Well obviously not problematic to someone with the empathic capacity that would shame a tree stump.
The word empathy was the one Sue Gardner chose to use too. I would rather see something like "respect" instead. Any of us might lack empathy with someone from a very different cultural background to our own, this does not mean that we cannot respect their viewpoint or their culture.
If someone lacks respect for a different culture, that is truly shameful. Someone who lacks empathy for others is unfortunate and may always have difficulty understanding context no matter how loudly others shout at them.
Cheers, Fae