Is it normal for people to fake empathy to feel a sense of belonging?

I get you, and I can really feel your pain. Who's with me guys!

"We're born alone, we live alone, and we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion that for the moment we are not alone."
~ Orson Welles

Sometimes when there are people who I care about that are hurt I fake empathy so that they don't feel alone on the matter but not for the sense of belonging.

But how do you know it's fake?

I do this in my real life, but not for belonging, just for gain.

Is it normal? Yes.

Is it always right? No.

Dad is right when he says we should all have some empathy for others in pain, and if you don't, like he said: please see a psychiatrist.

Specifically for your question, however, a perfect example is the youth group meeting of a mega church. I can guarantee a large percentage of the kids there don't believe in whatever denomination being preached...they're simply there so they can belong.

I know this because that's exactly how I made friends after moving to a new town. I told myself that I believed and I was on the same page with the people there, but deep down in my heart I never really believed. And where am I now? I can count on one hand how many people I still talk to on a not-even-regular basis from that church.

It's hard to say if my case of faking empathy was necessarily wrong. I mean, I believed that I believed, at the time, but at the same time I was lying to myself. Then again, I made a lot of friends there and had good times with all of them, and dated many! But still. I was definitely lying to ALL of them. So the morality...it's gray. But I'm going to go ahead and say that it's at least slightly twisted.

Okay, it's wrong. Another good example: in an attempt to get closer to a girl I was interested in, who was a really big human rights activist (concerning genocide in Africa), I in turn began to be more of a human rights activist. In reality, though, I never found myself caring to much about the situation, lingering on good ol' George Washington saying "never to meddle in foreign affairs." In the end, it blew up in my face.

So, if your empathetic to comfort someone: karma +1.
Personal gain at the expense of lying to another: karma -1.

80% of people on this site. Add "tolerance" to that too!

This is a better option to actually showing they don't care.

I think it can be classed as polite to be empathetic at times towards others misfortune.
But I am concerned if someone does not have any feelings of empathy or a below standard of this feeling.

I suppose one opposite of empathy may be sadism. This type of lack of empathy may need medical or psychological attention.

Its true that some people do lack empathy, I find this sad.

I'm sure some people fake empathy in order to bond with others due to a common experience. However, I'm sure that some people fake empathy in order to be there for their friends and offer them a shoulder to cry on.

maybe they mean belongings? no, i dont think so. however, i dont have a clue what this means, so, for that reason, im out. i wont be investing today.

Define belonging.