Here’s a timely word in the midst of a heated campaign season.
“The capacity for intellectual empathy is essential to those who wish to live generously and with integrity in a pluralistic society. Perhaps it is even more essential today than in times past, given the social and cultural forces that presently foster division and encourage peremptory dismissal of opposing views — not to mention our enhanced capacities to destroy one another.
Practicing intellectual empathy is a kind of spiritual discipline, because it necessitates that we put aside our belief that the lens through which we view the world is the only right one (see Romans 12:3). In intellectual empathy we do not sacrifice critical thinking, but before we move to offer critique, we first hear others thoughtfully and try to imagine what it would be like to share their convictions. ”
Michael Jinkins, president and professor of theology at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, from a blog entry posted on the Faith & Leadership website