When I posted that, I said, "Well, I will hear from CB on this one.
This is probably not the time nor the place, but as both a Catholic and an admirer of Ayn Rand, I would love to have a deep philosophical discussion about the issues raised in that essay.
For example, the concept of original sin. Original sin wasn't invented by Catholics, nor even Jews.
Many cultures around the world have legends of a former golden age when mankind was better than it is now. Could be nothing more than that the common belief that things were better back in the Good Old Days which never were -- strangely juxtaposed with the common belief that kids these days have it easy, not like we had it in the old days.
And then, because we have free will, or, as objectivists put it, because we are rational, volitional individuals, isn't it inevitable that we'll do things we should not do from time to time? Push the limits? Cross the lines?
Are men always noble? When an animal kills another animal for food or self-protection, that's instinct. When a man kills another man so he can rape his woman or steal his property, is that instinct? Or is it crime/sin?
And what about selfishness? If you are advancing or protecting your society, or your clan, or your ideals, is that not a form of selfishness?
Et cetera. |
