More: "Empathy becomes toxic when it encourages you to affirm sin, validate lies or support destructive policies," said Allie Beth Stuckey, author of "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion."

Stuckey, host of the popular podcast "Relatable," is one of two evangelicals who published books within the past year making Christian arguments against some forms of empathy.

The other is Joe Rigney, a professor and pastor who wrote "The Sin of Empathy: Compassion and its Counterfeits." It was published by Canon Press, an affiliate of Rigney's conservative denomination, which counts Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among its members.

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While their anti-empathy arguments have differences, Stuckey and Rigney have audiences that are firmly among Trump's Christian base.

"Could someone use my arguments to justify callous indifference to human suffering? Of course," Rigney said, countering that he still supports measured Christ-like compassion. "I think I've put enough qualifications."

Historian Susan Lanzoni traced a century of empathy's uses and definitions in her 2018 book "Empathy: A History." Though it's had its critics, she has never seen the aspirational term so derided as it is now.

It's been particularly jarring to watch Christians take down empathy, said Lanzoni, a graduate of Harvard Divinity School.

"That's the whole message of Jesus, right?"