The Importance of Empathy

Nov 6, 2023

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Empathy isn’t just a word in the dictionary, we should be putting it into practice. What does empathy look like and where is the lack. Some Sunday thoughts.

Timstamps, Topics, & Resources

0:00- Intro

Job and his Redeemer

Light in the Darkness Read-Along

8:07- The importance of empathy

Six Sigma
https://asq.org/quality-resources/six-sigma

Total Quality Management
https://www.bmc.com/blogs/tqm-total-quality-management/

Registered Refugees # Refugee-like from Afghanistan
https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/afghanistan

November 13, 2022: Pakistan warns paperless migrants about jail time, alarming Afghans waiting to come to Canada
Afghan refugee applicants warn the federal government about a new deadline looming in Pakistan for migrants
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/afghan-migrant-refugee-canada-pakistan-1.6645091

December 23, 2022: Paperless Afghan Migrants to be Fined or Blacklisted, not Deported: Pakistan
https://www.khaama.com/paperless-afghan-migrants-to-be-fined-or-blacklisted-not-deported-pakistan/

10:36- Lack of Empathy & Awareness in the U.S. State Department

@n1leftbehind This is the reality for Afghans facing deportation: a murderous and vindictive Taliban. Afghans must be provided refuge while their immigration cases are processed.

@shawnjvandiver Last year, this lovely message came from Pakistan.

Today, the
@GovtofPakistan
is effectively holding hostage Afghans who have valid US visas in their passports by not letting them leave, even as they complain about their presence.

It is outrageous. #AfghanEvac
=== Pakistan has been a destination of choice for millions of Afghans fleeing their strife-torn homeland for the past four decades and counting — in fact, in many cases, this is the only country they can escape to safely.

@BlancmangeBlob Have you seen what Pakistan is doing to the Afghan refugees right now? Expelling them, tearing them away from their lives and livelihoods, sending them back to a failed and starving state. Two million of them!

@Jahanzi12947158 Thousands of Afghan refugees are being mass deported by Pakistani government . These families has businesses & homes built in Pakistan over the years. Imagine the thousands of girls in these trucks will not go to school in #Afghanistan, & will be forced to marry.

@NasimiShabnam Receiving reports from people in Pakistan that even documented refugees are being deported back to Afghanistan.

A woman who has lived in Peshawar for 17 years is being ordered to return to Afghanistan TODAY.

Why isn’t the world speaking up?

@RaisedtoWalk Oh, but IOM sent an EMAIL (nevermind the police are ignoring PoRs & @Refugees certs) … & @StateDept CARE has a hotline, a US hotline … For Afghan allies being deported from Pakistan back to Afghanistan 🤦‍♀️
== The
@StateDept seems completely oblivious to the realities of the situation. Oh, hotline… Great! WHAT GOOD DOES IT DO THEM? Do you really think Afghans that have been hanging by a thread in Pakistan for TWO YEARS have toll-free international calling? Are you kidding?
== Those “efforts” are either just for show so you can say “See look, we’re doing something,” or the
@StateDept
is run by idiots. If you actually want it to be helpful, at the very least connect it on WhatsApp
==They’re like the @HumbleISD trustees, Grabowski & Parker, who voted to shutdown the health clinic at a low-income HS (that is NO COST to the district), bc they have no empathy or understanding of what it might be like to be w/o help or resources.

The Decline of the State Department
Te State Department’s foreign policy functions have largely migrated to a National Security Staff at the White House, an off-the-books government agency impervious to Congressional oversight and public scrutiny. The State Department’s internal organization is a management consultant’s nightmare, and it consoles itself for its irrelevance with globalizing fantasies and a trendy obsession with social media. The result is a vicious cycle of irrelevance.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137298553_3

July 20, 2015: 10 Ways to Fix America’s Ailing State Department
It’s time for the State Department to reclaim its rightful place in the policymaking process. Here’s how.

10 Ways to Fix America’s Ailing State Department

@DeepaParent So many young Afghan girls who were born in Pakistan are now forced to go to a country where they’ll be banned from schools and universities by the Taliban.

@Jahanzi12947158 Heartbroken 💔
Thousands of Girls are sent back to Afghanistan, they had to leave their education. It’s heart-wrenching to see they won’t be able to continue education as the Taliban have banned girls from education more than 2 years.

@PunishedAmanda Speaking of finish line –

Why did #AfghanInterpreters who have been sitting in IOM accommodations with documentation stating they are Canadian citizens get rejection letters the day after Pakistan started their mass deportation?

…One hell of a finish line for Afghans…

@SIGARHQ #UNHCR estimates more than 1.6 million Afghans fled #AFG, including 600,000 to Pakistan, since Taliban takeover. On Oct 3, Pakistan govt announced all unauthorized migrants to be expelled beginning in Nov (Large numbers began returning home ahead of deportations that began Nov 1)

@n1leftbehind SIVs taking temporary refuge in Pakistan while their cases are processed face reprisal in Afghanistan, this is why Pakistan’s actions are so disappointing. @n1leftbehind will continue to work with all relevant partners to keep them safe.

