Empathy connects us with our kin. We feel sad when our loved ones are hurt. We notice the way the head is held, the tears or the silence. We feel panic when we don't know what to do to help especially when we depend on them for our survival. And when we are taught that we must overcome our feelings and "get on with life", that we are not entitled to express those feelings, where do we turn for comfort?
When someone focuses on hate what does it mean in terms of their own mental and emotional health. What has happened in their lifetime that they decide to join a group that defines itself by who they are against. What happens in the psyche of a drug gang member who is sent out to kill someone? What happens to a young soldier who is taught how and when to kill a proscribed enemy?
What happens when a child grows to be a narcissistic psychopath, whose only sense of worth is absorbed into games that divide and manipulate? What happens to the soul who only sees value in controlling and harming? And what of those born into this dynamic where vulnerability is seen as weakness?
How many civilizations normalize abusive competition?
Empathy is a frightening realization of the ritual abuse meted on humanity for centuries for the sake of dominance, but it also connects us to the meaning of our lives too if we are able to care for others.
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