A Christian and an Atheist Walk into a Bar
Neil Newton and Phil Thompson have been talking about religion, philosophy, politics, music, sports, and pretty much anything they felt like talking about every since they became friends while working together at the University of Pittsburgh in the 20-teens. Though Neil is an Atheist and Phil is a Christian, they found that they agreed on more things than not, especially the evils of instant replay! ACAAAWIAB will explore topics like debt, heaven and hell, the Biblical Jubilee, philanthrocapitalism, and many others. Neil and Phil enjoy these conversations, so they figured there's a chance you will too. Original theme music written, performed, and produced by Neil Newton and Phil Thompson. christianathiest.pod@gmail.com
A Christian and an Atheist Walk into a Bar
Dumb and Christendumber - Part III: The Attack on Empathy
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Neil Newton and Philip Thompson
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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In part three of the Dumb and Christendumber trilogy we look at the Christian Nationalist attack on empathy. We had this crazy idea that the concept of empathy would mesh well with Jesus teaching in the gospels that we should treat people how we want to be treated. Who could have imagined how right we were?
We take a deep dive into some critiques of empathy, explore some notoriously bad takes on the parable of the Good Samaritan, and in the end, establish that empathy is both a baseline Christian practice and a unifying value held across many belief systems (which is probably why Christendumber hates it so much).
Recap of Parts I and II
Already a tangent: Israel and the Christian Right
What is empathy?
Joe Rigney and the "sin" of empathy
A tangent on "woke"
Back to Rigney
Revisiting the parable of the Good Samaritan
Bad takes on the Good Samaritan
The late John MacArthur's bad take on the good Samaritan
Dostoyevsky and empathy
Christianity isn't complicated, it's just difficult
Part IV of the trilogy