Posted on 12/29/2001 12:09:43 AM PST by Starmaker
While Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead, and essays on politics, culture and philosophy, was a great advocate of free market capitalism and a significant anti-communist, she also made mistakes in her thinking which are presently being slavishly parroted by her devout coterie of followers at the Ayn Rand Institute. While Rand publicly championed the individual, she privately insisted, according to former close associates, on a high degree of conformity within her inner circle. This is reflected today in her followers, who call themselves Objectivists, and who tend to spout her dogma and mimic her mannerisms in a fashion that is at times positive and at times unbecoming.
A case in point is the recent article "Why Christmas Should be More Commercial" by Dr. Leonard Peikoff who referrers to himself as the foremost authority on Objectivism and is the founder of the Ayn Rand Institute. While Peikoff revels in the commercial aspects of Christmas, he sneers at "assorted Nativity tales and altruist injunctions (e.g., love thy neighbor) that no one takes seriously." I would beg to differ. Most of us, to varying degrees, enjoy the commercial aspect of Christmas and gift giving and see no contradiction between this and the religious aspect. In this season this year, which comes on the tail of hijackers crashing planes into buildings, thousands of grieving families, friends, and a grieving nation, and anthrax in the mail, thinking about G-d, and loving thy neighbor contributes greatly to a more significant sense of meaning and purpose in life, certainly more so than a mere commercial transaction. I don´t agree with Peikoff and his extreme atheism, I think people do take these things very seriously.
The Objectivists hold to the irrational theory of evolution which is that man somehow evolved from the primordial ooze. They dismiss as a superstition the more rational idea, in my opinion, that the creation of life, with all of its incredible facets, had to involve a supernatural and divine aspect. They reject the theory of creation not because it is irrational but because the Atheist Ayn Rand rejected it. As an admirer of reason, I find the creation theory to be much more rational while at the same time providing a varied and nuance sense of life, certainly more so than the morally neutral idea that man somehow miraculously evolved out of the mud.
In his Christmas article, Peikoff asserts "America´s tragedy is that its intellectual leaders have typically tried to replace happiness with guilt by insisting that the spiritual meaning of Christmas is religion and self sacrifice for Tiny Tim or his equivalent." Unless I´m missing something, America´s "intellectual leaders" haven´t insisted on religion any time recently but rather an atheistic, morally neutral, scientific socialist culture that claims to be based on "reason." As far as American religion being an advocate of "self sacrifice," this is just nonsense. Self-sacrifice is a policy of the abovementioned intellectual leaders who have no intention of sacrificing anything themselves, only the fruit of the labor of others. Religion tends to advocate voluntary tithing for the needy and private charities.
Peikoff wants to "take the Christ out of Christmas, and turn the holiday into a guiltlessly egotistic, pro-reason, this-worldly, commercial celebration." His utopian idea of happiness seems to be a world where man is not fettered by such obstacles as guilt or worry about anything but the here and now. Much of the article venerates earth-worshipping paganism, which is where many Atheists, hungering for meaning and purpose, seem to end up. Ayn Rand and the Objectivists made great contributions to capitalism, freedom and individual rights but, unfortunately, that contribution is somewhat eclipsed by a darker side. Perhaps Rand was more influenced by her own Stalinist high school and College education than she realized. Either way, it´s a shame that such glaring mistakes threaten to discredit such important work.
Damn low. But that's not the theory of evolution, of course.
Ayn Rand And Her Legacy Of Idiotic Objectionists.
It's because they don't think the Constitution was created but is evolving.
And if there is no afterlife, it's not going to matter one way or the other. But if there is an afterlife, suffice it to say there are no atheists in hell.
c'mon. don't try to tell me that Maxine Waters can read.
If you weren't the smartest person in the world, I'd suggest you read some C.S. Lewis. He was a hard-core atheist himself once. Alas, you have it all figured out, though, so don't bother.
Kindly indulge everyone by "scientifically proving" your assertations... :)
Furthermore, I don't reject creation because Ayn Rand does. I reject creation because it cannot be scientifically proven. Anyone who wants you to believe in creation usually tells you that you must have "Faith", and then asks you to donate 10% of your salary for "God".
If you reject creationism because it cannot be "scientifically proven," then you must also reject evolution because it hasn't been "proven" either.
Check your dictionary for the meaning of "theory".
I am quite willing to risk an eternity in hell, for intellectual freedom on earth. I think that hell and heavan are simply stories that men have created for two reasons: 1)They have unanswered questions such as "How did I get here? in their minds, make up an incredible story to explain it rather than accept that they may never know the answer. 2) They want to have power over others, so they claim that there is a great place in the afterlife (that can't be proven) and tell others that they must perform acts of self depravation to them to get their. We call these power hungry people priests and ministers.
LOL
By "intellectual freedom" I assume you mean that you hold to a dogma which rejects organized religion...?
One can only wonder if you will ever appreciate how small, frightened and absurd your statements were :*)
P.S. Depraved and deprived mean very different things. I'll assume it to be a Freudian slip on your part :)
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Like you could write a better one.
By that standard, no historical event can ever be a fact.
That said, we do observe evolution going on all around us.
There are numerous examples of evolution that have been documented especially among bacteria, viruses, and insects. The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance is a documented case of evolution. Resistance to antiviral drugs by the AIDS virus is another, and resistance to pesticides by mosquitos and other insects also confirm the theory. Given the vast amount of time the Earth has existed (4.6 billion years) there is more than ample time to explain the diversity of life that is observed.
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.