Happy & Brainy Group discussion
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Rejoice! Our Savior Is Born :)
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(Ayn Rand's answer to the question of whether it is appropriate for an atheist to celebrate Christmas)
Yes, of course. A national holiday, in this country, cannot have an exclusively religious meaning. The secular meaning of the Christmas holiday is wider than the tenets of any particular religion: it is good will toward men — a frame of mind which is not the exclusive property (though it is supposed to be part, but is a largely unobserved part) of the Christian religion.
The charming aspect of Christmas is the fact that it expresses good will in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way. One says: “Merry Christmas” — not “Weep and Repent.” And the good will is expressed in a material, earthly form — by giving presents to one’s friends, or by sending them cards in token of remembrance . . . .
The best aspect of Christmas is the aspect usually decried by the mystics: the fact that Christmas has been commercialized. The gift-buying . . . stimulates an enormous outpouring of ingenuity in the creation of products devoted to a single purpose: to give men pleasure. And the street decorations put up by department stores and other institutions — the Christmas trees, the winking lights, the glittering colors — provide the city with a spectacular display, which only “commercial greed” could afford to give us. One would have to be terribly depressed to resist the wonderful gaiety of that spectacle.
- The Objectivist Calendar, Dec. 1976.
Lucille, I cannot tell you how much it means to me to see that you have posted something about Christmas and recognizing that it is about the birth of Christ. So few people in the world realize that His brith is the miracle-it is not about Santa, the presents, the parties, or cookies. :) It's about recognizing God's gift to a troubled world.I just wanted to tell you that I am so thrilled you posted that. Thank you.
In my belief, Jesus was born in October. Not December. I'm not trying to argue, just wanted to let anyone who did not know, that there are other religions that don’t celebrate Christmas because they think it's wrong...the wrong date I mean. I believe that Most Catholics (As my entire family is all catholic with the exception of me) sometimes forget what CHRISTmas is about. Not directing that toward you people, because the two above me seem to have a strong faith. I’m not even catholic anymore and it still bothers me that people that are still apart of the faith are the ones that forget what it is truly about…………I reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaalllllly don't know where I am going with this....I am going to try and re-gather my brain and maybe try again.....sorry if this is a bunch on nonsensical stuff
I don't celebrate it at all. I DO believe in Jesus and I DO believe in God. But God is the only one that is to be celebrated. All other people are observed, not worshiped. It makes sense to me...why should a mortal be put up on the same level as God the supreme being of all?
First, just so you know. I do feel I need a savior. It is God. Jesus was an incredible man and I know that he died on a stake for us (Or most say it was a cross, but that is beside the point right now) I believe he was an amazing man, like I said. But that's what he was. A man. A mere man cannot have supreme rule over us and be our savior, only God can do that. I do not celebrate any holidays that most people do. There are other things to celebrate though, like Graduations or Weddings and Anniversaries. I think that I have other ways to cut loose. They just are not religious. I go out and act like a dork with all of my friends, I sing and dance when I'm bored at home. I go to movies and have sleep overs and do mostly anything that any other teenage girl would do. Every day I celebrate something biggest than myself, that something: God.
I am not melancholy this time of year. My whole family is Catholic we do Christmas and Easter and what not. I have a blast with them like always and it's great :)I really like talking to you about this subject because you seem so much less judgmental than most people are of me when I tell them I don't practice Catholicism.
If you got the impression that I disliked you because you are of a different faith than myself I apologize. I did not mean to come across that way. My best friend thinks he was a Whale in a past life and my other best friend claims to be an Anti-Christ sometimes. Some of my friends are Atheists as well.
I think that everyone is mostly tolerant of other belief systems because there is always that thought in the back of your mind going "What it?" What if I’m wrong? What if I've chosen the wrong way to live? What if what I believe is a lie? I have fears like that all of the time. Its scary, and I don’t like it at all. But it’s a fear that is always there, more prominent in me than in anyone else I know. Got any advice on that?
I will remember that :) And, by the way, when that comercial first came out that song was stuck in my head for days. Now its there again lol
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While Ari was with the delegation, his ten-year-old daughter, Lola, was with a classmate on the new obstacle course, a hundred meters south of where the sumptuous buffet breakfast was laid out for the early morning celebrations.
