person. That does change the damage that was already done.

But it wasn't just the economy. They felt that the government was not listening full stop. They were out of touch and were treating them like garbage. That is the Lefts fault. They ran on a campaign of identity politics and that divided people and caused cultural chaos. It was a raft of reasons though the economy was predominant.

Institutionalising compassion is more efficient. West Europe has better health care for all for half the price of the US system for example

West Europe. If your speaking about the Scandinavian countries then thats a false comparison. They are small natural resource rich nations who can afford to have generous health care. But if we are speaking about compassion these nations are a good example of when compassion goes too far that it actually causes more harm than good.

It is because of generous unfetted immigration policies that nations in Europe but especially Scandinavian nations are now experiencing the worst civil unrest in decades. Millions of refugees have poured into these nations and terrorism, violence and rioting have increased. Now they are trying to undo the damage by having stricter immigration laws and deporting many of these trouble makers.

I think western nations have been very generous and compassionate compared to most nations. The problem is not the west. Its the inhumane ways people are living in these nations. Yes the west has contributed by exploiting globalism. But the answer is not opening borders because of practical reasons that we have seen with the problems immigration has brought towestern nations.

Now thanks to progressive Woke policies that might have been well intended we have a situation where the west is no longer the bastion of freedom and opportunity but becoming more like the nations people are fleeing from. Thats not good. We have to stablise the free nations first otherwise they will continue to decend into chaos.

The west needs to be united once again to stand up to radical ideology whether its locally or internationally. Try to get democratic and humane leaders in these nations so that the locals don't have to leave. I am sure they would prefer to stay in their native lands and have the same opportunities and freedoms of nations like the US.

 

[FireDragon76]

No right-minded person will miss pronouns, baby killers, and perverts running the show. But compassion remains a key Christian virtue even if it is misused when applied to people making bad decisions about sexual or gender identity.

The biggest reason inflation hit Americans so hard even while the economy continued to grow is that the benefit of that growth was unequally distributed. Compassion for poor people could mean redistributive taxation, infrastructure investment, and better public services which give opportunities to all Americans rather than just the privileged few. Isn't that the American dream? You guys voted against that. Blaming your local troubles on illegal aliens whom you can now gleefully deport will probably do more harm to the economy than good. But whoever said this was a rational decision.

Chalk it up to 40 years of incessant propaganda for the Leopards Ate My Face Party.

 

[FAITH-IN-HIM]

Empathy, a virtue Christians are called to exemplify, is being redefined in an era of increasingly polarized viewpoints and weaponized to undermine moral clarity — and the ramifications are devastating.

That’s according to Allie Beth Stuckey, author, speaker, commentator and the host of the BlazeTV podcast "Relatable" who, in an interview with The Christian Post, opened up about her latest book, Toxic Empathy: How the Left Exploits Christian Compassion. In it, she delves into the distinction between compassion grounded in biblical principles and an empathy that, she says, can cloud moral clarity.

“Empathy really is not a biblical command. Empathy means to feel how someone else feels. That can be good or it can be bad. It's not virtuous in itself,” she said. “Empathy can motivate us toward love. It can also blind us to reality or morality.”

Continued below.

Allie Beth Stuckey on how leftist mantras exploit Christian compassion: 'We think we're more loving than God'

In an interview with The Christian Post, Allie Beth Stuckey warned that empathy, a virtue Christians are called to exemplify, is being redefined in an era of increasingly polarized viewpoints and

www.christianpost.com

Is there an alternative method to pray for my enemy without expressing compassion? Of course my enemy exploit my compassion, but my savior told me to to pray for my enemy.

 

[RileyG]

No, no, no!

Conservative Christians don't get to redefine words like "compassion" to mean something other than their ordinary connotations. I refuse to go the path of Orwell's 1984. Freedom is not slaver and ignorance is not strength, and 2+2 doesn't equal 5 in any possible world. Likewise, you can't square demonizing minority groups and people that don't agree with you ,like LGBT people, as evil threats to society, with any sense of compassion. Xenophobia and fear aren't compatible with compassion.

No one is demonizing LGBT people, immigrants, or those less than.

Saying an action is "sinful" isn't demonizing anyone.

Telling someone to repent and change their ways is more loving.

Peace.

 

[RileyG]

They are just making an authoritarian appeal... claiming to have a market cornered on truth. In this case, they think they know more than the rest of us what compassion looks like. They are wrong, and arrogantly so.

Compassion is bringing mankind to the gospel, despite their wickedness or sins.

Blessings

 

[FireDragon76]

No one is demonizing LGBT people, immigrants, or those less than.

Saying an action is "sinful" isn't demonizing anyone.

Framing LGBT people as threats to social order and public morality has been a major cause for activism of the Religious Right for decades.

 

[RileyG]

Framing LGBT people as threats to social order and public morality has been a major cause for activism of the Religious Right for decades.

According to the religious right, the nuclear family and a marriage between one man and one woman is best for society. That’s their very conservative worldview.

Quite frankly, I don’t care what people do in their bedroom or identify as. As long as they don’t demand others to accommodate them. It’s their life, not mine.