Posted on 06/08/2011 9:34:29 PM PDT by Shalmaneser
Don't get comfortable.
Thanks for the tip and well wishes. I think I am going to return to lurking for now, though. I don’t need some person I don’t even know insulting me on the Internet. Maybe later, if I see something that’s not too controversial, I’ll post again.
He believed in judgement and morals, in cases of revenge. An “eye for an eye” was big in his crowd. A lot of it was based around some survival of the fittest, Individualist thing.
Then Le Vey's real progenitor is Friedrich Nietzsche. Ayn Rand made moral judgments a linchpin of her moral philosophy. She rejected Christ because she thought that "judge not, lest ye be judged" is too forgiving of evil.
That judgmentalism is very much part of canoncial Objectivism. Twenty years ago, Rand's successor Leonard Peikoff booted out David Kelley because Kelley made a minor virtue out of tolerance (of what canonical Objectivism considers to be morally bad.)
Too many coincidences for me on this.
You obviously haven't been on the Internet for more than a week, have you?
Don't forget about "Humanism" . . . and when it relates to
The early part of the 20th Century saw the rise of several materialistic philosophical outlooks.
Leninist/Stalinist Communism, Fascism and Objectivism.
Objectivism at its heart is atheistic economic Darwinism. It is a philosopical counterpoint to atheistic Communism.
Under both Objectivism and Communism the strong oppress the weak.
Allow me to throw in a curve ball: a Christian could benefit, as a Christian, by reading Atlas Shrugged. Here's how: all of Rand's villains, in one way or another, are vain. What she calls "incompetence" is a kind of vanity. Thus, Atlas can be read as a powerful illustration of why and how vanity is a deadly sin.
I should add that doing so means keeping this "lens," as it were, in the back of the mind as a pre-judgment - and returning to the Bible by reading the book of Ecclesiastes afterwards.
Thank you for the kind advice. I was afraid I had missed the “no criticism of Ayn Rand” clause in the posting rules!
Sarah Posner
RSS
June 7, 2011
9:44AM
The Problem with Ayn Rand Isn’t Atheism
Post by Sarah Posner
Comments (17)
Email
Print
Share
Detroit Examiner columnist Brandon Schlacht takes issue with the American Values Network ad, targeted at liberal Christians, which criticizes Republican affection for Ayn Rand. Schlacht writes:
Members of the American Values Network have come out in opposition to Ryan based on their Christian faith and Ayn Rand’s atheism; however, while Ryan was indeed influenced by Rand and would like to see her Objectivism influence more of Washington’s policy, his budget is not wrong due to Ayn Rand’s lack of belief in a supreme being. The real issue is not atheism, but Randian dogma, which holds a strict commitment to cutting government, promoting libertarian ideals, and allowing for the best to emerge, even if it occurs at the expense of the downtroden. . . .
The real issue isn’t God with Paul Ryan’s budget, but his strict belief that one ideal and one political ideology will fix the crippling budget problems the U.S. faces.
The American Values Network is run by the principals of the Eleison Group, a political consulting firm which describes itself as “a full-service consulting firm helping political, non-profit, business and government entities better understand America’s rich and complex faith landscape and build relationships with people of faith from across the ideological spectrum on the local and national level.” It is boasting on its website of its attendance at the upcoming Netroots Nation conference where principals Burns Strider and Eric Sapp will be on a panel, “Moving Forward With Faith.” The description on the Netroots Nation website reads, “A clear lesson to [sic] from our recent history is that faith and values communities are increasingly proving to be critical to successful progressive advocacy.” Other panelists include Elizabeth Denlinger, Director of Campaigns at Sojourners, which her biography describes as “one of the largest networks of progressive Christians in the nation,” a characterization some progressive Christians take issue with. (I’m also speaking on a different panel at the same conference.)
Eleison and the AVN are focused on making “people of faith” “comfortable” with Democrats, who’ve gotten a bad rap about being “hostile” to religion. That rap, incidentally, came from Democratic “faith” strategists, not because Democrats are demonstrably anti-religion, but it has resulted in some painful pandering to make up for these alleged deficiencies. Eleison’s Democratic clients have included Alabama’s Parker Griffith, who went on to become a Republican, and North Carolina’s Heath Shuler, a prominent Blue Dog who recently spoke at the Family Research Council’s Watchmen on the Wall conference for pastors, where he insisted that if Christians “had provided for people in our community,” then we “wouldn’t’ve needed a debate on health care.” The Family Research Council, incidentally, has signaled its full support of the Republicans’ budget-slashing. But at least Shuler’s not an atheist!
At the AVN website touting the anti-Rand ad, AVN notes, “The choice is simple: Ayn Rand or Jesus Christ. We must choose one and forsake the other.”
‘One U.S. senator has publicly confessed to being a fan of the The Satanic Bible while another calls it his “foundation book.”’
Eh? Who? When?
It would confirm my opinion of the federal government, but who, exactly, said such things?
In other words, it’s a lie. Like your entire thread.
I get the problem with AmericanValuesNetwork.com - but the source here is FirstThings.com, a respected publication.
Some folks forget that it seems.
Check your FReepmail please
I'm done on the subject. I made my case and I may be wrong. I'll leave it at that and thank you for your indulgence.
Ugh. I think I will go back to surfing youtube. Much more productive.
bookmark
“Then Le Vey’s real progenitor is Friedrich Nietzsche”
Short of Darwin, that would be the most often credited inspiration, definitely.
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.