“Let’s try! Let’s do it.” Lola successfully hurdled the difficult obstacle course. She urged her classmate to do the same. “It’s your turn.”
“I’m ashamed.”
“There is no reason to be.”
“Okay, I’ll try. Don’t laugh at me.”
“I laugh when I am happy. I don’t laugh to embarrass people.”
“What if I fail?”
“Lessons learned, and then try again.”
Lola’s classmate focused. She exerted her very best effort. “I did it! I did it so well! Oh… I should be humble.”
“Why?”
“It’s good to be humble.”
“Why?”
“Everybody says so.”
“I am not humble,” Lola declared. “I respect and love myself. I always do my best because I don’t ever want to feel low and small.”
Lola’s classmate realized that self-love was the hallmark of a good person.
Afterward, Lola joined her best friend, ten-year-old Toni Connor. Toni brought their latest science project, a transmitter-receiver device successfully tested the day before. They enjoyed playing with it while recording their observations on static interference and the distance factor. The girls also practiced communicating in a private code.
Another classmate observed the two girls enjoying each other’s company. The recent tests where Toni had the highest scores, particularly in science and math, came to mind as Grandmother Connor summoned Toni. The classmate joined Lola and asked, “Don’t you want to be better than Toni?”
Lola replied, “I don’t compare myself to anyone. I want to be good – period. I want to be the best I can be. I also admire intelligent people, like Toni.”
Meanwhile, Grandmother Connor gently admonished, “Toni, the Holy Book warns of punishment for proud, ambitious people. Study the Holy Teachings and pray more often, instead of performing experiments. Read the Holy Book more faithfully, rather than science books.”
“Grandmother, God does not punish,” Toni smiled confidently. “I enjoy finding out about God’s creations. The mind and body are wonderful gifts from God. Surely, He wants us to use them.”
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Just then, Toni heard her sister’s name. Eighteen-year-old Alisa Connor joined Josephine Schwartz on the podium. The two ladies played the guitar and sang.
Alisa had worked very hard and had taken care of Toni ever since their parents’ boat exploded seven years ago.
Josephine lost sight in her right eye when she was eleven, yet, at that young age, she vowed to make mining her vocation. At twenty-five years of age, she had gone completely blind. Nonetheless, with her strong will and steadfast determination, she remained the driving force of the island’s mining industry, her brainchild.
Alisa and Josephine projected vitality and confidence. Their zest for life inspired the thought, “Do not give up. Rise. Go forward.”
Alisa worked at The Fun House owned by Frank Thomas, a retired decorated soldier. The property consisted of a theater, dance hall, lounge, bakery with a snack counter, merchandise store, and a children’s playground.
Suff, Sac, and Humi thought of Frank’s property as The Hell House. They harbored the same sentiments: “Those who cause people to disobey the Holy Teachings must be punished!”
The head of the holy faith, Santo Sacrificio, stood beside Ron Balian, an architect who took the preliminary vows of a holy man two years ago. They were surrounded by people singing along with Alisa and Josephine.
Ron was three years older than Alisa. Like her, he was eleven years old when his parents, Collin and Demi Balian, were thought to have met an accident. Like the Connor parents, their bodies were never found. Ron and Alisa understood each other’s terrible sorrow. Behind their calm façade was an anguish that squeezed the heart. Everyday was a battle to defeat pain and suffering.
Ron had his father’s intelligent face and his mother’s radiant eyes. His skin color was a perfect blend of Collin’s dark skin and Demi’s light complexion. After the tragedy that befell his parents, Ron solemnly told his grandparents and their friends, “Father held dear that suffering is not a value, and that happiness is the aim of one’s existence.”
Seven years ago, Santo Sacrificio extolled suffering during the prayer session held for Alisa’s parents, Ali and Dyosa Connor. “Blessed are they who suffer… ”
Grandmother Connor was then too distraught to speak. Then eleven-year-old Alisa thanked the group and recounted, “Almost two centuries ago on this island, children as young as eight years and no older than twelve beheld their fallen parents. Wrenched with anguish, they ran to their chosen posts and defended their country.” She gazed at her then three-year-old sister, Toni, and resolved, “I have chosen my own post.” Her eyes were on Ron as she continued, “I have chosen my path. I will travel the road to happiness everyday.”
