Can reason and faith coexist, parallel to each other, in the same man? Part 2: Objectivist-Thomist

[Can reason and faith coexist, parallel to each other, in the same man? - Part 1]

St. Thomas Aquinas and the Founders are the proof that reason and faith can coexist, parallel to each other, in the same man. Like them, their moral descendants revere reason, freedom, and happiness.

Thomas Aquinas, the man who ended the Middle Ages and ushered in the Renaissance, said reason does not rest on faith but is a self-contained, natural faculty which works on sense experience. Echoing Aristotle, he said that the essential task of reason is to gain knowledge of this world. Thomas Aquinas declared that men must use and obey reason because whatever one can prove by reason and logic is true. He held that faith is valuable as a supplement to reason.

Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, enjoined, “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.”

The standard of good is exalted in the Declaration of Independence: man’s life! A Declaration worshipper, Ayn Rand held that man’s life is the standard of value – and his own life is the ethical purpose of every individual man.

Ayn Rand created Objectivism which advocates capitalism as the consequence and the ultimate practical application of its fundamental philosophical principles.

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”, says Objectivism. In all aspects of human existence, man achieves his values only by making his decisions consonant with the facts of reality.

Ayn Rand was an atheist. She greatly admired Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, and the other Founders, noble advocates of reason who believed in God. What do I call one who reveres Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Jefferson, and Ayn Rand? An Objectivist-Thomist.

An Objectivist-Thomist fights theocracy warriors and the concept of a cruel, unjust, sadistic god.

Thomists, Jeffersonians, individualists, and other freedom fighters: this is the creator of Objectivism in essentials:

“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” -- Ayn Rand

“The only good which men can do to one another and the only statement of their proper relationship is — Hands off!” -- Howard Roark, The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand

"I swear, by my life and my love of it that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." -- John Galt, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand

"If it is ever proper for men to kneel, we should kneel when we read the Declaration of Independence… the greatest document in human history, both philosophically and literarily." -- Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand was hostile to theocracy warriors but never to private faith.

From Ayn Rand Answers, pages 62-63:

"We should keep religion out of politics for the same reasons the Founding Fathers gave. Religion is a private matter... With the American separation of church and state, all religions could live together peacefully, because each man is free to hold his own beliefs but cannot force them on others.

Persuasion, reason, argument are not the province of religion. Religion rests on faith - on an acceptance of certain beliefs apart from reason. THIS IS WHY IT MUST BE PRIVATE. WHEN IT'S A PRIVATE MATTER, IT'S FINE - IT CAN EVEN BE A KIND OF INSPIRATION TO PEOPLE. Faith is what each man may choose for himself, if he wishes. I don't."

From page 63:

"In America, religion is relatively nonmystical. Religious teachers here are predominantly good, healthy materialists. They follow common sense....

THERE ARE RATIONAL RELIGIOUS PEOPLE. In fact, I was pleased and astonished to discover that some religious people support Objectivism. If you want to be a full Objectivist, you cannot reconcile that with religion; BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN RELIGIOUS PEOPLE CANNOT BE INDIVIDUALISTS AND FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. THEY CAN, AND THIS COUNTRY IS THE BEST PROOF OF IT....

In America, you would not find it difficult to divorce religion from altruism. After all, Christ said - "Love your neighbor as yourself." So you must love yourself. After that, you can argue about your neighbors."

One’s soul is one’s private domain. Where one’s private domain is concerned, the Declaration of Independence and Objectivism both declare: Hands off!

Reason and faith can coexist, parallel to each other, in the privacy of one’s soul.

Can reason and faith coexist, parallel to each other, in the same man?

From Reason Reigns:

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.”

Daniel Hannan: An Ellsworth Toohey, Not an Ayn Rand Fan

Mark Wickens posted this article on Facebook with this comment: “Daniel Hannan invents a passage from Atlas Shrugged to "prove" that it's absurd. With fans like these…”

Daniel Hannan is no fan of Ayn Rand - he seeks to destroy greatness. That he fabricates in order to tear down makes him subhuman.

Mr. Hannan says: "Rand was a visionary, and her critique of the corporatist order was eerily apt... her analysis of the business-political order—the monopolistic instincts of industrialists..."

He is either mindless or an Ellsworth Toohey. No mind could miss what Ayn Rand portrayed: government's coercive power -- its monopoly -- used to prop up men who greed for the unearned. Mr. Hannan evades that industrialists have no power to use force. He evades the distinction between Hank Rearden and Jim Taggart. He must be so envious of Reardens -- he doesn't want them freed and glorified -- that he dissuades readers from being exposed to Ayn Rand’s ideas.

The American Conservative helps Ayn Rand destroyers lest readers discover Requiem for Man, Ayn Rand’s response to the papal encyclical Populorum Progressio which declares that capitalism is worse than Marxism and that the only morality is altruism (self-sacrifice). She wrote, "If need -- global need -- is the criterion of morality, if minimum subsistence (the standard of living of the least developed savages) is the criterion of property rights, then every new shirt or dress, every ice cream cone, every automobile, refrigerator or television set becomes 'superfluous wealth.'"

