Mr. Taft [Part 8]

Mr.Taft Wrote:
Even you say that most Americans don't actually live the 'altruistic code'. They just think it's 'moral' and tell everyone else to do it. Don't you believe that actions speak louder than words? I'm not asking you to abide in cliché’s, but I'm saying that if you want to throw philosophical labels on everyone, use the right one. I understand that people (even Christians!) that preach altruistic code have certain behavioral patterns (like killing people and scolding those who aren't 'sacrificing enough'. But if they aren't actually doing it themselves, how can you label them an altruist? William Shatner played the captain of an intergalactic ship on Star Trek, but that doesn't make him one (though it does make him a tool). Sean Connery played 007, but that doesn't make him a British spy. I've had a friend preach in a church service, even though they weren't a Christian. What I'm asking you to consider is this- when a person preaches one side of philosophy, but is internally driven by a different one, which philosophy has that individual truly adapted?

There are two sides to the altruist coin, two kinds of practitioner: the sacrificial lambs who willingly walk to their own slaughter under the delusion that they will spend eternity in paradise with super beings; and the collectors of sacrifice who perpetuate the irrational mythology and profit from the sacrifices of others right here on Earth. The answer to your question is simple: Both the sacrificial lamb and the collector of sacrifices are living by the altruistic code. Neither are egoists. Egoists neither make nor collect sacrifices. Egoists are free. We live by trade, value for value.

The problem is people believe the code of self-sacrifice is the moral one. All aspects of the code are in play in the hearts and minds of all believers. This opens the door for all of the collectors of sacrifices out there, from the Christian preacher who tells you it’s a sin to acknowledge the validity of the 21st Century science of evolution, to the Wahabi school teacher who convinces his teen-age student to strap on the explosives and blow up the infidels. One asks you to sacrifice your mind to the lord, the other, your life. It is simply a matter of degrees. But, mark my words: Should Christians in this country be backed into a wall like the Muslim in the Middle East believe they are, Christians would respond in kind, committing the very same atrocities, sacrificing infidels in the name of their lord with impunity.

All religionists of every stripe are the enemies of liberty. When you believe you were created by a supernatural being who also sent a rule book to follow, you can justify all kinds of behaviors. The only defense a man has against men who claim to know the unknowable [and equally unlikely] is his own mind with which to judge what is, and what isn’t. If you give up your right to reason truth, you give up your soul, your humanity.

I could have raised my children believing that Harry Potter is a god, that J.K. Rowling’s amazing books are holy books and that she is a great prophet; that all we muggles aspire to become magical beings [if not in this world, then in the next]...I could have raised them to be Potters, a new faith I just invented, and my kids would actually have good role models to emulate, despite Rowling’s altruistic bent. Harry’s a terrific kid...a really nice person despite some miserable cards he was dealt; he loves his friends, and he is humble to the core despite the fact that he is always the hero; Hermione is wonderfully studious, smart and loyal, who also achieves greatness despite being born a lowly mudblood. She’s beautiful, but seems to not notice the effect she has on people. Ron’s whole family is dirt poor [but happy as hell] and Ron is a loyal friend who at the age of twelve willingly put his life on the line to protect a boy he met less than a year ago. Harry has many other disciples: Ginny, Neville, Luna, Fred, George, etc. All face and ultimately destroy unmitigated evil, a devil-sorcerer, whose name I cannot mention here.