Frank found it suspicious that Ali and Dyosa Connor met the same fate as Ari’s parents, Ivan and Kori Hugo. Frank suspected that the disappearance of the Connors, Balians, and Hugos was contrived by a single evil group. He believed his friends were still alive.
Six weeks after the Connor tragedy came the holy month for honoring humility, sacrifice, and suffering. A number of children noticed the stark contrast between Ron and Alisa battling great sorrow, as well as Josephine overcoming a tragic affliction, and the self-deprivation, self-inflicted pain and suffering that many folks engaged in, especially during the holy month.
During a prayer session, then eight-year-old Jawo asked his parents, “Father, Mother, do you want me to suffer?”
“No. Of course not. Not ever. No parent would want that.”
“Then why do some think that God wants people to suffer?”
The adults could not justify ascribing a sickening trait to the Almighty.
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As the islanders continued to celebrate by the cliff, the other cabal members, two men and two women, fueled the outrage of Suff, Sac, and Humi. The secret group called their leader Head-Hunter; the other man was codenamed Fort; the two women were known as Gem and Glitter. Each craved to tear down those who did not follow the Holy Book and traditions. Each vowed, “God’s will be done! I must defend the sacred traditions at all cost!”
Back on the podium, Santo Sacrificio was requested to speak. He prayed, “God, please have mercy on those who do not worship, praise, and serve you. Please forgive them for flouting your will, for their ambition and pride. To all dear Saints, please help them see that self-sacrifice and suffering are pleasing in God’s eyes.”
When Toni’s turn came, she prayed, “God, You are all-good and all-loving. You do not need praises – You are not insecure. You do not need service – You are omnipotent. You are not a sacrifice profiteer nor a sadist – it must break your heart to see anyone suffer. You want people to be happy, and have given us everything needed to achieve happiness: our minds and bodies, the Earth, and the universe.”
Toni requested Ron to speak after her.
Ron contended, “Every demonstration of how powerful the mind is, every discovery, invention, or advancement, proves that God is all-good and all-loving. Therefore, using the mind is immensely pleasing to God.”
The merriment continued. Ron joined Alisa. Her face was the picture of joy. “Alisa, you are an angel on Earth.”
Alisa responded, “Heaven and Earth – they are one and the same.”
Amid the revelries, the cabal members seethed. Suff, Sac, and Humi were of the same mind: “I am God’s soldier. I must defend God’s will!”
Fort inflamed their anger. “People who influence others to spurn the Holy Book, who flaunt that they do not need God, who worship pleasure and science, must be made to repent and fear the wrath of God.”
Head-Hunter stoked the avengeful fury of his cabal. “Proud, happy, ambitious people cannot be ruled. We must step up measures to force them to submit. Armageddon is needed again. These people must be punished for their sins.”
Legend ascribed the destruction of the wonders created by the island’s founding heroes to God’s wrath. What betided the founders and their legacy remained a mystery. Over the decades, many searched for the legendary underground chambers, believing they would find the Heroes’ Journals and other treasures.
Jaya was asked to speak on the podium after Ron. When she finished, she requested Ron to give another speech. The islanders were all ears as Ron solemnly addressed them.
“Reason is the faculty that deals with the perception of reality, while faith is the claim to a non-sensory means of knowledge. Principles and values derived from faith are often accepted without question even in the face of contrary evidence, while reason deals with facts and employs the method of non-contradictory identification.
Faith has been used to further ignorance, enshrine irrationality, and exploit people. With faith, there is no necessity for justification. Force is its corollary.
But if one's personal faith holds reason as its top value, then, faith and reason are not incompatible. If one's personal faith holds the life, freedom, and happiness of each human being as the most sacred of values, then, reason and faith can coexist, parallel to each other, in the same man.
This man uses reason for everything that can be explained, while his faith holds on to dreams that inspire him to live.
Faith in a God who is all-good and all-loving, who treasures each man, endowing him with a mind capable of understanding man's nature, the Earth, and the universe.
Faith in a God who so loves man that He respects his freedom of choice.
Faith that God shares the most sacrosanct of values: each man's life, his freedom, and his happiness here on Earth. Faith that Heaven and Earth are one and the same.
