Though we are wonderfully designed beings *we are not Robots!* This is a monumental fact that raises human beings into another League far above the rest of creation.
One of the most self-evident of proofs that we Humans are dualistic Spirit beings, and part of a higher reality than the materialistic realm is that we possess Libertarian free will. Atheist Materialism is at a complete loss to explain this. Therefore they deny it. Evolutionary Psychology is the new big thing in atheist academia, and it specializes in theorizing away freewill morality. In Contrast the Biblical theistic explanation of reality actually has the explanatory power to deal with the issue as to how and why freewill and freedom are possible.
Materialism is a very shallow faith… a purely convenient atheistic whim that does not square with the facts of experience. They abitralily impose it upon reality by sheer force of will. The fatal problem is in a purely Materialistic Universe Liberty and freewill are impossible because everything is enslaved to deterministic causation. Atheist Materialists infer that everything in existence from the moon and the stars to Ford cars and lustful thoughts all were pre-determined within ‘the big bang’. Of course even admitting the universe had a beginning is a recent novelty for Materialists. They used to believe the universe was eternal and would mock Christians fo believing God made the universe out of nothing… that is until science proved that the universe did in fact have a beginning just as The Book of Genesis declared.
Now having quietly corrected themselves on that thorny issue, it is staggering to apprehend just how outrageous and blundering the atheist assertion of materialism still is! Not only does it deny freewill, It actually infers that Henry Ford was compelled to invent the Motor car! They are supposed to be inescapably determined by the Laws of physics! They assert everything that exists and happens, from the Big Bang to Entropic Death is supposed to be nothing more than the ‘settling of Cosmic dust’…the blind result of an explosion! It ought to be obvious to anyone with a modicum of common sense that this is absurd! Many Atheists (Richard Dawkins included) hate discussing this matter. Many bury their heads in the sands of denial. In contrast Freewill *And design* is fundamental to Theism and the teaching and ethics of the Bible.
For eg. The Bible clearly teaches Gods will is currently * not being done* on Earth as it is in Heaven. The Earth is filled with Rebellious evildoers whom freely commit atrocities and perversions …. And The Bible says God holds mankind accountable for our wicked works… We are accountable to God because we are not compelled by materialistic forces to commit evil, Nor does he impose his will upon us. We act via our own choices. We are moral agents. Christ taught his Jewish disciples to pray to Their heavenly Father “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in Earth as it is in heaven…”. They were praying for an end to the free reign of unchecked evil. In the meantime we need Just government to mitigate the evil urges of fallen man.
Freewill Morality begins back in the Garden of Eden. When God made Adam he gave him the liberty to disobey Him. God gave Adam a choice, and it is in the Genesis story that the principles of Libertarian ethics find their origins. It is here where Man gets his God-given inalienable right to Life, and the liberty to exercise his own moral judgments as a freewill agent.
Consciousness and free will are Theistic realties. The problem of slavery to determinism is the ultimate proof that if Atheist Materialism were true, it would render reality Amoral as it not only negates the Libertarian ethics of inalienable rights, by rendering Man a mere chemical reaction, but destroys morality absolutely! Moral law has not foundation in a cold materialistic universe and Materialistic beings cannot be moral agents as they don’t possess freewill. It is a double dilemma. Most Materialists claim we horribly delude ourselves as to the existence of morality and freewill… They say the scientific man has exorcised these bogeymen ( This is what the foolish superstition of Materialism leads to and a good example of this reasoning can be found in the writings of honest atheist Bertrand Russell)
And then flying in the face of all this you get the psychotic delusions of Objectivist atheists whom pretend they can squeeze Inalienable rights out of stones. They are Bat shit crazy… bordering on dishonest.
