In the past, the word "empathy" was hardly controversial among conservatives. President Ronald Reagan and Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) never used "empathy" as an insult. But in recent years, many far-right MAGA Republicans and evangelical Christian nationalists are attacking "empathy" as a major weakness — and when they accuse conservative or libertarian of showing "empathy," it is meant as an insult.

Never Trump conservative David French, in a biting February 19 column for the New York Times, cites Christian nationalists' anti-empathy arguments as a prime example of how twisted MAGA's view of Christianity is.

"Now, let's talk about empathy," French writes. "A year ago this month, I wrote a newsletter warning about a new trend on the MAGA Christian Right. Christian theologians and influencers had begun warning about the 'sin of empathy' or 'toxic empathy.' In books, essays, podcasts and speeches, prominent Christian influencers, ministers and theologians sounded the alarm that secular progressives were leading Christians astray by appealing to their emotions at the expense of their reason."

The conservative columnist continues, "The steel man version of their case goes like this: Progressives have turned Christians' soft hearts against hard truths. Progressives have persuaded all too many Christians that the suffering of, say, undocumented immigrants or women facing unwanted pregnancies should override their concerns about the economic and social costs of large-scale immigration, or their compassion for victims of crimes committed by immigrants, or their concerns about the plight of the unborn child."

But MAGA anti-empathy argument, French stresses, isn't promoting strength — it's promoting "cruelty" while demeaning a "vital human virtue."

"Given the sharp differences between Trump and every other Republican president of the modern era…. evangelicals are desperate to rationalize their support for a man who gratuitously and intentionally inflicts unnecessary suffering on his opponents," French laments. "That's exactly how empathy becomes a sin….. Many in MAGA decided that cruelty was a virtue, decency a vice, and — worst of all — that empathy was a sin. Now, we live in the harsh new world they made."

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