Frequently Ask Questions (FAQ)
This page is for Frequently made attacks, criticisms, comments on empathy. There are many different criticism and comments made and I'd like to clearly state them and offer the countering comments or argument here. I'm just starting this up so there's a long way to go. It would be good as some sort of a Wiki.

Questions about Empathy

Related to Empathy and Justice and Supreme Court Nomination.

Empathy is:

• Bias!

  • Statement: What Obama means is he wants empathy for one side.

    • (need a source and link for each statement)

  • Statement:  "A judge is supposed to have empathy for no one but simply to follow the law."

    •  Source:  Wendy Long, chief counsel of the Judicial Confirmation Network,

  • Answer: "there is a false dichotomy that's being fostered between "the rule of law" and a "empathy" which seems to be read as partisanship, rather than the ability to live into another's reality as an ingredient of judicial decision making." Nanette S.

  • Answer:  I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with peoples hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes. Obama

•  Not the law!

  • Statement: Justice is not about empathy.” Karl Rove

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•  A code word for social engineering and activism!

  • Statement:

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• Means activist judges!

  • Statement:

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•  Irrational personal feeling!

  • Statement: “idiosyncratic” - personal and a danger to reason.

  • Statement: Emotion is irrational and dangerous.

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• Emotionalism!

  • Statement: Empathy is an emotion and you can't trust emotions.

  • Statement: emotion is prone to overshadow reason. we're emotional creatures in an idiosyncratic world, -  need discipline of manners and morals, tradition and practice, David Brooks

  • Statement: one day you feel this way the next day you feel another way - Carl Rove

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• The Empathy Standard is a litmus test!!

  • Statement:

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• Feminine and weak

  • Statement: 'Identifying empathy as feminine and control/domination as masculine' Joseph McCormick

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• Is Fascism!

  • Statement: We're seeing empathy fascism - Glenn Beck

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• Negative innuendo!

  • Statement: using the word empathy next to the words such as; bias, racism, fascism, activist judges, etc to create negative innuendo

  • Answer:

On the Political Conservative/Progressive split

• Progressives are incapable of having empathy for conservatives!

  • Statement: Liberals are unable to sympathize (empathize) with conservatives?  Helen Smith

    • 1. they have a “blind spot” for conservative morality

    • 2. liberals live in a bubble i.e. only have liberal friends

    • 3. They are not exposed to right-leaning and libertarian ideas

  • Answer:

• Progressives are supposed to be about empathy and caring and are not always that way.

  • Statement: It pains me to see Progressives judging the judgers. Joseph McCormick

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• Obama does not have empathy for conservatives!

  • Statement:

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• Obama does not have empathy for millions of people!

  • Statement: Obama’s sense of empathy is highly politicized - sensitive to and compassionate to favored political constituencies, unfeeling and intolerant to many others. Gary Bauer

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