Faith that human life goes on until eternity, that everything is possible to man. Faith in miracles -
Think of a miracle. Believe that God has given the means to achieve it. Think, and find out the facts. Think, with the clarity of purpose. Let the vision of a miracle be a beacon to guide your actions. Think, and then act. Act with the confidence that miracles do happen to doers who strive to actualize them.
Rejoice! Angels do exist in our midst, though it takes the highest of virtues to recognize them.
Heaven on Earth can be achieved when reason reigns.”
Alisa gazed at Ron adoringly. “A good man,” she thought. “His mind matches his looks.” Ron was six feet and three inches tall. He was proud and joyously confident.
Ron continued, “I respect the freedom of each man to celebrate the holy month, but I do not hold humility as a virtue. I think self-sacrifice is evil, suffering has no value, and one’s own happiness is the purpose of life.”
Those who envied achievement, who hated men and women of ability, and who wanted people to grovel and weep, decided to execute Armageddon prior to the holy month.
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I am very sorry about your loss. May you and your family have great comfort.
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“Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear.”
- Thomas Jefferson
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President Thomas Jefferson said, ‘It is blasphemy against religion to suppose it cannot stand the test of truth and reason.’
During the founding of our nation, many were deists. A deist is one who believes in a God who created the universe and then abandoned it, assuming no control over life, exerting no influence on natural phenomena, and giving no supernatural revelation. A deist thinks, ‘It is evident in man’s possession of free will that the Creator does not pleasure in robots, zombies, or yes-men; God does not want to impose on men. The brilliant intricacy of the human mind and body, coupled by the vastness of the challenges presented by the universe, is evidence of God’s respect and love for man. A religion that imposes does not share that love – it is a tyrant using God as a front. A religion that damns happiness and glorifies suffering is a sadist using God’s name. A religion that enters the political realm in any way is a tyrannical sadist.’
One who does not hold that religion is a private choice for each individual is paving the way toward the worst scourge of mankind: theocracy. The Mike Milken Admiration Party strongly rejects and is eternally vigilant to pulverize any footholds to theocracy.
I echo Thomas Jefferson: ‘Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone.’
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As they traveled, Lola and Ivan did their chores quickly and thoroughly. Ivan followed the adults around. He was often heard asking ‘Why?’ or ‘How?’ Another favorite question of his was ‘What for?’ Soon, redheaded Ethan was imitating him – ‘Why?’
Lola asked Ron if she could read the journal. He responded that anyone may read or contribute to it anytime, adding that he and his wife had a separate private journal. Ivan asked his sister to retell the stories when they were together. One night, he asked the group if he could read a new entry from Ron that his sister related to him that day:
“God is all-good and all-loving. He is not a sadist. Neither is He malevolent nor whimsical. He is just, firm, and steadfast. His creations share the same attributes: nature is governed by laws that are unchanging.
Every creation of God has an identity that was, is, will always be, and had to be. Whether a man’s understanding of nature is real or not, true or false, right or wrong, depends on its correspondence to a thing’s identity.
God is so benevolent that the laws of nature are absolute. They are not subject to change by time, whims, or even by prayers. They are not open to anyone’s choice. They remain constant to the good as well as to evil.
God is so just that the laws of nature are knowable by every man. They are not revelations arbitrarily disclosed to a favored few. God is so loving that He has gifted man with the faculties to understand nature.
Every man who chooses to use God’s endowments reaps benefits. Those who do not constantly fear the unknown; they follow, copy, or repeat mindlessly. In the face of alternatives, they are never certain whom to imitate or what to borrow. They might choose to rule those who do use their minds, by force, or by the thinkers’ overly generous goodwill or unearned guilt.
It is necessary to build defensive structures against those who might use force.”
Ron’s recent entry elicited many questions, especially from Ivan, Pit, and Kori.
Hugo concurred after careful thought. “Ron is right. It is logical that we prioritize security. We should never again be at the mercy of thugs.”
“Offense is the best defense.” The voice was Lola’s. The group beheld the girl who seldom talked. Her face was always serene though she never smiled. Her eyes radiated intelligence.
The next day, Ron read an entry from Lola:
“The people on this boat, the Georgia Knox, are heroes. A hero knows the power of the mind. He respects and seeks ideas. He appreciates knowledge. He lives by reason and logic.
