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Previous comments... You are currently on page 3.
Christianity, and religion in general, and Objectivism share certain ethical values, such as honesty, integrity, non-initiation of force, the work ethic, voluntary cooperation, benevolence. But the Christian willingness for self-sacrifice puts it diametrically opposite to Objectivism. Rand defined it as never sacrificing a greater value to a lesser value (a basic principle of economics as well). A mother risking her life to save her child is acting on that premise; the child is a great value to her. Even in the animal kingdom one can see such seeming alruism to preserve the young. That is not self-sacrifice but the DNA's most selfish function of preserving the next generation.
Christianity's preoccupation with self-sacrifice is rooted in the notion that because Jesus allegedly sacrificed himself and thus saved the whole human race from eternal damnation, we all should emulate him. This is a misguided and distorted version of the idea of investment, and builds this perverse narrative of a God who demands sacrifices as symbols of worshipping him.
On the continuum from sadism to masochism, you couldn't find a better implementation than what Christian beliefs, or rather its developers, have concocted. Objectively, for people to be happy, no one should be made to suffer. No one should derive benefits from the loss of another. No sacrifices need to be laid on anyone. Intelligent, self-interested collaboration can achieve a good and dynamic, life-loving world.
Short-term delay of gratification for long-term gain is not sacrifice. It is in one's long-range rational self-interest, the investment principle.
As for finding overlaps of any two thought systems or even any two apparently mutually exclusive ideas, I invented a fun game played on those lines. It is a veritable lab experiment in concept formation and rationalization. Ask for details if interested.
We reject forcing or manipulating people into sacrifices they don't want to make, not the word sacrifice. You might sacrifice doing something you want to help your kids, and another time you might hire someone and sacrifice time with your kids to do something else. You might sacrifice your hobby to work on a paid project, or the other way around. It's your choice. The problem comes when someone tries to make the choice for you.
http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/sacrif...
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