Leviticus isn’t all bad. Among the many strange and problematic rules are glimmers of empathy. The so-called Golden Rule that Christians are supposed to follow – Do to others as you would have them do to you/Love your neighbor as yourself – comes from Leviticus 19:19. In fact, every religion has some version of this mandate, though it seems that few of us take it seriously. Jesus knew this, so he responded to the question – Who is my neighbor? – by telling the story of the Samaritan who did a good thing for a stranger. Without knowing anything about the injured man, the nameless Samaritan saved his life and provided for his healing. Empathy is feeling sorrow with someone. Sympathy is feeling pity for someone.
Bill O’Reilly, the right-wing pundit, author, and firebrand, has long been a supporter of book bans. His pseudo-moralistic and bombastic words are exalted among folks who think like he does, and one of his crusades has been to support book banning. This week, however, the world found out that two of his books have been banned by the Escambia County School District in Florida. O’Reilly, of course, is outraged that his books – both about killing – would be removed from those shelves. His lack of empathy for different points of view has driven his support of banning books he disagrees with. Karma has bitten him in the butt. I wonder if he sees the irony.
Many of us suffer from a lack of empathy. Think of all the politicians and preachers who oppose LGBTQ rights, only to find out that a beloved family member or friend identifies with one of those letters. Or the “guns everywhere all the time” advocate whose child becomes a victim in a school shooting; do they see how their lack of empathy has exacerbated the problem? Sympathy is fairly easy; we can feel sad when someone’s spouse dies, but unless it has happened to us, it can be difficult to empathize with them. The idea that we should walk a mile in another person’s shoes before we judge their life points to the challenge of having empathy. For example, I didn’t really understand how hard it is to have a parent die until it happened to me. Empathy isn’t always easy, but it is necessary for society to progress.
Jesus never told us we couldn’t judge others. What He said was that the way we judge others will be the way we will be judged. In other words – Karma. Bo Diddly sang it years before I was born – Before you accuse me, take a look at yourself. Jesus said we need to take the log out of our own eye before we remove the speck from someone else’s. Having empathy makes the world a better place for all of us. Without empathy we get; well, we get what we have now. We can do better.
Prayer – Help us, God, to see others as if they were us. Better yet, help us to see others as if they were You. Amen.
Today’s art is “Empathy” by Juli Cady Ryan.