The Dangers of Weaponized Compassion

            When you hear the word compassion you typically think of it as a good thing. It means you empathize with someone typically when they are going through a hardship. Seeing compassion in this way makes it understandably difficult to see it as a dangerous weapon. Yet when you are overly compassionate you can do as much damage as you can lacking compassion.

            The first danger of compassion is toward those you feel compassionate towards. If you are too compassionate than you want to do everything you can to protect and comfort them. This means you shield them from anything that may cause them harm. A real world example of this can be seen on college campuses in areas known as safe spaces. By removing any sort of challenge or difficulty to someone’s life you are depriving them of a chance to grow.

            Sheltering people in this way also prevents people from building the skills they need when they have to function in the real world on their own. An over protective mother might think she is doing what is right by protecting her children from every hardship, but the truth of the matter is she is depriving her children of necessary skills they will need to function as adults. The urge to always protect your children is very strong and it is difficult to see them in pain or struggle, but it is a sacrifice that must be made so that they can grow and become an adult you can be proud of. If that sacrifice is not made that is when you see infantilized adults.

            The next danger of compassion is toward those who you see as a threat to those you feel compassionate about. A mother bear is not going to kill you for getting too close to her cubs because she hates you, instead it is a deep compassion for her cubs that will lead her to attack. It is this basic idea that drives much of the activism we see today. You have people screaming at those they perceive as a threat to the ones they are showing compassion toward. This hyper-compassion should not only be seen as offensive to those labelled as a threat but to those they are claiming to be caring for.

            The person who is seen as a threat should be offended by being slurred as a threat (usually by being called a racist, Nazi, etc.) just for existing. The person being protected should be offended because the hyper-compassionate activist is claiming to do all of this on their behalf. In reality the activist sees the protected group as children who are not capable of protecting themselves and need someone, like them, to stand up against threats for them.

            It is this hyper-compassion that has been weaponized by politicians and activists. In politics it is seen as a way to solidify votes all while attacking the opposition. It turns the opposition into a threat that only the politician can deal with. You can see this in the near daily meltdowns over anything Republicans do or say. Let me know what you think about compassion in the comments below. Can you have too much of a good thing where compassion is concerned or the more compassion everyone has the better?