This week: Is Empathy a Sin? Edited by: Kit  
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Do you believe empathy to be a sin? Why, or why not?
There are some denominations who do believe empathy to be a sin. In this week's Spiritual Newsletter, I will make my case for why I disagree.
Kit |
There’s a strand of thinking in some Christian denominations that empathy is a sin. If that seems counterintuitive, that’s because it is: God sacrificed His only son in order to save humanity. If that isn’t empathy, what is?
There are several arguments made, depending on the denomination. Some American evangelical churches believe in the Gospel of Prosperity. The followers of this gospel believe that God will grant financial prosperity and physical health to those who have faith. By thinking positively, saying affirmations and giving generously to one’s church, one will be blessed. This means that sickness, poverty and other suffering are a direct consequence of sin, and of a lack of belief. If the suffering person just prayed hard enough and believed strongly enough, they wouldn’t be in that position. Feeling empathy towards such a person is to feel empathy towards sin. Nor is it helpful – it’s on the person to make things right. That’s the only way they’ll be saved.
Some believe that empathy is a gift of the devil, rather than of God. Empathy can ruin people, if they place themselves in the shoes of sinners rather than stay firmly on the path of righteousness. As mentioned above, it can stop sinners from becoming righteous because help given may stop them from helping themselves. It can even ruin nations. Offering healthcare to all raises taxes. Likewise, social security. Empathy towards migrants means a lack of jobs, and housing, overburdened schools and hospitals, and a degradation of one’s culture. Who needs an enemy, so the argument goes, if we destroy ourselves by catering to the weakest in society, rather than nurturing the strong? Compassion is okay. It is good, and wholesome, to support charity, and something for those in need to turn to. Empathy leads to bad policy, and should be avoided in any decision making.
I never knew of this line of thinking, but it explains a lot. There have been several debates over the years in the UK, about providing school meals to students on low incomes. When I was in primary school in the Netherlands there was no such initiative, and there were times when my family struggled and we didn’t have much to eat. My lunch could be a couple of slices of bread with some butter and sugar. In hindsight, I wonder what my parents had to eat on those days – probably less than what I did. Parents tend to put their children first. I am, then, very much in favour of school meals. Not just for emotional reasons – children who are hungry are less focused, and that hinders learning. A well-educated population is good for a country. Just after Covid lockdown, however, there were politicians who wanted to get rid of school meals. My political representative was one of them. He’s a Christian, and I argued with him about what Jesus had said about feeding the hungry. He argued that people ought to help themselves. Even though many people had lost their jobs because of Covid, and it wasn’t exactly their fault that they were going through difficult times.
Not that that ought to matter. Jesus did say to feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, to invite in the stranger, give clothes to those in need, look after the sick, and visit the imprisoned. He says all this in the Book of Matthew. Indeed, He says “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40), and condemns those who would deny such assistance (Matthew 25:46). For Jesus there were no deserving or undeserving poor, no deserving or undeserving people in need – you help others. It’s as simple as that.
But, you may say, it is true that we cannot open our doors to everyone who wants to move here. It is unsustainable! That is true, and it’s what makes migration a hot political topic. The trouble is that there is no quick fix. It certainly won’t be found in the solutions on the political table, some of which are rather horrific and only supported because of the dehumanisation of migrants. Fixing migration takes international cooperation. We must look at why people migrate – war, poverty, corruption, a lack of opportunity - and address those issues at the source. It takes valuing labour, and improving worker’s rights. Building good quality affordable housing and investing in infrastructure. It takes addressing the reasons why people are having fewer children, too – work/life balance, maternity and paternity leave, affordable childcare… The hope of a better future. There will always be some migration, of course, and that’s good and healthy. High levels of migration, however, wouldn’t be necessary if people were safe where they were, and could see a promising future for themselves in their own country. Nor would countries need migrant labour if people could afford to work currently lower-paid jobs, and there were enough citizens to fill them.
Instead, it’s easier to blame the migrants, and the poor, and the disabled, and whoever is the current scapegoat. It’s easy to label them as useless, and lazy, and probably ‘putting it on’. It’s convenient to claim that the state shouldn’t be responsible for certain people – that we, the hardworking taxpayers aren’t responsible. It’s what charity is for, isn’t it? If we find someone deserving of our compassion, we’ll donate to the relevant charity and then we can feel good about ourselves.
Except, there’s empathy. With empathy, you can imagine why one wouldn’t want to raise a child in a war-torn country. What it would be like if you fall terribly ill and can no longer work, not even with all the will in the world. How someone needs to get out of an abusive situation and ends up on the streets. What it might be like for that hungry child in the classroom, trying to focus on their test rather than their stomach.
You can imagine what that child can become, if only they had a little support to help them reach their full potential. They may become the next doctor, or scientist, or president. Or they may go on to lead a completely average, unremarkable life. That’s fine, too. Society needs average people - there are only a few ever destined for greatness.
Empathy makes it hard to dehumanise people. It makes it mighty difficult to support cruel government policies. It makes it hard to divide us.
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 7:12
“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” - Galatians 6:2
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35
“But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?” - 1 John 3:17
“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” - James 2:15-17
A sin is a transgression of divine law. A failure to align with God’s will. The quotes shown above (and there are more) show clearly God’s will on this matter.
Empathy is not a sin. There certainly are problems to be fixed in this world. At times, they can feel overwhelming. What we cannot – must not – do is address them without empathy. We can never build the bridges necessary to work together on these problems without understanding where someone else is coming from.
Kit
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The Spiritual Newsletter Team
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Spiritual: May 07, 2025 Issue [#13122]
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