James O’Dea is the lead faculty for the Shift
Network’s Peace Ambassador Training with hundreds of international
participants. These trainings are ongoing.
He is on the extended faculty of the Institute
of Noetic Sciences and its former President. He is also former Washington
office director of Amnesty International and CEO of the Seva Foundation.
"When we can really put ourselves in the shoes of the
other, when we can reach new depths of empathy, then we can be effective
ambassadors of peace....
Without empathy there is no way forward for civilization.
Individuals who lack empathy are trapped in selfish motivations and ego
fixations: they have not learned how to see themselves in the
predicament of others. Politicians who lack empathy relate to others
through a primitive in-group inclusion or out-group exclusion. This
degree of psychological development cannot negotiate any form of middle
ground. Conviction is reduced to simplistic binary codes such as "You
are either with us or against us."" Sub Conference: Empathy and Peace
Redefining the Peace Movement by James O’Dea
"We are witnessing a tidal shift in consciousness. Some see it as a
great planetary awakening of awareness accompanied by an extended
capacity for empathy and collaboration....
Here are key transformations defining the new peace movement:... We are
moving from merely critiquing the absence of humanity in others to
honing our own capacity for compassionate action, deep empathy, and
authentic forgiveness."
2012-06-18 - New Entry Qualifications for Political Life: (Empathy,
Dialog, Wholeness)
It is time we require our politicians to qualify for public service in
ways that effectively serve the cause of safe, healthy, equitable and
diverse societies existing in an interdependent world and shared
ecosphere. The following are qualifications that I deem essential....
Empathy: Without empathy there is no way forward for civilization.
Individuals who lack empathy are trapped in selfish motivations and ego
fixations: they have not learned how to see themselves in the
predicament of others. Politicians who lack empathy relate to others
through a primitive in-group inclusion or out-group exclusion. This
degree of psychological development cannot negotiate any form of middle
ground. Conviction is reduced to simplistic binary codes such as "You
are either with us or against us.
In the absence of empathy the politics of adult tantrum
dominates public life and presenting yourself as exclusively right is
thought to be the only safe political strategy. No corporation or
institution would hire people with this kind of cognitive and affective
diminishment but we give them power. Yet politicians who lack emotional
intelligence feed societal division and breed intolerance...."
Empathy, Science and the Web of Mutuality
"One of the factors that influences boundaries is whether you can see
yourself standing in the shoes of the other. The ability to project
yourself into the story of the other helps dissolve the mystique of
difference and separateness. This leads us to the conversation around
empathy which is a very essential part of the conversation when we think
of the relational tools of the peacemaker.
The word empathy was formed in English in 1909, so it is a fairly
contemporary word. Before that, the English language had a different
word—sympathy... and sympathy, we can say, is feeling sorry for; empathy
actually is connected to our conversation around nature of the witness.
"