A hero trades – he is neither a master nor a slave. He is an independent thinker – he is neither a power seeker nor a mindless follower.
A hero admires other people’s abilities. He is happy.
His morality is self-interest based on reality and reason. In such a morality, would the interests of individuals ever clash? No, because no self-respecting person would ever desire the unearned or the forced. A moral man does not loot or defraud. He is loyal to ideas and to values, not to specific men or to a group. He respects every man’s freedom. He does not rule. He cannot be ruled.
Ron speaks of a God who is all-good and all-loving. May God bless these heroes.”
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The intrinsic theory holds that the good is inherent in certain things or actions as such. If a man believes that an action is good in, by, and of itself, he will not hesitate to force others to perform them. Like Robespierre, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, he will regard wholesale slaughter as his moral duty in the service of a “higher” good.
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…
After the 2008 elections, Apollo decided to run for the presidency in 2012. He finalized his strategy and methodically carried out his action plans. He was inspired by his heroes. “Good people desire Liberty. President George Washington said, ‘Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.’ I will plant Liberty in the mind of every man.”
Apollo formed a political party. He named it in honor of a man he greatly admired: Mike Milken Admiration Party. Although ignored by many, he continued to work hard to achieve his objectives. He effectively used the Internet.
In a live broadcast, Apollo declared his party’s fundamentals. “A political party based on reason, the Mike Milken Admiration Party honors the most glorious achievement on Earth: the Declaration of Independence. This party adheres to the philosophy of Objectivism, and holds that religion is a private choice for each individual.
My party’s concretes would never contradict these fundamentals.
The Mike Milken Admiration Party salutes the uncommon man. A man of integrated body and soul, the uncommon man esteems his own mind and values happiness. He respects himself no matter how poor he may be and endeavors to rise to the greatest heights. He takes pride in work and achievement. He glories in pursuits of genius and happiness. He reveres Liberty.
The Declaration of Independence states, ‘We hold these truths …’
The truth is what conforms to reality. Honesty is the pursuit of truth; it is the refusal to evade or fake reality. George Washington said, ‘I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.’
The exalted purity to the pursuit of truth belongs to the field of philosophy. Objectivism advocates capitalism as the consequence and the ultimate practical application of its fundamental philosophical principles. Politics, the fourth branch of philosophy, is based on metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics. The political principles of this party are based on the facts of man’s nature and of man’s relationship to existence.
An intellectually honest individual concerned about alleviating human poverty and suffering uses the law of identity and the law of causality to discover their cause. A century laden with proofs, the unprecedented prosperity-explosion after the founding of the United States of America, would shine light on the answer: capitalism is the only social system that enables men to produce abundance - and the key to capitalism, to a coercion-free economic system, is individual freedom.
The metaphysically given is the standard of right or wrong. In order to succeed, an individual’s values and actions must conform to metaphysically given facts. Man cannot fly, so the Wright brothers invented the airplane; they found a way to counteract the force of gravity. Man cannot walk on water, so we build boats. Man cannot move a mountain, but we can build a tunnel through it. We can’t prevent earthquakes, so we must erect buildings that could withstand them. Man is a mortal being - doctors and pharmaceutical industries try to save and prolong lives.
* continued in the next post
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The purpose of epistemology is to define a method of cognition that makes a fallible being capable of truth, a method that enables man to gain knowledge of an independent reality. Objectivity requires this method of cognition: logic.
Logic is noncontradictory identification within the full context of one’s knowledge.
Epistemology is a practical necessity – it guides man in the proper use of his conceptual faculty. Thinking, to be valid, must adhere to reality. If man’s goal is knowledge, rather than error or delusion, he must use reason.
Reason is the faculty that organizes perceptual units in conceptual terms by following the principles of logic. Reason is the existence-oriented faculty. It is the faculty of proof.
Knowledge, i.e. knowledge of reality, is contextual and hierarchical. Man’s only direct contact with reality is the data of sense – therefore, they are the standard of objectivity. Reduction is the means of connecting an advanced knowledge to reality, i.e. to the perceptually given, by retracing the essential logical structure of its hierarchical roots. Proof is a form of reduction.
