Quote Originally Posted by Quest View Post
I believe I began to see the truth in this when I struggled with the issue of homosexuals...empathy can, and IMHO, often does weaken our resolve to stay true to scripture...at some point we must make a choice...I believe we see this is prevalent in our society...I was thinking of the term sanctuary cities this morning and was reminded of the city of refuge...and I understand how so many are gullible into believing allowing their city to be overrun with a criminal element for the sake of being sympathetic to their plight...and socialism is another twist that plays on empathetic...when we think about it so many arguments of the left play on this concept...just be kind and our enemies will love us, disarm and they will no longer want to kill us...ect...empathy is not love...I can empathize with the hardship of addiction but love demands truth to set them free....but if we embrace empathy as 'love' we will always miss the mark..
Empathy can easily find its root in an inner sense of feeling sorry for oneself which is then transferred towards others who are then felt sorry for and then it all becomes "we feel sorry for ourselves" and a community feeling based on that, which is then referred to as "love". Doing whatever one wants as long as it doesn't infringe directly on the rights of others (unless those rights are annulled first) and thereby being free to live according to one's lusts within that framework, is where things head. One is then declared a -phobe or anti-social unless one sympathizes with everyone's need to live according to their lusts in a state of self pity and a demand for the pity of others.