Apathy, preached as a virtue.
Marx called religion the opium of the people. Its newest formulation is stranger than that: a growing set of prominent Christian voices now teach that empathy itself is a weakness — even a sin — to be resisted. Set beside the words attributed to Christ, the contrast is plain.
This is the values edge of the apathy engine: a permission structure for not caring. We name specific figures and books, and we set what they teach beside the text of the Gospels. We are talking about some influential voices — not all evangelicals, and we do not pretend otherwise.
What this page is about
Within the past two years, prominent conservative-Christian figures have published a case against empathy. Joe Rigney's The Sin of Empathy (2025) and Allie Beth Stuckey's Toxic Empathy (2024) argue that compassion, followed too far, becomes a moral trap; Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's flagship seminary, featured and endorsed both. Elon Musk told Joe Rogan that empathy is “the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.”
This page documents that named movement and sets it beside the text these same traditions revere. We are not claiming all evangelicals believe this; we are documenting that influential ones now teach it, and that it runs opposite to Christ's own recorded words.
The record, claim by claim
A named movement now recasts empathy as a weakness or a sin.
FACTJoe Rigney, a pastor and professor, published 'The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and Its Counterfeits' (2025). Allie Beth Stuckey published 'Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion' (2024). Albert Mohler — president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the SBC's flagship — featured and endorsed both on his podcast. Elon Musk told Joe Rogan that empathy is 'the fundamental weakness of Western civilization.' These books, endorsements, and statements are on the record.
“The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy.”
What they teach runs opposite to Christ's own recorded words.
FACTThis is a documentable textual contrast, not an opinion we impose. The Gospels have Jesus command 'love your neighbour as yourself' (Mark 12:31) and 'love your enemies' (Matthew 5:44); on the stranger and the immigrant, 'I was a stranger and you welcomed me' (Matthew 25:35), echoing Hebrew scripture's 'the stranger… you shall love him as yourself' (Leviticus 19:34); and the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) answers 'who is my neighbour?' with the foreigner. Set the advocacy beside the text and the contradiction is plain — the scripture is citable fact.
- The Gospels (Mark 12:31; Matthew 5:44; Matthew 25:35; Luke 10) and Leviticus 19:34
Some of the same figures pair the anti-empathy turn with fear of the immigrant.
FACTThe anti-empathy argument travels with a politics of the stranger — casting immigrants and outsiders as threats to be feared rather than neighbours to be welcomed. We stamp this only where a named figure is quoted advocating it, case by case, rather than generalizing; each instance is a claim about that person's words, not about a whole faith. (Draft note: gather and cite specific quoted instances at final edit.)
Named voices, and the text beside them
- Some, not all. We make no claim about evangelicals as a whole, and we don't invent a sweeping version of the claim just to knock it down. Every entry is a named figure, quoted.
- A contrast, not a verdict. We set the advocacy beside the Gospel text and let readers see the gap. We are not issuing a theological ruling; we are quoting two things and placing them side by side.
- Right of response. Any figure named here is invited to answer, and we will carry the response. If we have misquoted or missed context, we correct it.
Permission not to care
If the engagement machine keeps people numb through distraction, this is numbness given a moral blessing — apathy reframed as discernment or strength. It is the values edge of the apathy half of The Outrage & Apathy Economy: a public that has been taught not to feel for the stranger is a public that will not be moved by what is done to them.
Questions worth taking seriously
Aren't they just critiquing manipulative or performative empathy?
That's their strongest framing, and we quote it fairly — Stuckey targets “toxic” empathy that she says validates sin; Rigney distinguishes empathy from compassion. But the plain effect of the argument, and the Musk version especially, is to treat feeling-with-others as a weakness to resist. We set their words beside the Gospel text and let readers judge the distance.
Isn't it out of bounds for a secular site to quote scripture at Christians?
We're not preaching; we're doing what we do everywhere — setting a claim beside the primary source. When public figures invoke Christian authority to argue against empathy, the words attributed to Christ are the relevant, citable record. Placing the two together is reporting, not a sermon.
If you are named on this page
If you are named on this page, or are a party materially affected by the claims made here, and you wish to respond, correct the record, or add context, use the Contact page. Responses are published verbatim alongside the original claim, with the sender identified and the date of receipt. The channel stays open for the life of the page.
This site aggregates and grades a record that other outlets and primary sources have already put on the record. Every FACT-graded claim above is sourced to court filings, government reports, sworn whistleblower disclosures, published investigative journalism, or named-source statements. The citations are the accountability mechanism; this section is how you get on the record too.
The record
- AP via PBS NewsHour — “Is empathy a sin? Some conservative Christians argue it can be”
- Joe Rigney, The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and Its Counterfeits (2025)
- Allie Beth Stuckey, Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion (2024)
- The Gospels — Mark 12:31; Matthew 5:44; Matthew 25:35; Luke 10 — and Leviticus 19:34