Logic is the means of validating a conclusion objectively. Including the recognition of context and hierarchy, logic is the method of achieving objectivity. By using logic, man could base his conclusions on reality.
Ayn Rand created Objectivism. It states that there are, in essence, three schools of thought on the nature of the good: the intrinsic, the subjective, and the objective.
The intrinsic theory holds that the good is inherent in certain things or actions as such. If a man believes that an action is good in, by, and of itself, he will not hesitate to force others to perform them. Like Robespierre, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, he will regard wholesale slaughter as his moral duty in the service of a “higher” good.
Extreme subjectivism does not recognize the concept of identity. Moderate or middle-of-the-road subjectivism is the belief that metaphysical reality is not a firm absolute, and thus can be altered by the perceiver’s feelings, wishes, or whims. This doctrine holds that man needs no objective principles of action, and that he can, somehow, live, act, and achieve his goals apart from and/or in contradiction to the facts of reality, i.e. apart from and/or in contradiction to his own nature and the nature of the universe.
Subjectivism negates reality and advocates the arbitrary and the blindly emotional. Today’s moralists claim that ethics is a subjective issue and that the three things barred from its field are: reason — mind — reality.
The existential monument to subjectivism is the present state of our culture! Subjectivists advocate pragmatism and altruism. Pragmatism is the philosophy of the Progressive movement in this country.
Objectivism further states that the two points central to the pragmatist ethics and politics are: a formal rejection of all fixed standards – and an unquestioning absorption of the prevailing standards. The subjectivist denies that there is any such thing as “the truth” on a given question, the truth which corresponds to the facts. He claims there is no truth, even of a statement he accepts, only truth relative to an individual or group.
By itself, as a distinctive theory, the pragmatist ethics has no content. It preaches “practicality”, but does not specify any “rigid” set of values that could define the concept. So, it appropriates value codes formulated by others without acknowledging them. In politics, pragmatism presents itself as opposed to “extremes” of any kind, whether capitalist or socialist; it avows that it is a relativist, “moderate”, or centrist. Without its own standards, it names a political principle imported from Germany as its standard: collectivism. Marxism propounded a social subjectivism in terms of competing economic classes. The Nazis followed the Marxists but substituted race for class.
Objectivists say:
An honest man does not desire until he has identified the object of his desire. He says: “It is, therefore I want it.”
Acting on whim and not on principle, subjectivists say: “I want it, therefore it is.”
Objectivity is both a metaphysical and an epistemological concept pertaining to the relationship of consciousness to existence. Metaphysically, it is the recognition of the fact that reality exists independent of any perceiver’s consciousness. Epistemologically, it is the recognition of the fact that a man’s consciousness must acquire knowledge of reality by means of reason in accordance with logic.
Objectivity holds that in matters pertaining to human knowledge, metaphysically - reality is the only authority; epistemologically – one’s own intellect. Reality is the ultimate arbiter of the mind. In all aspects of human existence, man achieves his values only by making his decisions consonant with the facts of reality.
Axiomatic concepts are the foundation of objectivity. Objectivism has three axioms: existence exists, consciousness, and the law of identity, Aristotle’s A is A. Axioms are perceptual self-evidencies. They are the starting points of cognition, on which all proofs depend.
* continued in the next post
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A is A, and contradictions are impossible. Every entity has a specific, noncontradictory nature. It is self-evident that an entity can act only in accordance with its nature. The law of causality is the law of identity applied to action. Causality is a corollary of identity. All actions are caused by entities. The nature of an action is caused and determined by the nature of the entities that act; a thing cannot act in contradiction to its nature.
A fundamental principle to the metaphysics of Objectivism is the primacy of existence. Existence comes first. Things are what they are independent of consciousness. Consciousness is a dependent – its function is to grasp that which exists.
Many people think that a personal interest is an agent of distortion. But “personal” does not mean “nonobjective”. The more passionately personal the thinking of a man who knows that reality is not the enemy, that truth and knowledge are of crucial, personal, selfish importance to one’s life, the clearer and truer.
Ethics, or morality, is an objective, metaphysical necessity of man’s survival. Man needs a code of morality for the purpose of self-preservation. Ethics is a code of values to guide man’s choices and actions in determining the purpose and the course of his life.
The standard of good is exalted in the Declaration of Independence: man’s life!
