Anxiety Storms and the Empathy Wars, April 30th, 2025. Introduction. The Empathy War seemed to have some

staying power. It was around seven years ago that Joe Rigney set the whole thing off within

reform circles when he sat down with me for an interview

on the pilot episode of Man Rampant. The reaction was not slow in coming and revealed that this was not a

controversy about nothing. There's far more going on here than the preference of some people for the

prefix M and others for the prefix sim. But before a clash of ideas like this happens, there usually

needs to be some awareness of the issues in order for anyone to notice them and point them out.

At the same time, it is also the case that the ongoing controversy can be increasingly

revelatory. Once the issue is joined, despite the fog of controversy, some things can actually

be clarified. Additional issues come tumbling out, or known

issues click together with other known issues such that the whole picture gets a lot clearer. Some origin

issues. The initial statement of the problem was kicked off by Joe Rigney in conversation with me.

Joe was led to his insights as a result of years of reading the works of René Girard on Mimetic Envy, study of the observations

of Edwin Friedman on lack of differentiation and failure of nerve, and through his own pastoral

observations over the years. A Catholic, a Jew, and a Protestant walked into a bar. And then as we

talked, my questions and comments were shaped by years of reading the works of René Girard on

Mimetic Envy,

appreciating the observations of Edwin Friedman on said failure of nerve, and my own pastoral

observations over the years. A Protestant and a Protestant had to talk about the bars they had

walked into. So, there you have it. New information. I mentioned some new things learned. One of the

items that is unfolded for us

as the empathy wars have gone on was this. The size of the storm can vary wildly. The storm can be

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