The Sin of Empathy? A Gamer’s Perspective (feat. Steve from SavePoint)
📅 TWIG Recap – March 20, 2025
Welcome to another week of TWIG (This Week in Geek)—your go-to source for all things nerdy, hosted by Nerd Pastor Nate of Checkpoint Church! This week, we tackled a particularly thought-provoking discussion: Is empathy a sin?
Joining Nate was Steve Valdez, founder of SavePoint Ministries, an organization connecting nerds, geeks, and gamers with faith communities that embrace their passions. Together, they dove into how empathy is not just essential for gaming, but for faith itself.
🎮 What We’ve Been Watching, Playing, and Reading
Before jumping into the main topic, Nate and Steve shared what’s been keeping them entertained:
Steve’s Picks
Watching: Win or Lose (Disney+), Men in Black 3, The Electric State
Playing: Sworn (a Hades-like roguelike with co-op), Path of Exile 2
Reading: Myth Makers (a deep dive into the friendship of Tolkien & Lewis)
Nate’s Picks
Watching: Game Grumps play Danganronpa V3, Moana 2 (because kids)
Playing: Lost Record (by the OG Life is Strange devs), Tribe Nine (a wild, anime-inspired gacha game)
Reading: My Dress-Up Darling (still wrecked by Chapter 114)
🧠 The "Sin" of Empathy?
The Big Question: Can empathy go too far?
Some recent books—like The Sin of Empathy by Joe Rigney and Toxic Empathy by Allie Beth Stuckey—argue that empathy can be dangerous, leading people to moral compromise. The claim? If you feel for someone too much, you lose your ability to judge right from wrong.
The Problem With That View
Empathy ≠ Permissiveness – Understanding someone’s pain doesn’t mean excusing harmful behavior.
Jesus Embodied Radical Empathy – Christ chose to experience human suffering, ultimately saying, “Father, forgive them.” That’s empathy in action.
The Church Without Empathy Is Empty – Without it, faith becomes a rigid rulebook rather than a lived experience.
Steve put it best: “Without empathy, we don’t have salvation. Christ didn’t just save us—He stepped into our suffering.”
🎮 Gaming as an Empathy Machine
Video games are a powerful tool for practicing empathy. Unlike books or movies, games force you to make choices and live with the consequences.
Some of the Most Impactful Games:
🕊️ Undertale – Gives you the option to spare every enemy, but it’s hard.
🧠 Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Puts you inside the mind of someone experiencing psychosis.
🔄 Bioshock – The “Would You Kindly?” moment forces you to confront agency and manipulation.
🔫 Hotline Miami – Turns the player into a violent killer and then makes them walk through the aftermath in silence.
These games—and many others—show why empathy is not a weakness, but a crucial part of our humanity.
📰 Nerd News Roundup
Here’s what’s been making headlines in the geek world this week:
Roblox CEO's "Counterintuitive" Advice: Dave Baszucki told parents that the best way to keep kids safe on Roblox is… not letting them play at all. 🤯
Oscars' Bizarre Rules for the Statue: Conan O'Brien revealed the Academy bans the Oscar statue from ever being horizontal or clothed. (Why? No one knows. It’s a MacGuffin.)
AI Controversy in The Electric State: Joe Russo defended using AI for voice modulation, claiming "any 10-year-old could do it." (Yikes.)
🏆 Cryptic Critiques (The Game of Bad Reviews)
This week’s mystery game was… 🥁 Animal Well!
The bad review clues:
“Secret Finding Simulator (derogatory)”
“A lot harder than I expected for a Kirby game.”
“This game is only 29MB? Where’s the rest of it, Dunkey?”
Did you guess it? (Steve didn’t. 😆)
⏳ At This Point in Nerd History: Happy Birthday, Animal Crossing!
On March 20, 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched, giving the world an escape during lockdown. The community shared their favorite memories:
🏝️ Marlena: Hosted a birthday party with internet strangers on her island.
🖼️ Twila: Loved spotting real vs. fake art in Redd’s shop.
🪨DGC: Remembered hitting rocks on her island.
What’s your favorite Animal Crossing memory? Drop it in the comments!
🎮 Upcoming Game Releases
Elden Ring: Night Veil – A roguelike version of Elden Ring?! Yes, please.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows – Feudal Japan, Yasuke, and samurai action.
Doom: Dark Ages – Doom Slayer, but medieval.
Folklands – A cozy settlement builder with some farming sim vibes.
Tales of the Shire – Animal Crossing, but Hobbits. 🍃
😂 Meme of the Week
Lizzie took the crown with a meme roasting Nate for allegedly always picking himself as the winner:
Image: The Obama putting a medal on himself meme.
Caption: “And the Meme of the Week goes to… Nate. Again.”
Justice for Nate? Or is the conspiracy real? 🤔
🎤 Final Thoughts
Empathy isn’t a sin—it’s a core part of being human. Whether in faith or gaming, stepping into someone else’s shoes isn’t weakness. It’s the very thing that makes connection possible.
Big thanks to Steve from SavePoint Ministries for joining this week! Follow them for more nerd-friendly faith content:
📍 @SavePointMin on Twitch, Instagram, and YouTube
And as always, remember:
💙 God loves you.
🎮 We love you.
✨ You matter.
See you next week on TWIG!
Something about this meme winning the same week the Oscar's award talk popped really gets me