Rabid atheist Ayn Rand was 100% wrong in her John Galt’s speech when she called The Adam of the Bible a Robot! The truth is *It is Her Atheist Materialism which renders Man a mere amoral machine!*
That is an inescapable fact! Rand was absolutely wrong! She is deranged! Her whole argument is Bunk. She is the enemy of Libertarianism because she sets about to destroy faith in the bible… and it is from the Bible that all the essential principles of Libertarian Individual rights and limited government are derived. (eg. Study John Locke). Thus it is my duty as a Lover of Liberty and a believer in The objective reality of Individual rights to expose the fraudulent delusions of Ayn Rand… a wolf in sheep’s cloth. A deceiver of Souls.
Theism escapes this amoral prison because man gets his life and freewill conscience breathed into him from the spirit of God himself. Ie our conscience is not a product of or determined by Matter. And the honest man must admit this view makes far more sense! It can explain why I am free to write this sentence… I could have watched TV instead. My wife was not a Robotic slave to inescapable laws of causation… she does love me! YES! Theism is far more rational than Atheist Materialism! Its explanatory power takes in the full scope of Human experience. We didn’t need to touch on the fact that atheist materialism is also complete at a loss to explain the origin of Life whereas The Bible has a brilliant explanation for that too… completely supported by Science proper! And it is from the Christian scriptures that Libertarianism and the conceptualization of Inalienable rights was born. I shall be expanding upon this assertion in future posts… so stay tuned. …Anyone hear the howling of Wolves?
Tim Wikiriwhi
End note: I take no pleasure in conflict. And as a Libertarian Christian I respect the rights of others such as Objectivists to believe what they like and say whatever they like even if it is against my own personal views. This is what freedom is, and freedom of conscience, freedom of religion is the most fundamental of all freedoms. It would be nice if I did not have to level accusations against ‘Objectivism’. Unnecessary conflict is to be avoided. A cardinal rule put down by the great founder of this Blog is in the side Bar. “ Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen”. The primary goal of this blog is edification and the promotion of toleration, yet it must be remembered that Truth is the highest of values, and that Lies damn men’s souls and prop up tyrannies, and that as such Christians are called to ‘earnestly contend for the faith’. It must also be remembered that in a free society that there will still exist conflicting values and world views locked into a War of Ideas. Yet this is a war of minds not swords. Reason, and the power of persuasion are the weapons. It is in the contexts of Individual rights that makes a free society a more civil and just society having removed violence and political coercion from the Ideological Battlefield. Objectivists wage this war with relentless fanatical zeal in emulation of their Idol… The fanatical Atheist Ayn Rand. Thus it behooves Me to meet this Horde head on, and swing the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ at their conceptual throats and to decapitate their Ideological Queen. Objectivists should expect nothing less.
They give no quarter and none shall be given them.
Tim Wikiriwhi. Soldier for Christ.
Read more on Free will and morality…
Monism: Evolutionary Psychology and the Death of Morality, Reason and Freewill.
Update 4/12: http://blog.eternalvigilance.me/2012/03/what-are-you/#comment-8796
Tim, this is a truly great post. (But let’s be having more politics!)
You say, “One of the most self-evident of proofs that we Humans are dualistic Spirit beings, and part of a higher reality than the materialistic realm is that we possess Libertarian free will. Atheist Materialism is at a complete loss to explain this. Therefore they deny it.”
Objectivism is at a complete loss to explain how we possess libertarian free will. But Objectivists don’t deny that we do! This makes them Atheist Dualists, which is surely no surprise. It is well known that Objectivists worship Man, not God.
Atheist Materialism is the atheism of honest atheists like Bertrand Russell. Atheist Dualism is the atheism of deluded atheists like Ayn Rand. Theist Dualism is the theism of traditional theists like yourself. Last, but not least, Theist Materialism is the theism of radical theists like myself and Glenn Peoples. See here and here.
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You know the kids in the photo are either paid or they are from the most lib Catholic colleges around. Most of the women’s ordination people are baby boomers who sing “Gather us In” with “Gerry and the Atrics” next to the sanctuary at the liberal parishes. Someone needs to hand the kids a pamphlet from Una Voce, FSSP, Discalced Carmelites of Elysburg etc. Their brains are still open enough to learn new things.
