tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post2653174564833371937..comments2024-03-19T07:48:54.021-06:00Comments on Gus Van Horn: The Ring of GygesGus Van Hornhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-46810560109060103272007-10-17T06:11:00.000-06:002007-10-17T06:11:00.000-06:00And what feelings those are!And what feelings those are!Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-26811250835501283792007-10-17T00:20:00.000-06:002007-10-17T00:20:00.000-06:00Superficially, that is true for both sides. The r...Superficially, that is true for both sides. The religionists don't like competition, and the Leftists find the notion of individual moral responsibility frightening.<BR/><BR/>But since there is no such thing as God, the real reason ends up applying to both: our ethics leave no room for their <I>feelings</I>.<BR/><BR/>I offer in evidence this particularly vile, revealing quote from conservative John Derbyshire:<BR/><BR/><I>"Does it not occur to you...that by purging all sacred images, references, and words from our public life, you are leaving us with nothing but a cold temple presided over by the Goddess of Reason -- that counterfeit deity who, as history has proved time and time and time again, inspires no affection, retains no loyalties, soothes no grief, justifies no sacrifice, gives no comfort, extends no charity, displays no pity, and offers no hope, except to the tiny cliques of fanatical ideologues who tend her cold blue flame?"</I>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-60379938306862918922007-10-16T21:03:00.000-06:002007-10-16T21:03:00.000-06:00Maybe that's why they all hate us! The right can't...Maybe that's why they all hate us! The right can't tell us, in the name of their God, how to be moral, and the left can't pretend that amorality has no consequences with us around.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-39382699087678954672007-10-16T20:32:00.000-06:002007-10-16T20:32:00.000-06:00That *reality* enforces morality is one of the asp...That *reality* enforces morality is one of the aspects of the Objectivist ethics that completely confounds conventional thinkers; they are thoroughly used to the notion that without God/society, there is simply no reason to be moral (as opposed to "prudent").<BR/><BR/>This precept, most concisely expressed as "If God is dead, everything is permitted", is central to the conservative worldview, and is the primary indictment against their approach to ethics. <BR/><BR/>(Of course, the Left's answer is to declare that god IS dead, so everything IS permitted.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-44389709123427885902007-10-16T12:36:00.000-06:002007-10-16T12:36:00.000-06:00"It also would have said that I was too incapable ..."It also would have said that I was too incapable to conduct my affairs by the power my own mind and my own effort ."<BR/><BR/>Thank you. THIS is, I think, an all-too-frequently overlooked psychological aspect of theft and fraud. There's what most altrusts think of, which is how it hurts others, and how others might catch the thief, but this is the anxiety associated with REALITY catching up with the thief.Gus Van Hornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05126749051688217781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8839412.post-13862333807050636042007-10-16T12:21:00.000-06:002007-10-16T12:21:00.000-06:00I found a wallet with a couple hundred dollars in ...I found a wallet with a couple hundred dollars in it while I was a student going back to college. Keeping that 'found' money certainly would have made my life easier; I didn't have much of an income stream at the time and every little bit of cash helped. It also would have said that I was too incapable to conduct my affairs by the power my own mind and my own effort to be able to return property that clearly was not mine. I tracked down the owner of the wallet and returned it to them, for which they were immensely grateful. In a larger sense, I was to, because it was a moment where I lived up to my most important convictions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com