Can empathy be a bad thing? New thinking on the right says 'yes'

Empathy, the act of understanding and sharing the feelings of others, has long been the underpinning of religious, humanitarian, and philosophical teachings.

Now, there’s a new perspective increasingly heard in conservative circles: Empathy isn’t always a good thing. Elon Musk, for example, recently said that we have to fight against “civilizational suicidal empathy,” something he believes is weaponized by Democrats to ‘import’ as many immigrants without legal status as possible. It’s also being preached from right-wing pulpits by pastors who say empathy’s OK but that not everyone’s deserving of it.

NPR’s Sarah Mccamon and Stanford professor Jamil Zaki, author of “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” explore the issue.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.