As the pictures and videos begin trickling out from the hostage prisoner exchange in Gaza, the heart-wrenching images of children are nothing short of disturbing. Once innocent and happy children come home quite differently with a less than favorable prognosis for their future. Undoubtedly, fifty-plus days in captivity, coupled with how they were abducted, will cause trauma in years to come.
The following weeks will undoubtedly fill in some more of the details about Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7th. NBC has already published one such story about Abigail Mor Idan, a three-year-old girl whose parents were murdered by Hamas in their home. Abigail was in her father’s arms when he was shot in the back and killed, falling on top of the toddler and covering her with his blood. When the attack ended, the young child crawled out from under her deceased father and headed to the neighbor’s house, thinking she would be safe, but she was wrong. Later, it was learned that the terrorists also murdered Abigail’s mother, but miraculously her brothers survived.
Abigail’s story will be one of many in weeks and months ahead. It isn’t hard to imagine other stories will have a similar effect on a person who has empathy against crimes against humanity. The taking of children and women as hostages and leaving family members murdered on a vast scale does not seem to register with college students who are protesting in cities and campuses in support of Hamas and their violent campaign against Israel.
The lack of empathy shown by protestors is nothing short of stunning. Up until now, society has never accepted the slaughtering and kidnapping of women and children as an acceptable response, no matter what the circumstances might be. The pro-Palestinian activists simply sweep the facts under the rug. The only reasonable explanation is these young protestors somehow have lost the will to empathize with the pain and suffering of innocent victims.
There appears to be a partial explanation in science as to why young adults seem less empathetic. Anthony Silard, PhD., writing in Psychology Today, published a study linking the use of social media with the lack of empathy. “A recent meta-analysis of 72 studies conducted between 1979 and 2009, for instance, found that the empathy levels of American college students have dropped 40 percent, which the authors primarily attribute to the rise of social media.”
It stands to reason that when an individual relates to another virtually, he is less likely to see the other as a real human being, with reactions of pain or even happiness from face-to-face encounters. Furthermore, the anonymity and protection afforded by social media make it easier for the user not to face the consequences of his actions, even if those actions are hurtful.
Although the study and the overuse of social media seem convincing, there is more to explain the lack of empathy in young persons. The lack of institutionalized religious attendance of these young people also plays a factor in their inability to connect with those who are suffering or in pain. The central thesis of religion, along with faith in God, is how another person should be treated as a person created in the image of God, just as they are. Without religious teaching and practice, a person is left alone to integrate some ethical behavior, often with great sway by a mob controlling a culture.
The college and city protests, which are becoming quite prevalent today, should serve as a reminder of the need to teach or reinforce empathy. Since the schools are unwilling to do it and the church attendance is small, the responsibility of forming the young falls on the parents and the extended families.
No one is too old or virtuous to be reminded about the importance of empathy and the cruelty of human suffering and death at the hands of another. Only then can there be a greater chance of peace in hearts, homes and the world.