Sympathy

Sympathy is the ability to share the feelings of another. It is enhanced by having experienced what the other has or is going through. Without the shared experience, the most I can do is empathize, intellectually identify or vicariously experience the feelings of the other. When unable to do one (sympathize), I am not excused from doing the other (empathize). These are decidedly human characteristics, willful, intentional, conscious. In empathy I open myself humbly to the experience of the humanity of the other; I accept the common bond that holds us together, and I yearn to learn and grow from their experience.
Unless I have experienced the suffering of the other, I must listen in silence without trite, empty words, hollow and uncomforting. This is applicable with those near and dear; it is relevant in every situation of discrimination, prejudice, and persecution. The deepest most meaningful expression of reality is love; it is an appropriate synonym for "God." It is our purpose for being.
Intentional evil is easy to identify, and if we stop there, the job is half done. Systemic evil, the unintentional and unrecognized evil that is the foundation of hierarchical and patriarchal political, economic, social, and religious institutions requires a lifetime of conscious eradication. Paula Dean and I have hard work to do. Homophobia, Islamaphobia, fundamentalism (of every stripe) challenge our world. Thank goodness for small steps like the abolition of DOMA.