Objectivism, Religion and Reality
Posted by Ranter 9 years ago to Philosophy
There is one long string on this forum arguing whether or not an Objectivist can also be a Christian. I pitched in my two cents worth, because I am a Christian and I consider myself to be an Objectivist. People have been telling me that I understand neither Christianity nor Objectivism. I think too many Objectivists treat Objectivism (and their atheism) as a religion, in which the writings of Ayn Rand are their scriptures. If we become that rigid, we defeat the purposes of Objectivism and lose any audience we might have. But then, for some, it's not about building an audience for Objectivism, but about ridiculing people that disagree with them on anything. If that's Objectivism, I will not be long for this forum.
Also, given your occupational experience, I'd assume your 'skin' isn't too thin. We all arrived in the Gulch via different courses of thinking. Many conversations here would be different if they occurred at points in our past. Still, we know that people don't easily change the fundamentals in their thinking without some level of struggle.
Objectivism is something that needs to be understood, not accepted like another list of beliefs. Try to understand the axioms which give rise to Objectivist ideas and explain some of the responses you've received. Aristotle showed us that "A is A". Rand further discovered that "Existence is Identity" and "Consciousness is Identification". We cannot get around these axioms without using them. So, there is no room for the artificial split of the universe into the "physical" and "spiritual". These axioms also leave no room for a "God" outside of Existence, beyond Identification, and explained by means of non-Consciousness. It's philosophy that will explain "God makes absolutely no sense."
What I don't understand is why you seem to feel the need to defend your stance and convince others to think as you do and that you are right.
I accept that I don't think exactly as everyone else on this site. That doesn't at all interfere with my enjoyment of the people in the Gulch and how much I have learned here.
"PLAYBOY
Has no religion, in your estimation, ever offered anything of constructive value to human life?
RAND
Qua religion, no—in the sense of blind belief, belief unsupported by, or contrary to, the facts of reality and the conclusions of reason. Faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life: it is the negation of reason. But you must remember that religion is an early form of philosophy, that the first attempts to explain the universe, to give a coherent frame of reference to man’s life and a code of moral values, were made by religion, before men graduated or developed enough to have philosophy. And, as philosophies, some religions have very valuable moral points. They may have a good influence or proper principles to inculcate, but in a very contradictory context and, on a very—how should I say it?—dangerous or malevolent base: on the ground of faith."-from the Playboy Interview 1964
I hope I never stop learning, even if, at times, I find myself in disagreement.