Pope Benedict XVI’s Caritas in Veritate (2009) echoes Populorum Progressio. Both encyclicals blame the PROFIT motive for all the world’s problems, and call for a worldwide REDISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH by a world government as the solution.

I don’t think Daniel Hannan is mindless. He is an Ellsworth Toohey.

In George Washington’s Office: a US-bashing, Lying Looter OR a Puppet of Dark Ages Tyrants

Conservatives nominate Governor Sarah Palin to the Office first held by George Washington. It has become a no-brainer that theocracy warriors want a puppet in the White House. They were disappointed in George W. Bush – he did not advance theocracy enough – so they pick a weak mind over the gravitas of VP Dick Cheney or the wealth-creating prowess and moral certainty of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Mayor Bloomberg has shown rectitude in opposing major voting blocs: the NRA, Conservatives, and moochers. He is firmly on the side of Reason and Rights, an integral part of which is the Declaration’s mandate to secure Rights. Thomas Jefferson’s words describe him: “One man with courage is a majority.”

If the only 2012 White House contenders are a US-bashing, lying looter and a puppet of Dark Ages tyrants: Americans will have effectively flung the legacy of the Founders in a burning garbage pit.

America: be reminded of thee Uncommon Heroes you are rejecting in favor of one who hates America and one who would impose faith on America –

Declaration of Independence Signer Abraham Clark from New Jersey and his two sons who were officers in the Continental Army:

Mr. Clark’s sons were captured and tortured. The British offered Mr. Clark his two sons’ release if he would renounce his signature on the Declaration of Independence. He refused.

Rise Up for George Washington – Congress ponders banks’ size regulation

More government intervention into the financial industry will neutron bomb jobs and will deepen the recession. House Financial Services Committee: Be a George Washington, not a King George III.

The Founders fought a king and his mighty empire that all individuals be free from coercion by other men and by the government. When asked to do good by force – to be king of the USA – George Washington responded: “Abhorrent!” He upheld individual rights. He rejected power. Power-lust is for little men.

When asked, “Please think for us”- George Washington responded: “Abhorrent!” When implored, “Please decree what’s good for us” – he took offense: “Abhorrent!”

The man described by an incredulous King George III as “the greatest man in the world” proclaimed that it is abhorrent for a government to babysit its citizens.

The principle of equal rights mandates that the owners of big private companies be accorded the same rights granted to accused terrorists: innocent – thus, no punishment – until proven guilty under due process. The principle of inalienable rights mandates that all individuals, including the investors of big private financial companies, be the bosses of themselves, and not bossed around by the government.

Justice demands that the customers and investors of a private company decide its fate – that the rights of customers and businessmen are inviolable. The only way to promote the general welfare is to respect equal inherent inalienable rights. Otherwise, the US becomes a slave pen ruled by King George IIIs.

US Government: are you a George Washington or a King George III?

Background check of gun buyers is Self-defense

Mayor Michael Bloomberg does respect the right to bear arms. He is equally passionate about doing a good job at the government’s ONLY mandate: “to secure… rights…”

Mayor Bloomberg understands that the ONLY right delegated to the government is the right to self-defense.

To remove the use of force from citizen interactions so that individuals may deal with each other only by reason and persuasion, citizens delegate their right to self-defense to their government. – Royal Serf

When there is no time to call the police, using force to defend oneself is moral and legal.

Outlawing shouting “fire!” in a place like a theater is self-defense, not speech-infringement, because the prohibited action could instantaneously cause deaths and injuries – there is no time to counter the “speech”.

A shooter could kill and maim at the blink of an eye. Background check of gun buyers, which Mayor Bloomberg advocates for, is self-defense, not Second Amendment infringement, since it does not prevent rights-respecting citizens from buying guns.

To oppose laws purposed to prevent instantaneous deaths and that do allow the purchase of arms by rights-respecters is to reject the "to secure rights" mandate of the government. It is anarchism.

Fundamentally, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a realist, a rights-respecter, and a man of integrity: he wants freedom and he is acting to defend it. It is great that a thinker and man of action, a Prime Mover who has created great wealth, is standing up for Reason and Rights.

Michael Bloomberg for President in 2012

Americans would dishonor the Founders and would deserve tyranny - if, in 2012, no respecter of rights challenges the Republican Party which has succumbed to theocracy warriors – if no American of mettle challenges President Obama, a USA basher chummy with dictators.

I hope Mayor Michael Bloomberg will run in 2012 for the office of the President of the USA.

Mayor Bloomberg supports abortion rights, stating: "Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right and we can never take it for granted. On this issue, you're either with us or against us." He has criticized pro-choice politicians who support pro-life candidates.

Mayor Bloomberg is in favor of free trade. He is pro-business.