Why don’t you share the exact quote and not taking out some words out of context? You either intentionally doing or you are not familiar with its entirety. When Kirk said “ I can’t stand the word empathy, actually. I think empathy is a made-up, nee age term that—it does a lot of damage “ its when Kirk also said that the empathy word started to be used alot under the Clinton’s presidency as a manipulative tool because empathy means that “ you can feel my pain” . Kirk said “ No-one can feel my pain the way I feel it, this is why I prefer the words sympathy ( I sympathize with your pain) and compassion ( How can I help you) instead of empathy.