November 1, 2023: Pakistan Rejects ‘Flawed’ US List of Potential Afghan Resettlers
https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-rejects-flawed-us-list-of-potential-afghan-resettlers/7337516.html

@n1leftbehind Given the ongoing situation in Pakistan, CARE recommends Afghans avoid unnecessary travel and lingering in public places. Limiting exposure by only leaving lodging for emergencies and necessary appointments is critical at this time.

@Stevens18Clint 😭Partial story of an endangered 🇦🇫Afghan🇦🇫 SIV applicant, now back in 🇦🇫 after being in 🇵🇰: (thanks Trump, Pompeo, Biden, Blinken … one of countless Afghans who have been SCREWED by the 🇺🇸USA🇺🇸)😭

@Shirzad_Afg2345 Despite protection letters issued by the USA for its Afghan allies in Pakistan to protect them,the local authorities continue in detaining these applicants, disregarding the letter from the USA embassy.

@Larkabroad Waiting to find out how many of the Afghan prosecutors were arrested today in Pakistan. They went there before they became my cases. The whole situation is so precarious.

@shawnjvandiver We are receiving reports at
@AfghanEvac
that the
@GovtofPakistan
is arresting children of #Afghans who fled to #Pakistan in order to try to force repatriation.

If true, this would be a gross violation of human rights and an affront to common decency.

@ArashYaqin The majority of those who get deported back to Afghanistan are the American allies including women rights defenders who fled to Pakistan after the Taliban took over in August 2021. Some of the deportees will be hunted by the Taliban.

@Jahanzi12947158 Born and raised as a refugee, I can attest that NO ONE abandons their home if it’s a livable place. I have no word to express how hurt I am by this image, which is the reality of 1.7 million Afghan refugees facing deportation from Pakistan.
== The anguish and suffering are vividly reflected in the eyes of our children, a stark portrayal of the enduring struggle.

@Punk319 Taliban: Music is what will destroy society.
Society: Funny, since music has been around as long as society has been.

As an addition, the Taliban quite acts like an animal when it comes to women and girls.
== The ombudsmen of the Taliban’s Ministry of Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Evil (@MOPVPE1 ) has urged drivers in Kabul to abstain from playing music in their vehicles and to refrain from offering rides to women who are not wearing a Hijab and are not accompanied by a Mahram.

Sponsor Circles for Ukraineans and Venezualans. The program was piloted for Afghans in the end of 2021, but it hasn’t been available to them since then. I see that it was recently expanded for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans
https://www.sponsorcircles.org/

20:48- Our current Bible study in Romans

Arley Lowen & Pamir Ministries
https://pamirministries.org/

3:58- The lack of empathy in immigration

25:36- The consequences of callousness

Recognizing Manipulation

James 1:27

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Matthew 25:31-45

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

28:28- The distorted perspective of the U.S. church

32:10- The Good News of the Gospel = peace

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Brittany Spears memoir – Review coming soon

The Woman in Me
The Woman in Me is a brave and astonishingly moving story about freedom, fame, motherhood, survival, faith, and hope.

In June 2021, the whole world was listening as Britney Spears spoke in open court. The impact of sharing her voice—her truth—was undeniable, and it changed the course of her life and the lives of countless others. The Woman in Me reveals for the first time her incredible journey—and the strength at the core of one of the greatest performers in pop music history.

Guidepost Report on the SBC

36:17- News on Pakistan

Pakistan: Government and society
https://www.britannica.com/place/Pakistan/Constitutional-framework

38:24- Wrap-Up

More Recent News in Afghanistan

@Larkabroad

@Punk319 Reports of torture and sexual abuse in Taliban prisons are rampant. Recently, a girl in Balkh committed suicide after being released from prison.

@RGenderAprtheid Mazar-e-Sharif: Taliban fighters have forcibly closed women’s sewing shops in the city. Prior to this, women were already prohibited from education, work, traveling, running beauty salons, sport &participating in various aspects of society.

@Jahanzi12947158 Afghan children appearing in court R being treated as criminals & unjustly convicted. This raises serious concerns about their legal rights as refugees. Today, they were produced in court.
They were arrested at their school in Karachi 45 days ago.

@Punk319 So how many Americans are detained by the Taliban? Perhaps #America should stop engaging with the Taliban after these civilians are released, and should also ban travel to Afghanistan?

@MatinNilofar to England @Discourse_Hub where is the Justice

@RaisedtoWalk I was told by my people that the “refugees” on this flight sent by UNHCR to the UK were actually Pashtun Pakistanis? Do you know if this is true?
== I don’t know about 👆 this flight, but I was just told that this DOES happen bc the Taliban coordinate with the Pashtun Pakistanis & give them an 🇦🇫 ID card. So the privileged ethnic group w/no risk & in their OWN country take the resettlement spots for the refugees
== And I know for a fact that the Hazara Afghan Christian that was an attorney for the former 🇦🇫 Republic who was told he would be resettled in the UK hasn’t been contacted