Empathy is the ability to understand and, on a deeply caring level, respond to the needs of other creatures. Alma speaks of followers of Christ as those who are “willing to bear one another’s burdens, . . . mourn with those that mourn, . . . and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” And yet there seems to be a paucity of empathy in modern society, including among Christians (and, therefore, Mormons). This panel explores the nature and various dimensions of these virtues, their biological and spiritual roots, their strengths and insufficiencies in a hierarchical contest with love for a global universal value, and the degree to which they are manifest or lacking in Mormon religious practice.

Robert A. Rees, Charles Randall Paul, Kendall Wilcox, Emily Clyde Curtis, Warner Woodworth