Posted on 12/30/2003 10:29:35 AM PST by G. Stolyarov II
One of the most vexing problems that I have encountered in my experiences with Objectivism, is the fact that many people seem deathly afraid of our viewpoint – EVEN people with whom we should have most in common. They just don't seem to be able to understand it, even if we explain it patiently and calmly. Everything we say gets systematically distorted into something horrible. This used to bother me quite a lot, and still does to some degree. But I have come to a conclusion after a VERY long time thinking about it:
When people misunderstand what Objectivism is, and the things for which we stand, many of them are simply ignorant, NOT willfully antagonistic.
Take, for example, a situation that will doubtless be VERY common to most Objectivists: the issue of religion, and atheism. Whenever I would make statements to the effect that I didn't (and still don't), believe the Judeo-Christian mythology, everybody would go into emotional meltdown: their powers of reason would mysteriously disappear.
You can't really blame them, however. Most "Believers" (in whatever religion), simply don't understand, or think about, their religion very deeply. They are "religious" enough that atheism makes them nervous, but actually have very little understanding of the Bible, Koran, or whatever "holy book" they believe.
Most people don't really understand what Christianity means by "God". They have no idea that the concept makes no sense, as their religion teaches it. To them, "God" is somewhere between Santa Claus and Uncle Sam – a benevolent, strong, heroic Father figure "in the sky". Most of them have only a vague notion of heaven, and no interest in hell whatsoever.
When confronted with the works of Thomas Paine, Robert G. Ingersoll, or Ayn Rand, they honestly do not understand how those critiques of religion could apply to them. And can you REALLY blame them? After all, as we all know, most of the Christian Clergy THEMSELVES don't know half of how bloody and evil parts of the Bible are.
Most "Christians" in this country (and others) couldn't care less about the bible. The only parts of it they know halfway clearly are the "Christmas story", and the Easter thing. They understand the "ten commandments" in a very rudimentary, common sense way. They don't CARE that the "thou shalt not steal" thing is an injunction against stealing your neighbor's SLAVE. Most people honestly have no idea what the bible actually says, or what Christianity actually teaches.
They get terrified by "secular humanism" or "Godless atheists" because pretty much the only exposure to such things has been from socialists, communists, and suchlike. Hell, how do you think the destroyers of the United States were able to hoodwink people into putting "Under god" in the pledge of allegiance, in the first place? The sales-pitch was to make us different from the "Godless Commies". In the popular mind (controlled and shaped as it is by the "activists" and their social agendas), the concepts of Communism and Atheism were skillfully and secretly blended, so that the Common man can no longer tell one from the other.
This is part of what makes Conservatives useless, as I said. Most of them have no idea what their Bible teaches; nor will they listen. More often than not, when they DO find out, they get every bit as disgusted as we do, and worse: you ever wonder where all those preachy "born-again atheist" sites come from?
Same thing with capitalism: what most people in this culture mistakenly think of as capitalism is the lukewarm, state-entangled version: government-backed monopolies, licensing, franchises, tariffs, etc. Most of these people have never tried (as I have), to start a business, or create their own wealth. They've all bought into the mediocrity-mentality that says the only way to make it is as somebody else's "employee". The Entrepreneurial spirit is mostly dead in them, and they see "their jobs" as nothing more than a means to continue subsisting at the same mediocre level.
Reason? Too hard. Easier to watch TV, and give a half-hearted appearance of a religion you don't understand, every Sunday.
Purpose? Work, sleep, watch TV, breed the next generation of slaves, and die in a pool of your own urine.
They haven't learned any better. The government-controlled schools specialize in killing off every trace of the heroic impulse. Generations of potential Howard Roarks are systematically processed into docile, conformist Keatings, by schools, families, and 'peer pressure'.
But ask yourself: having never had self-made goals, how can they be expected to be creatures of "self-made soul?"
It's actually rather heartbreaking, to consider the masses of living zombies lock-stepping through life, their only goal to keep up with the Joneses, afraid to stand taller than the crowd because "what will the neighbors think." It's horrifying.
These poor fools equate "Altruism" with goodheartedness, human warmth, and private charity. They've probably never read Comte, Bismarck, Hegel, or Marx, and barely even heard their names.
So what's the answer?
PATIENCE. Those of us who know a better way MUST stand for it, and MUST reach out to them. Otherwise, this entire world is as good as dead.
So "professional philosophers" don't take Objectivism or Rand very seriously? Screw 'em. It's not ABOUT winning over Academia, in the long run. It's about reclaiming the Human Spirit from its destroyers, and getting people do understand that they DO have a right to exist, and they DO have a right to resist their Masters. We are a slave rebellion, friends: an "Underground railroad" of the Human Spirit.
Academia is a joke. Most so-called "philosophers" have deteriorated into gibbering wordplay, or convinced themselves they don't even exist. To think we're actually going to make headway there is wishful thinking at least, and suicidal at most.
