empathy

Gareth Higgins 8-26-2011

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a surprising addition to the typical summer blockbuster canon -- for one thing, it manages to entertain and challenge, without resorting to gratuitous violence to make its point. But there's a deeper subtext that is even more unexpected -- for this is a story in which we start to lose.

It was fashionable in the late 1960s and early '70s for science fiction films to attempt to out-dystopia each other -- see for example the notion in Soylent Green that post-industrial humanity snacks on itself to survive, the suggestion that only robots can be trusted to look after creation in Silent Running, and the climactic revelation in the original Planet of the Apes that a few generations from now, the nuclear arms race will end in mutually assured destruction. All these point to a simple philosophical idea: that humans cannot be trusted to care for ourselves or the planet we steward.

Theresa Cho 5-13-2011

I love this photo. Exemplified in this photo is where my life as a mom and as a pastor intersect. This is the day that my daughter was baptized. I love how my son is looking up and probably wondering what is going on. My husband who is also a pastor had the joy of baptizing my son.

Theresa Cho 1-05-2011
"Deborah was a prophet, the wife of Lappidoth. She was judge over Israel at that time. She held court under Deborah's palm between Ramah and Bethel in the hills of Ephraim.
Steve Holt 12-13-2010
We Americans hate to wait. Whatever we want, we want it now. Pay-per-view. One-click shopping. Smart phones. Drive-through restaurants.
Heather Wilson 8-09-2010

Ten more lives were lost in Afghanistan last week. Many people will likely say this danger is reason not to work in Afghanistan, yet I would disagree.

Alan Bean 6-10-2010
A University of Michigan study suggests that the college students of today are 40 percent less empathetic than students twenty or thirty years ago.
LaVonne Neff 12-09-2009

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
--William Butler Yeats, from "The Second Coming"

Eugene Cho 10-26-2009

We often speak of 'loving our neighbors,' but it's really hard when we don't even know our neighbors. I see this to be a growing problem -- not just in the Church but our larger society. Why is it so hard to meet and grow with our neighbors?

LaVonne Neff 10-14-2009

For more than sixty years American presidents have tried to reform our health-care system, to no avail.

Jim Wallis 7-17-2009
The confirmation hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor this week again brings up the fundamental issues of diversity and affirmative action.
Jim Wallis 6-09-2009
Every so often, I will begin the week with a post about something that I believe deserves further reflection and comment from the God's Politics community.