Opinion: Empathy isn’t ‘woke’ — it’s fundamental to humanity

Again this year, San Diegans are flocking to see performances based on “A Christmas Carol” at the Old Globe (Dec. 12-22) and Cygnet Theater (Nov. 26-Dec. 28). It’s the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a miserly misanthrope who cares for nobody except himself. Portrayed by Dickens as a “wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner,” he exemplifies the antithesis of empathy. His disposition sounds remarkably like that of Elon Musk, who just last year declared that “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”

By publicly displaying his narcissistic point of view, Musk — the world’s richest man, according to Forbes — unwittingly identified with the greedy and predatory Scrooge. Earlier this year, Musk famously wielded a chainsaw to show how he would cut spending and slash the federal workforce when he signed on to lead DOGE — the Department of Government Efficiency. As it turned out, the mission was quietly aborted last month, due in large part to Musk’s incompetence.

Sadly, Musk is not the only public enemy of empathy. In a recent issue of The Guardian, Julie Carrie Wong wrote a disconcerting essay about the Republican Party’s growing war on empathy, citing prominent evangelical theologians who are recasting empathy as “woke.” R. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, scoffed, “There’s no market so far as I know for empathy cards.”

During a podcast in 2022, the late Charlie Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, declared, “I can’t stand the word empathy, actually, I think empathy is a made-up, New Age term that does a lot of damage.” Joe Rigney, fellow of theology at New Saint Andrews College, rejects both empathy and compassion as “woke.” He flaunts these virtues in his recent book, “The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits.”

Other Christian leaders, however, hold opposing views. At the Washington National Cathedral, the Rev. Canon Dana Colley Corsello contended, “Empathy is not toxic, nor is it a sin. The arguments about toxic empathy are finding open ears because far right-wing, White evangelicals are looking for a moral framework around which they can justify President Trump’s executive orders and policies.”

Hannah Arendt, an influential political theorist of the 20th century, saw firsthand the results of “the death of human empathy” in Nazi Germany that led to the horrors of the Holocaust.  She reflected, “The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism.”

During a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2, our president paraded his total lack of empathy during a xenophobic rant, exclaiming that Somalia “stinks” and is “no good for a reason.” While Vice President JD Vance banged the table in encouragement, he railed against U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., saying, “She’s garbage. Her friends are garbage.” It is impossible to reconcile this outburst of raw nativism with the inclusive words of Jesus: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

It seems that our president and his MAGA movement have introduced a new “three Rs” into our American lexicon: revenge, reprisal and retribution.  Under the guise of greatness, they have donned the heartless mantle of Scrooge.

The Gospel record includes at least seven incidents where the word compassion is used to describe Jesus’ response to others. Empathy is an integral element of compassion, which includes reaching out to help those in need. It not only conveys a deep, gut-wrenching emotional response toward another’s plight, but it implies the essence of empathy that has characterized Christian ethics, behavior and preaching throughout history.

Empathy and compassion are essential to our humanity because they enable cooperation, strengthen relationships, and foster kindness and ethical behavior. They help us to understand and share another’s feelings by building trust and resolving conflicts — and they make possible the difficult act of forgiveness.

Toward the conclusion of “A Christmas Carol,” theatergoers breathe a collective sigh of relief when Scrooge regains his moral compass and disavows the inhumanity of his former behavior. His rediscovery of empathy has transformed him from a miserly wretch into “as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man … as in the good old world.” May it also be said of us.

Dickens fittingly concludes his Christmas classic with these words of grace and charity: “God bless us, every one!”

Cummins, SDSU emeritus professor of counseling and immediate past moderator of the Presbytery of San Diego, lives in Pacific Beach.