Man’s life is the standard of value – and his own life is the ethical purpose of every individual man.
...
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Have a good sleep, Yoby. You are welcome; Thank you, too.
P.S.
"If I were to speak your kind of language, I would say that man's only moral commandment is: Thou shalt think. But a "moral commandment" is a contradiction in terms. The moral is the chosen, not the forced; the understood, not the obeyed. The moral is the rational, and reason accepts no commandments."
— Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Hey guys! Amber,
Hi! I am Catholic. I understand where you're coming from , but let me tell you that not all Catholics are what you think they are. Christmas, lenten season, Easter and all the Catholic Celebrations - I celebrate them in their truest essence. And you're right about the date ,but I believe the stand of the Catholic Church is to be able to celebrate these occasions. I don't think anybody knows when Jesus was really born or when He really was resurrected. But, i think the right term is to commemorate their occurring for us to remember these times in history that God visited us personally here on earth and showed us the Way to the Father in heaven. I believe that Jesus is God who chose to become one of us to show us who God really is personally and that God is closer to us than we think. In the old testament, God is some distant being - His in heaven and we're on earth type - ,but Jesus proved that God can be experienced personally. He is Emmanuel meaning God with us in Hebrew.
This is just to share with you my stand as a Catholic. Happy new year! :)
Ilyn and Yoby,I believe that reason is God's gift to us. We are able to discern things with reason, weigh the pros and cons and come up with the best conclusion. Solomon was the wisest man ever lived and this is God's doing. He granted Solomon gifts of wisdom and discernment. So, I believe that God really made us use our mind to live, survive and even succeed in this world. BUT, if we use our reason to defy or overrule the truths of God, I believe that's presumption and not reason.
Again, just sharing my stand ;)
A blessed new year to y'all! :)
I have to, once again, agree with Lucille. :) I, too, am a Catholic and what I realized in Mass on Christmas was something I hadn't really thought about before. Yes, there are those that show up on Christmas and Easter Mass and go on living as "Cathloics." But there are those of us who do, take time for both the seasons of Lent and Christmas. It is easy for any person to get pulled away from what they believe in times of excitement, but for those of us who are regular Mass-attenders and live out their Catholic faith every day, these times provide us with a chance to deepen our relationship with God, through the actions of His son.
That's just my view. Amber, it is your choice what you believe, as well as Yoby's and Lucille's- I have nothing against anyone who is non-Catholic or who does or deosn't recognize the same traditions or beliefs as me. In fact, I think it's kind of cool that we can all be so different.
Gina, Yoby, and Lucille: I am really glad you celebrate Christmas and all other holidays for their "true" meaning to you :). I have just had the misfortune of living in a place where that is sooooooooo rare. It's a small town and most everyone is more concerned about what everyone else is doing and proving that they are more "holy" than everyone else that the whole thing is a big game. Here It's about who gives more money and who looks the best and who looks most "Charitable". It becomes a nasty mud slinging competition. And, even though I am no longer Catholic I think it's wrong. That’s one of the reasons I started exploring other faiths. And I happened upon the one I am currently following and am happy with it. Now, I'm not against being charitable and giving money. But if the only reason you do it is to get recognizing, that is wrong. Unfortunately that is what happens where I live.
Please note that the next things I am going to state next are fact, but they are what I believe and I am in now way trying to argue or change your opinion in any way :) So here we go.
I believe that Jesus is not God. Jesus is God's son, not God. God is not a man, nor will he ever be. Jesus is the one and only Arc Angel. He was born out of the Virgin Mary, lived, taught, and died for us.
Sorry if I did not hit a response to everything that was said. :)
Mod
I remember the first Christmas. It was in a stable because there were no available rooms in the inns. Mary gave birth to Jesus anyway where horses, goats and who knows what else are there. She wrapped Him in some cloth and laid Him on a manger. Can you picture it? Giving birth in a stable. Stinky. Dirty.
God did not wait even just for a day when there was a room available. He still came. For Him, there was no time to loose to save us.
It was a very humbling event but a very blessed one as well.
So, whatever happens in your country, family, life, there is still a reason to celebrate: God came to save us that very blessed day no matter what happened.
"The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master..."
Luke 2:10-12
MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)