Wonderful? Sorry, George, It’s a Pitiful, Dreadful Life

Yes, it makes sense. Merry Christmas to you, too.

Does this make sense? :)

Most materialists / atheists / strong agonistic mentalities are faking it. The proof? Few of them have the courage of their stated “convictions”:

“....When you have successfully demystified the world, your soul is officially dead. ....I’m trying to think of an example that even a materialist with a blunted sensibility might understand. For many people who have successfully demystified the world, the only time they are able to unwittingly appreciate the sacred is when they are directly confronted with it in its most vivid form: death, the birth of a child, marriage, etc. Imagine being so spiritually insensate that you had the courage of your convictions and successfully drained the world of its sacred dimension. Upon the death of a loved one, you would simply put them in the garbage. After all, it’s just a sack of meat. The birth of a child would be no different than termites hatching in your backyard. Marriage wouldn’t exist, because there would be no recognition of the sacred dimension of male and female sexuality. Euthanasia would not just be legal, but mandatory, on grounds of common sense — as would the abortion of youth in Asia — as in China. Believe it or not, there are people who more or less experience the world this way. But we do not call them “enlightened” or more in touch with reality than the rest of us. Rather, we call them schizoid or autistic. ..” ~ Saturday, February 03, 2007 Radical Wonder and the Remystification of the World http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/search?q=Radical+Wonder+and+the+Remystification+of+the+World +

Ayn Rand (for instance) claimed to be an atheist. (If she really was, she lived behind bars she couldn’t even see, all the while claiming to be a Libertarian:) See below.)

“...After all, anyone can practice a religion, whether it is Christianity, Darwinism, Atheism, or Materialism, but that doesn’t mean they understand their religion in any deep way. For an atheist to reject religion means only that he has failed to understand it, precisely. A confession of atheism is simply an honest confession of ignorance of any realities that transcend the human ego, nothing more, nothing less. And why argue with a man who not only clings to ignorance, but is proud of the fact?

When we talk about metaphysics, we are talking about very basic truths that are adequations to divine/human realities that cannot not be, such as “Absolute,” “being,” “truth,” etc. But...” ~ Gagdad Bob
Continued: http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2008/06/science-of-center-and-religion-of.html

“..any argument for or against free will automatically presumes its existence, which in turn proves the reality of that which is free to choose, i.e., the soul. To say that free will does not exist is to void one’s argument at the outset, since one’s arguments can appeal to neither truth nor to that which may know it: as Poincaré commented, “no determinist argues deterministically,” so “all arguments against free will are so many proofs if it” (Jaki). ..

“If everything is subjective, then there can’t be free will either. This leads to an interesting speculation about the necessity of the world for God’s freedom. In other words, just like us, how could God be meaningfully free unless there are objects (or, in his case, subjects) to act upon? To put it another way, perhaps God’s freedom is ultimately given its highest expression in the existence of the human subject which can either deny or align itself with him. Thus, denial of God is the ironyclad proof of his existence. But you knew that already. ..

“Every free act transcends matter, which is why any form of materialism is anti-liberty, which is why the secular left, dipso shitso, is so dangerous. I’m very much looking forward to Jonah Goldberg’s Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning, as I am certain that this theme will be explored, thus freeing me of the responsibility. That is, intrinsic to the project of leftism is the abolition of that which transcends matter, and therefore, the dehumanization of humans. This is why their assault on religion in general and the soul in particular is not “accidental” but absolutely essential to their goals. They must replace transcendence with immanence. Once that’s accomplished, then everything else falls into place. It’s like building the cage. Once the cage of immanence is complete, then man lives behind bars he can’t even see, bars as strong as steel and as high as the imagination. ..

December 29, 2007
Degrees and Chimes of Freedom Fleshing
http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2007/12/degrees-of-human-freedom.html

It's Bick, FRiends -- Violet Bick.

Wendell Whatsisname completely misses the point. Pottersville was everything George Bailey wanted -- it was exciting, foreign, full of color. Thanks to Clarence, George finally got away from it all -- the Building & Loan (disbanded), the junky old car (vanished), the noisy, annoying, constantly-sick kids (never born), the leaky-roofed, drafty old house (never his home) -- everything in miserable old Bedford Falls. He even got away from that wife (now an old maid) and all her nagging about "torturing the children".

And let's not even get started on that G--d--ned newel post.

Yes, God gave George Bailey his heart's desire -- freedom. And George discovered that he hated it.

The point of It's a Wonderful Life has nothing to do with failure, depression, or dreams deferred. The point is that freedom is a false god. The message is that rational self-interest is neither, and that there is no virtue in selfishness. The moral of the story is that the only life worth living is a life lived for the sake of one's duty to God and one's neighbor. George Bailey's life was wonderful -- not in in spite of all his hardships, sacrifices, and dreams deferred, but because of them. By sacrificing all for the love of God and his neighbor, George Bailey unwittingly laid up for himself a treasure far beyond that of Henry F. Potter's wildest dreams -- a treasure in Heaven.

"Lay not up to yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust, and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven: where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also" [St Matt 6:19-21].

So let the corporations tumble and the banks fall. Atlas, shrug away! As long as we each of us love our neighbor as ourselves, and God above all, we have all the wealth we will ever need.

Here's to George Bailey -- the richest man in town.

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