When did we lose a certain uniquely human trait called “empathy?”

This previous weekend, as I searched for someone who had gone missing, I enlisted the help — or rather attempted to enlist the help — of some males in the local greek system.

During this, I happened upon several members of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. Just as I was about to ask for their assistance, I overheard their conversation.

“No dude, no one’s around,” one said to the other in an undeniably dark tone as he snickered with wicked delight.

I couldn’t help but recall the “Men Ending Rape” lecture and the unpopular slogan, “She Fears You.”

After that, I preferred not to reveal my presence. Instead, I watched these men from a fraternity that, according to their Web site, “prides itself on the development of leadership abilities in young men, and is known for being ‘The Leadership Fraternity,’” hurl pumpkins from their second floor out onto the street. Even as I drove from their lot, they did not stop but chose instead to aim for some mere feet in front of me.

During the weekend, the mess was still clearly strewn about. After behaving like children, did these supposed “leaders” think themselves above cleaning up their own filth?

Earlier that same week, I overheard a group of students discuss another one of my fondest subjects: politics.

These should be college-educated people. They should be able to discern what arguments are worthwhile and which are not. They should be able to listen to another’s view and have a constructive dialogue. I can’t imagine why none of these attributes were possessed by seemingly any of these people.

After labeling Obama a number of distasteful titles with no regard for the truth, one young woman turned toward her friend and said with a great measure of pep in her voice, “You should run for President!”

Continuing, she pondered the requirements. “Don’t you only have to be 18 and live in the United States?”

Here’s a thought: If you don’t know enough about politics to know the requirements for presidency, maybe you should humble yourself a little instead of blathering like a fool.

And don’t think there aren’t plenty more examples of this self-indulgent philosophy we’ve created for ourselves:

TheCall, a conservative evangelical movement clearly states on their Web site, “This is a time to resist mightily the spirit of peaceful coexistence and apathetic resignation in the face of this prevailing darkness.”

I couldn’t agree more.

It’s time for people to rise up and challenge the normalcy that is exploitation, greed and scheming within our economy and within our government. It’s time we demanded real answers for our problems; why our citizens are dying. It’s time we fought back against the desecration of our environment, the rape of our land, the pillaging of our resources that leaves starved, broken corpses of children littering the streets in third-world countries.

Oh, but here I had forgotten:

TheCall isn’t about any of those things.

It is, instead, a massive prayer-fest to protect the “sanctity” of marriage; The Christian Woodstock, complete with self-righteous activists.

Tony Perkins, president of the Christian organization known as the Family Research Council said, “We have sustained ourselves with bad picks of presidents and leaders, but we cannot sustain ourselves a nation with a dissolution of marriage.”

Simply translated, Perkins is saying that there is literally nothing more important than his argument. His point of view.

Even here in Iowa we have more arrogance than we know what to do with. At a McCain-Palin rally in Davenport, Rev. Arnold Conrad felt the need to remind the Almighty that his “reputation” was at stake, and that the Creator should “step forward” and “honor” His name.

Is there anything more narcissistic than a mortal threatening God, trying to hold reputation over His head? What kind of power does Conrad think he has?

People, I don’t care if you’re in the greek system. I have friends and family in it. That doesn’t mean I can’t point out instances when members of that particular community act like stereotypes, or that the greek culture — contrary to its claim — does not convey a system of dignity and respect.

And yes, I am fully aware that there are exceptions to the rule. The trouble is trying to tell which are the exceptions and which are the rule.

I also don’t care if you supported a McCain-Palin ticket. Just realize your rhetoric and repetition of talking points didn’t reflect too great on your intelligence, especially considering that apparently you’re incapable of realizing that the popularly criticized “spreading the wealth around” already happens. What do you think taxes do?

If you want to back a claim, do so with rational, well-supported facts, not blind ideology.

Lastly, I don’t care if you’re Christian. I’m not, I probably will never be, and quite frankly, I happen to think a good chunk of the followers of the religion are more than creepy and have massive self-confidence issues.

But — and considering what I just said, this is going to be hard to understand, but I promise I’m sincere — that doesn’t mean I can’t respect you, listen to you, or learn from you.

I would like to think all of us are capable of that:

Humility in the face of opposition and a willingness to learn.

— Sophie Prell is a junior in pre-journalism and mass communication from Alta.