JayR

Its also dubious to try and "explain" existence. Provide some empirical evidence or science (or perhaps contrasting existence with non existence, whatever that is) and I might pay attention, but these purely rationalistic attempts dont make your case any more than quoting Chomsky would make you a communist. As of right now all I hear is "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth......."

Ideally it shoudnt be a burden in any sense.

Thats a badass bongo solo.

I thing shes a total scumbag, an absolute disgrace to humanity. Hmm.

Well said. And you can easily see how force on an individual to individual level is evil for the same reasons force is evil on a political level. It eliminates a mans ability to use his mind. And since a mans mind is his means of survival, you get the point. "There are only two mens by whch men can deal with each other: guns or logic. Force or persuasion. Those who know they cannot win by means of logic, have always resorted to guns." Heres a bare bones look at Rands ideas tying the morality of alruism to force on a political level: Lecture

Well I dont think thats a distinction this article is trying to make. But you have a point. The question to ask is: what motivates the individuals that comprise "Big Brother"? Power, money, job security etc. All of of which are accomplished by pandering to a society who has been led down the wrong moral path, ie. altruism fueled by Abrahamic religious norms. Reminds me of: "you asked for it brother".

Who? Me or the OP? I dont give any consideration to criminals.

This is a really complex issue. What is this guys motivation? If hes some scumbag trying to make a buck while facilitating the destruction of peoples lives Id say sure, be a rat, youve got no integrity anyway. On the other hand, if he genuinely believes that drug laws are immoral and wishes to be a crusader and put himself up on the cross, than breaking the implicit contract that hes made with his cohorts is dishonest and also shows a lack of integrity. Really though, I wouldnt waste my time pondering the ethical nuances of drug peddlers. Egoism offers no defense for that behavior in the context of todays society.

Terrible for personal well being in this life anyways.

Well dont you think that theres an obvious link between morality and politics? Its not Jesus were out to discredit, its the morality of altruism.

Im sure there arent any studies that prove innate knowledge. I was just trying to give an example of a potential rational reason to disagree with a fundamental principle of Oism. If Rand had written more on the subject than it probably wouldnt be an issue. The problem is: reading what Rand wrote, taking it at face value, and disagreeing is more rational than reading what other people said about what Rand meant when she wrote about certain topics. It sometimes requires a leap of faith that some people are not willing to take. Some people even take their rationalizations so far as to argue for her positions on homosexuality. People sometimes take what she said as a primary, and think of any disagreements they have as faults in their own cognitive abilities, to be rationalized away with the help of other dogmatists. Thats way further from what Oism is about than a person who understands, and disagrees. People are different.

I like it. Ive always wanted to learn to carve things.

Just to point to one of Rands more philosophical points, what about her assertion that man is born tabula rasa? This point is absolutely fundamental to the philosophy of Objectivism. Would a person be deemed irrational if he agreed that man survives by the use of reason, but disagreed with this particular assertion? Could you say that he never understood the philosophy if he agreed with every aspect of Oism, but disagreed with this one fundamental point after reading neurological studies and being presented with scientific evidence that contradicts it? Lets not be dogmatic.

Not to derail the discussion, but you are aware that Christians believe that an illiterate first century carpenter who cast evil spells on trees was the son of God himself? That he was born of a virgin, not of a loose woman afraid to be stoned to death for having sex, but a literal virgin birth, of the kind like the Komodo dragons do? Just want to make sure you know who youre associating yourself with.

Correction: I dont think their cause is stupid, I think the way they conduct themselves in order to achieve their ends is stupid.

The thing to care about is principles, if you find an Objectivist that doesnt care about principled action in the context of Govt. (or any context) he probably doesnt know what hes talking about. Again, a respect for principled action is the cause of most of these viewpoints. I wont get started on the mosque, Ill just say that those who were calling for Govt intervention were not taking a principled approach in my opinion. Anyway, the Government may not always act on the proper principles, (as in this case, specifically) but Id take a wrongheaded principled approach over cops deciding at whim which laws to enforce, and which to ignore. The fact is, these people were out there with the purpose of getting arrested and making the cops and government look stupid in the process. They succeeded in making themselves, the cops, and most media outlets look stupid. Whether that will open anyones eyes to the larger issue of statist policies concerning propery, public demonstration, or dancing is yet to be seen. Im not holding my breath. But right now, Im in the "their cause is stupid" camp.

Speed limits do usually seem arbitrary. Like everything else though, theres a sliding scale, or a golden mean. I think its outrageous that my tax dollars go towards cleanup crews out on the street separating shards of twisted metal and brain fragments, slowing down traffic because some person felt the speed limit was arbitrary. You sound like a safe driver so this probably doesnt apply to you. Just look at it from the perpective of self interest. If hundreds of dollars in fines makes it difficult to live your life the way you want to, than knowingly driving in flagrant violation of the limit is immoral. If you dont miss that money, and like getting places faster, do what you want, safely. Ive driven past cops at 10-15 mph over the limit without a problem, any more than that will usually get you into trouble.

I hope youre right, I got my mom a gift certificate for that restaurant for mothers day. It didt say anything about the rapture in the fine print. Fingers crossed.

So next Saturday the lines will be shorter at the grocery store, shopping mall, gas pumps etc.? I wont have to make reservations at my favorite restaurant? Although, its authentic Italian food so there probably wont be any cooks or waitstaff present either, darn. But Im going to take advantage of these opportunities!

From the breif overview that you gave, it sounds like your dad is being childish. It is your sisters day, and hes throwing a tantrum because he "wants no contact" with Jon. This is selfish in the wrong sense of the term. Tell him to move on, get over his relationship with your mother, and let your sister have the spotlight, and the support that she deserves on her big day. Edit: What Im trying to convey is that your dad should want to be there for selfish reasons.

One of my favorite characters ever.

Why Ike, whatever do you mean?

Well I think its important to stop looking at ancient texts, interpretations of sources, and historical trends and start looking at reality, the world as it is right now. Whatever nice things the sacred prophet had to say about peace is not worth considering at this point. The poison has spread. Polling moderate muslims will not erase that fact.

Nothing I suppose. I was just commenting on a particular event.

Thats not what I said. I just dont think that everyone gets to get all decked out in their moral finery and mount their own personal moral high horse because the U.S. intelligence and armed forces succeeded in doing a job well done. People should not be indifferent, but to take delight and revel in the situation is to forget the fact that bin Ladens exist in the real world, outside the context of a happy ending movie script. The fact that he existed, and needed to be killed in the name of justice is a somber fact about reality, a reality that persists after this particular and brief soundbite in time. Thats not to say Im not happy hes dead, and especially about the way it happened. I just think a somber, forward looking sort of reflection about the nature of evil is warranted rather than a collectivized orgy of flag waving.