Belles notes de dégustation, UU. On sent que tu as étudié ton sujet;-) Je ne connais pas du tout les vins espagnols mais j’entends dire qu’il existe de très bons vins dans ce pays.
In Search of the Soul. Thanks, Glenn!
I have had this discussion with the ‘Bible Corrector’ Mr Peoples Richard. What amazes me is that you both accept the materialist premise yet claim to believe in God and the ethics of Christianity.
These are not compatible with materialism… end of argument.
And this post is primarily concerned with Politics. I am reaffirming the history and true basis of Inalienable rights, and why Government is necessary. There is no point in discussing the politics of the day without looking at the fundamentals of Libertarian Ideology. To simply look at the pragmatic benefits of Libertarianism without grounding it in objective morality is to fail. History is our friend. We ought to learn from it and use it to propagate Libertarianism today. And then there is the frightening spectacle of seeing a growing acceptance of Ayn Rands perverse ideas by the likes of the Tea Party. They are swallowing her false Gospel of selfish. It is undermining the benevolent Christian values and ethics which are necessary for a free society to flourish. The Randoids are so foolish as to forget that when Welfareism is overthrown that Fraternal Charity must step up to the plate… That Freedom can only flourish when you have caring communities whom ‘love their neighbors as themselves’… are rich in charitable deeds and good works and have a sense of civic duty. This is the glue of society. Objectivism is one giant *FAIL* And finally I must confront the Objectivist bigotry against religion as a vile and dangerous prejudice as sexism, racism, etc. Rands ideas are toxic. They must be exposed to the light.
Advocates of small government and fiscal responsibility often liken politicians to pigs feeding at a trough. But this is demeaning to pigs! Tim, you mention Ayn Rand and robots in the same breath. I put it to you that this is demeaning to robots!
God is more powerful than you can imagine. If He wanted, He could build a robot with consciousness, a moral conscience and libertarian free will. In fact, He did! Not a robot of silicon and steel, but a robot of flesh and bone. God called the robot Adam… you know the rest of the story. That’s all that Glenn and I are saying. Our (Christian) physicalism is a position in the philosophy of mind on the nature of the human mind/soul. Nothing more. I agree with you that God and ethics are not compatible with materialism. I once wrote a 100,000 word essay explaining why!
I’ve only had the chance to listen to the first half of the first of Glenn’s series of podcasts, but so far, so good. (Take note of John Locke’s argument against the necessity of mind/body dualism.)
Objectivism rejects the mind-body dichotomy, holding that the mind and body are aspects (sets of attributes) of the conscious organism as a single, integral entity. Though this doctrine may sound like a stance in the philosophy of mind — a doctrine concerning the relationship between consciousness (mind) and brain (body) — it is not. Rather, it amounts chiefly to the assertions that (a) conscious organisms have both mental attributes and physical attributes, and (b) both kinds of attributes may participate in determining the causal powers of the conscious organism. Whether attributes of either kind, or their causal powers, can be reductively explained is a question for what Ayn Rand called “the special sciences” rather than philosophy. Objectivism rejects both Marxian materialism and Christian spiritualism (Marxists hold that the material factors have metaphysical priority over consciousness; Christian spiritualists hold that reality is fundamentally spiritual, a view declared heretical by Catholic and Orthodox doctrines.) Objectivism rejects both views: both physical attributes and mental attributes of conscious entities have identifiable (that is, measurable) values. Because existence is identity, both exist, and neither is more real than the other. Though this doctrine may entail the rejection of eliminativism, Objectivism does not include any specific ontological or scientific explanation of the relationship between mind and body in the philosophy of mind. (Harry Binswanger, a prominent Objectivist philosopher, argues in his lecture course, “The Metaphysics of Consciousness,” in favor of substance dualism. He rejects not only eliminativism and materialism, but even the property dualism of David Chalmers and the emergentism of John Searle. Binswanger’s view is controversial in Objectivist circles. Other Objectivists who have written on philosophy of mind, notably Eyal Mozes and Diana Hsieh, favor Emergentism.