Empathy in a Divided World

Empathy is one of those words we all know but often struggle to practice. At its core, it’s the ability to extend compassion and sympathy even to those whose experiences we cannot relate to, or, more challengingly, those whose values we deeply disagree with.

That’s the test, isn’t it? It’s easy to show kindness toward people who mirror our own beliefs. It’s much harder to extend empathy to someone who actively dismissed it, who called compassion weakness, who believed society would be stronger without it.

And yet, when death strikes, when a family loses a loved one, when children lose a parent, the principle of empathy still matters. To me, empathy doesn’t require agreement or admiration. It doesn’t mean excusing harmful rhetoric or pretending we share the same worldview. It means recognizing loss as universal, a thread that connects all of us no matter how sharp our differences may be.

I choose empathy for those who are grieving, even if the person they mourn rarely practiced it themselves. Because empathy, at its truest, is not a transaction. It’s a declaration that we don’t have to mirror cruelty to confront it. It’s a choice to stand for humanity in a moment where dehumanization often feels easier.

If empathy was dismissed as a downfall, maybe showing it now is its greatest triumph.