The philosophical gangrene set in several centuries ago. We must ask ourselves: do we have 200 years to wait? Can we afford to let the wheels of history turn, and hope against all evidence that that the inhabitants of that time will still even be recognizably human in spirit and mind?
No. We don't have the time for that.
Even a cursory examination of history will reveal a pivotal fact; namely, that "paradigm shifts" – massive changes of gestalt thinking NEVER originate from WITHIN the old paradigm. In other words, history supports Miss Rand's premise that the "Mavericks" – the Roarks and Galts of the world – are the Atlas's who make the world turn.
So do not despair, friends. We must take up the torch, fight for all that is good and genuine and beautiful and true, and NEVER submit. "Second Renaissance" is eminently appropriate for an Objectivist bookstore's name, but it is ALSO – MUST be – our credo.
WE, and those of like mind, must be the heralds of a "new birth of freedom".
There's no other choice.
Most people don't really understand what Christianity means by "God". They have no idea that the concept makes no sense, as their religion teaches it. To them, "God" is somewhere between Santa Claus and Uncle Sam – a benevolent, strong, heroic Father figure "in the sky". Most of them have only a vague notion of heaven, and no interest in hell whatsoever.
First thing revealed is that the author of this piece doesn't have the slightest concept of God. By the inference it is also clear that the author isn't interested in finding out what that concept really is as much as he is interested in debunking it. Lastly it reveals Objectivism to be fundamentally nihilist and that 'rationalism' as they call it is really 'rationalization'. Objectivist dogma holds atheism as an unchallengable and undebatable truth, which completely undermines every stated purpose of the very existence of Objectivism.
I'll spare the psychological profiling of the type of person who needs to misplace his faith into Objectivism, other than to note it is not pretty.
Jesus is Lord.
Good for you.
For myself, I tried to understand Richard Dawkins. I could not get through 3 chapters of The Blind Watchmaker without coming to the conclusion that he had proven the precise opposite of what he was attempting to prove. So I put the book down.
We all interpret the world according to our prejudices. What I often find about "objectivists" (I won't say it's true of all) is they don't admit there prejudices.
I freely admit mine. I know G-d knows more than I do and I trust to His opinions.
Shalom.
They get terrified by "secular humanism" or "Godless atheists" because pretty much the only exposure to such things has been from socialists, communists, and suchlike. Hell, how do you think the destroyers of the United States were able to hoodwink people into putting "Under god" in the pledge of allegiance, in the first place? The sales-pitch was to make us different from the "Godless Commies". In the popular mind (controlled and shaped as it is by the "activists" and their social agendas), the concepts of Communism and Atheism were skillfully and secretly blended, so that the Common man can no longer tell one from the other.
Yep...It was a conspiracy to keep atheists down under the boot of militant Christians... *sigh*.
No, the fear of atheistic society is brought on by people like Mao, Stalin, Saddam and Hitler who, at the time of their power, were viewed simply as powerful atheists like this guy considers himself to be.
There is some crappy religious leaders out there. I have no doubts about that. But one of the major foundations of Christianity is that man is not perfect. Expecting that from anyone who claims Jesus as their savior is wrong and is either too ego-centric to figure it out, or plain ignorant about the subject.
I don't have much truck with "scientists" whose belief in a theory is so complete that they cannot see how ridiculous their rationalization of it is.
Would a quick look at the sale of books relating to the topic of Christianity be considered "evidence" of thought to this "rational thinker?"
How about the number of hours spent in Sunday School classes in group reading and instruction? Sermons ranging from the 20 minute Protestant type to the three hour Evangelical type and the daily Catholic Homily type--does all of this add up to ignorance?
The books of CS Lewis alone account for a huge chunk of the publishing industry, not to mention Christian classics such as Thomas Aquinas and the Confessions of St. Augustine and the "Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis.
One may argue that just because the Bible is the Number one best selling book of all time, that people buy it but don't read it, but how does one dismiss modern sales of Max Lucado, Deittrich Bonhoeffer or "The Purpose Driven Life" and "The Prayer of Jabez."
One may not agree with the content of all of these, but it is surely some "evidence" that thoughtful Christians know what we believe...
Can we just change the title of this thread to "Why they Ridicule us?"
Absolutely nobody does this, although some think they do.
Most of us believe that someone loves us. You can not see this with your own eyes, nor can you ever prove it. You can believe it based on past behavior, but you can never know it for sure. Yet we still believe it, and are often proven right.
Likewise, I have seen David Copperfield make a jet aircraft disppear. My first question was, "What is the trick?" I saw it with my own eyes, but I knew what I saw could not be true. As a one-time practitioner of sleight-of-hand I know others react the same way.
The reality is that you view everything with a mental lense, called a worldview. That worldview determines how you interpret what you see, think, and ultimately claim to know.
Whether Christian or objectivist or anything else, you need to be aware that you have a worldview, and be open to challenging it regularly. If you are not aware of your worldview, or are unwilling to challenge it, you are as potentially dangerous as the Taliban.
Shalom.
I hate it when I do that.
Shalom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.