Encyclopedia of Death and Dying

[coberst]

Christianity has failed to…


[b]I claim that the Christian religion has failed to teach empathy; one of the most important moral concepts we have.[/b]

There are various definitions of empathy given by various individuals but almost all of them point to the same meaning. Empathy is defined as the ability to [b]understand[/b] the feelings, thoughts, and beliefs of another person. Empathy is often characterized as the ability to “walk in the shoes of another”, i.e. to acquire an emotional resonance with another.

In his classic work about modern art, “Abstraction and Empathy”, Wilhelm Worringer provides us with a theory of empathy derived from Theodor Lipps that can be usefully applied to objects of art as well as all objects including persons.

“The presupposition of the act of empathy is the general [b]apperceptive activity[/b]. Every sensuous object, [b]in so far as it exists for me,[/b] is always the product of two components, that which is sensuously given and of my apperceptive activity.”

[b]Apperception[/b]—the process of [b]understanding something perceived in terms of previous experience.[/b]

What does [b]in so far as it exists for me[/b] mean. I would say that something exists for me when I comprehend that something. Comprehension is a hierarchical concept and can be usefully considered as in the shape of a pyramid. At the base of the comprehension pyramid is awareness that is followed by consciousness. We are aware of many things but we are conscious of much less. Consciousness is awareness plus our focused attention.

Continuing with the pyramid analogy, knowing follows consciousness and understanding is at the pinnacle of the pyramid. We know less than we are conscious of and we understand less than we know. Understanding is about meaning whereas knowing is about knowledge. To move from knowing something to a point when that something is meaningful to me, i.e. understood by me, is a big step for man and a giant step for mankind.

[b]My very best friend is meaningful to me and my very worst enemy must, for security reasons, also be meaningful to me.[/b] The American failures in Vietnam and Iraq are greatly the result of the fact that our government and our citizens never understood these ‘foreigners’. We failed at the very important relationship—we did not empathesize with the people and thus failed to understand our enemy. It is quite possible that if we had understood them we would never have gone to war with them.

[b]If we had empathy with Germany in the 1930s would we have stopped Hitler before he forced us into war?

If we had empathy with Germany before August 1914 would we have prevented WWI?

Do you agree that we understand our best friend and that we must also understand our worst enemy?[/b]

[krakosabrokovich]

Wrong again. If I were the only one left I would still criticise christianity and for that matter all religions. I have seen firsthand the ill-effects christianity has wrought on africa and africans, especially Ghanaians

[stanislarr]

I understand how much it sucks to deal with these people. There are people who could call themselves Asatruar or Odinists, who use our religion for racist means - as a white power organization. I think you just have to ignore this kind of thing. Racists no more represent Christianity than they do Asatru.

[LolfIllecemes]

life is priceless. is the afterlife priceless as well?

futhermore, why is life considered priceless in christianity when an eternally blissful afterlife exists?

futhermore, why would jesus life be considered priceless to the extent that his sacrifice would be considered noble? hes lived eternally in infinite bliss before he sacrificed his life and he will live eteranlly in infinite bliss since he has sacrificed his life.

[bukdub]

In Christianity, there is only one God. Definitely no hierarchy here.
Then we have angelic beings, where there is an order. The Devil and his demons are really angels gone astray.
And, Mary and the Saints were just humans.
Christians only worship God - three-in-one.
To explain this Trinity concept to people would be futile because no human mind can understand it. Or no person can understand it to explain it clearly.
Only if the truth was given to us then we would be able to grasp this knowledge.
If you were to tell a unschooled person that water were able to exist in three forms, it would be impossible to convince by plain words. That is because he either wont accept/believe you or finds it too difficult to comprehend.
For us, we know about the qualities of water because we have been in school. We also know that almost all elements can exist in three states. But then there is also a fourth and fifth state, I think.
If you can believe that water can exist in three different forms and even at the same time.
How hard is it to believe God exists as three persons.
To me, it doesnt matter if I dont understand God completely.
It is like we are only able to believe things we think are possible, logical to us.
There are many, many unbelievable things in this world.
So what if God can exist as a tripartite.
Would it be harder to believe than if He were Almighty.
Jesus said that, All things are possible with God.
Think of all the impossible things that God can do.

We can believe something if that thing has been shown to us.
Jesus showed us the way to the Father.
If He hadnt come, we wouldnt know what to believe. Each one of us would only believe in our own self and what is right to us. And what makes you say that you are right? Can you prove any of the things you believe in?
As a Christian, I read the Bible to know what is the truth and not on my own knowledge.
For, who knows? What I know may not correct.
King Solomon wrote down in the book of Proverbs,
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding 3:5