A Note to Conservatives Who Are Secular

Townhall.com ^ | April 5, 2016 | Dennis Prager

[Albion Wilde]

Aseity is part of the definition of God in Christian theology.

Had to look up that word. Thanks! See post 99 for my wordier explanation to our (thus far) self-contained FRiend.

[Pelham]

If he had some philosophical sophistication we could finish him off with Gödel’s Theorems. Basically a proof that there cannot be any self-contained, self-defining systems. All must borrow from outside. But we are dealing with someone whose education appears to consist of reading Ayn Rand.

[Albion Wilde]

There are always opportunities to witness in love and with compassion.

[x]

The vast majority of leading conservative writers, just like their liberal colleagues, have a secular outlook on life. With few exceptions, the conservative political and intellectual worlds are oblivious to the consequences of secularism. They are unaware of the disaster that godlessness in the West has led to.

Is that really true, though? Some prominent conservative talking heads are converts to Catholicism (or Eastern Orthodoxy). Some of them are mainstream Protestants or Jews. And Evangelicals get published in conservative periodicals.

Even Krauthammer, who doesn't believe in God, isn't "oblivious" about the problems of secularism. He's quoted as saying that he didn't believe in God, but he feared him. There is a "secular right" group out there, but I don't think it's accurate to say there's no concern about increasing secularism in conservative publications.

[Pelham]

Paul adapted to his audience. Objectivism has a streak of Nietzsche in it.

[dangerdoc]

“I can morally act in my self interest as long as I don’t infringe on the basic rights of life, liberty and property of others.”

What if you see your self interest as a higher moral calling such as over population of the planet or improvement of humanity’s gene pool?

[GenXteacher]

Atheists are the children of Marx and the enemies of America. Our whole system of government is predicated on the idea that natural rights are granted by God, and presumes a culture of broadly Judeo-Christian ethics. Any attempt to substitute something else will cause our system of government to fail.

[doldrumsforgop]

once again, one cannot be conservative if one is not socially conservative.

It is by definition, with no asterisk.

[Bishop_Malachi]

“Why does morality presuppose a law-giver?”

Because objective “rightness” and “wrongness” implies how some things (humans in this case) ought to act, not merely how they are acting. In other words, it implies an aesthetic design and purpose.

Traditionally, people understood morality in a teleological sense. Trying to divorce teleology from morals is a characteristic of modern moral philosophy....btw it’s the main reason that modern moral philosophy is an incoherent mess.

[ModelBreaker]

No. They are not both true revealed religions.

[wbarmy]

I can morally act in my self interest as long as I don't infringe on the basic rights of life, liberty and property of others.

But that only works as long as your code doesn't shift. You can easily justify any action you want by looking at their actions and saying they had already intruded upon your rights and you are just responding in kind.

In addition, were do those basic rights come from? You can say they exist, but why? The other person has no need or reason to agree with your identification of basic rights and create his own idea of what is a basic right. There can be no real agreement in your system between various individuals if there is not an outside referee or standard.

[CapitalistCrusader]

There can be no real agreement in your system between various individuals if there is not an outside referee or standard.

Reality is the outside arbiter. Reality cannot be faked or ignored for very long.

Belief in a deity does nothing to change anything to which you objected. People still need to agree on a code of ethics and abide by it regardless of its source.

[wbarmy]

Reality is the outside arbiter. Reality cannot be faked or ignored for very long.

Whose reality; yours or mine, or the transgender guy who really, really believes he is a girl deep inside and that he has to be treated like a girl no matter what, and has the law to back him up.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Basically people before the invasion of the neocon bodysnatchers. “

LOL.....National Review 2016

[stephenjohnbanker]

“” In Islam Jews and Christians are referred to “people of the book” precisely because these religions are based on the same god. “

This is the type of objectivist pretzel logic we have seen..hell.. forever!Aristotle was the antithesis of Ayn Rand/Objectivism. Islam is incompatible with Western civilization, and any place they have “invaded” PROVE it!

British Common Law is based on the 10 Commandments, as were most of our original laws in the colonies.

[Pelham]

“Aristotle was the antithesis of Ayn Rand/Objectivism.”

Aristotle’s theism is certainly at odds with Ayn Rand’s creation.