Glenn Beck: Now Empathy-Free

It would be nice if Glenn Beck didn't get to me. I wish I could just pretend he didn't exist. But he does and he's too damn dangerous to ignore... it would be like ignoring a malignant tumor.

Of all Beck's dangerous ravings, the one that's troubling me most right now is:

"Empathy leads you to very bad decisions."

Yes. Glenn Beck is rejecting the concept of empathy. He's preaching that we shouldn't give a sh*t about other people. The World Health Organization calls this Dissocial personality disorder. Most of us would know it as a defining symptom of psychopathy: "a personality disorder characterized by an abnormal lack of empathy". Let's not even try to imagine how Beck can reconcile rejecting empathy with being a Christian. Nope... brain hurts.

In an ideal world, Beck would be under psychiatric treatment. And/or getting a stiff talking to from Jesus Christ. But in our less-than-ideal world he's a media personality and a shaper of public opinion. Wow. The lunatics truly are taking over the asylum...

So let's imagine a world without empathy, let's step inside Beck world:

Anthony Kyser didn't have money for the tubes of toothpaste he stuffed in his jacket before he walked out of a Little Village CVS store Saturday morning...Chased out of the store and down a litter-strewn alley shortly before 11 a.m., the 35-year-old unemployed barber was strangled to death by a CVS employee who had seen him shoplifting...The medical examiner ruled Kyser's death a homicide, saying an autopsy showed he had been strangled, but police said Sunday the employee who killed him won't be charged.

That story caught my eye because it's a perfect litmus test for empathy. A quick reading of the comments section show several fails:

gunnerm134 wrote:
If Kyser hadn't attempted to steal the toothpaste, this wouldn't be an issue... Case closed.

liveryder wrote:
Guess now everyone will now think twice before shop lifting?

princessgrace wrote:
Perhaps this will make another thief think twice before stealing.

Wow. We really are living in an empathy-challenged society where many are comfortable with a guy being strangled for stealing toothpaste? Glenn Beck must be so proud. That Jesus guy, not so much.