Jack Thompson Submits Gay Porn to District Court Judge, Judge is Outraged.

[PlagueOfLocust]

Or visible reality, anyway. Obviously the only things that exist are those we can see, right? (-sarcasm) There are more valid, essential sciences other than science (say, philosophy); I hope they still teach that in the schools somewhere in the world. And the inquisition/crusades are just examples of people who consider themselves Christians, yet are not in that situation acting by the teachings of the Bible. That does not make the religion wrong; it makes the people wrong. If some screwball yelled "I'm a Christian!" and then proceeded to gun down everyone in sight, I imagine you'd be inclined to point out how violent Christianity must be?

And I know what empathy is by definition. But the fact is that there is no explainable reason for you to act that way towards someone without some inner sense that it's right to do so. Do you really go through this process every time you help someone: "Oh... that being is drowning; they are a person; I am also a person; I can also drown; if I was drowning I would want them to help me; I should help them." I hope not... they might have drowned by then. Isn't it a lot more like: "Oh God, they're drowning! I should do something!" without even considering why or how you came to the conclusion that you "should"?

Yes, you can "possess that ability and still be a douche to them," but there you're talking about being *able* to feel empathy and not actually *feeling* empathy. "Having empathy" does not mean simply possessing the ability to feel it, but in fact feeling it. And even if you did feel it but didn't act on it, that's merely a case of knowing right but doing wrong; there's no valid point here.