Thoughts in Journal
- Feb. 13, 2022, 4 p.m.
- |
- Public
Empathy.
It’s a funny thing. It’s one of those things that we often assume about people, groups, institutions, parents, etc etc etc. We assume it because… well. Because to do anything else would be suicide.
I will describe the classic example of God. God is love, they say. His love is perfect. Except, when we examine this, and ask the simple question; “how do I know that God loves me?” Well I guess first we need to define what love is. Love is a verb- it is an action and it is received as an experience. I don’t cannot say that I love someone from the other side of the world with no contact and no connection, for example. They would not even know of my existence, and would never experience love from me. So then, to say that I love, I must first extend both empathy and sympathy toward the object of my love. I must know their experience, and sympathize with their preferences, needs and wants. I must act in consistency with that knowledge, and continuously receive feedback from my love-object through the effort of empathizing and sympathizing.
But when we ask, “how do I know that God loves me?”, we are immediately and unavoidably faced with the opposite dilemma. I must first attempt to understand God in order to know if he loves me. This is, obviously, begging the question. Because asking if God empathizes with me is to deny His empathy with me.
Now I’m not saying that to ask this question of anyone is an automatic null hypothesis. Especially not one who never claims to love, to empathize, or to sympathize. But, it does seem to prove the null hypothesis if these claims are made. Since God makes these claims, or at least the promoters of the God delusion make these claims, asking this question proves the claim null.
To demand empathy is to deny love… and to make such a demand cannot be consistent with the act of love. Since to claim to love is to empathize, sympathize, and act in accordance to that ongoing knowledge, one cannot be consistent in demanding that the love-object empathize with them in order to experience and to know, or validate, that love. To make the claim to love is to claim of the responsibility of knowing whether the love-object experiences love.
Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
I don't get you.
Can you break this down for me?
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
Hey,
What exactly is it that you don't get?
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
The God part mostly
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
Actually the God part and after
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
Okay, would you say that you experience God's love?
And, after answering either yes or no, how would you quantify that experience?
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
I don't believe and I feel God hates me but sure it's an idea
How would I quantify it? Like a church feeding people or like a personally felt feeling of being loved by God?
I don't know. I don't think that way. What do you mean?
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
No, not someone who claims to express God's love. I mean, have you ever experienced God's love directly?
And I mean, in light of the necessary conditions for one to be loved, ie, the feeling of being seen, of being understood, of having an empathetic witness, of knowing that your best interest is a value to God.
This is not to say that a lack of love is to feel hate. On the contrary, the lack of love is to feel indifference.
But, whether you feel something that you might consider love, or not, how would you quantify it?
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
I've never experienced that from God, no.
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
Okay, and by what standard do you quantify the absence of that experience?
In other words, how would you know if you were loved by God?
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
I'm not sure. I don't think it's possible to know
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
Oh, okay.
Well if it is not possible to know, then the logic cannot apply.
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
Do you read a lot of philosophy? You can be hard to follow
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
I do. Sorry about that.
I do truly appreciate the feedback. One can easily be lost in semantics.
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
Ya. I don't know much philosophy. Been meaning to read some but been meaning to read so much
Miss Chiffs Manager Sleepy-Eyed John ⋅ February 13, 2022
Fwiw, my argument comes from the principle of property rights.
In which one owns their actions and the effects of their actions.
Sleepy-Eyed John Miss Chiffs Manager ⋅ February 13, 2022
I don't get it.