The general reaction to my essays are about the usual, and generally what I expected from ex-WCG members.
Except for “Bykker Bob” and “Questeruk“, the usual response is merely a form of ad himinem that demonstrates nothing at all. My response is merely to demonstrate the childish attempts to refute me(not the message, but me).
James, of course, is trying to show me not to “insult” the members of this body, when in fact I have offered no insults. I have merely offered a logical proposition constantly which none of you have even managed to begin to challenge. Simple premise, simple statement.
I’m not concerned with whether you hate me or like me, since what I am or am not, is irrelevant to any pursuit of truth, just as it is irrelevant whether Paul or Simon Magus wrote the things attributed to Paul.
The question is, is the statement true within itself, or is it not true within itself, regardless of the character or nature of the person who wrote it.
I have argued, and with good reason, that there is no way Paul could have started Christianity as we know it today, simply because the logic of Romans 8:7, 8:29-30, and 9:16-22, not to mention Ephesians 2:8-10, and 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, and a host of other scriptures I can explore to prove my point.
And of course, there is the old saw “you can prove anything by the bible”, which is exactly the point. There exists no human authority structure that can ever claim truthfully to represent God, and that is the whole point of the book.
This conclusion must really bother you folks, because there’s no way to argue around it, and that in itself just tickles me no end. I have provided an unassailable argument, and the very best that you can manage is various forms of ad hominem.
“Ex-Android” claims to represent the logic of Ayn Rand, with whom I am very familiar, and offers nothing more against my statement than “This is so because i say it is so”.
Guess what, “Ex”, that’s religion. It is a statement of dogmatic faith. If you accept it and cannot prove it, or if you accept it because someone else said it must be so, then you are merely following human arguments about truth, which is no more than following human arguments about God.
In fact, by your response, you merely attempt to declare that i cannot possibly be any smarter than you, and your knowledge therefore must be the final word. You can’t prove that of course, but why not find reasons to condemn me and show my failings rather than face the discipline of logical discourse?
One of the more interesting aspects of the ad hominem attack is that, by attacking ans showing the flaws of the messenger while ignoring the message, you merely attempt to reduce all people to “equality” by showing that the people themselves are irremediably spoiled, and therefore not to be heard.
That, essentially, is the definition of religion. What is the religious concept of christian “sin” if not the attempt to say that all human ‘souls” are so spoiled that individual knowledge is not to be heard, but the judgement of the collective must be superior?
You can be atheist or theist, and you can be subject to that very flaw of reasoning. In fact, it was Ayn Rand herself who pointed out the logical flaw of using “psychology” to demonstrate the depravity of an individual who dared challenge the status quo. The are no heroes, says the psychologizers, since all humans are forever incomplete and incurably spoiled in their attempts to succeed as individuals.
Ayn Rand called such psychological moralizers and ad hominem spoilers “second-handers“.
“The second hander acts, but the source of his actions is scattered in every other living person”.
The ex-WCG members, having no guidelines to show them there is a God, now collectively gather among themselves, and find their “truth” by agreeing with one another that there can be no God. How do you know? You don’t, any more than I know that there can be a God.
So, in true second-hand fashion, you agree among yourselves that anything that smacks of “God” cannot possibly be true. Why? because another group of second handers with no ability to think for themselves agree that there must be a God who is reflected n their second hand collective thoughts.
And so you have the two collectives, the two groups of second-handers that never step out to think or create or reason for themselves, but find their solace in the collective. True Believers that there is no God to combat the True Believers that there is a God.
proof for either side? None at all.
From Ayn Rand: “Notice how they(second handers) will accept anything except a man who stands alone. There’s a special insidious kind of hatred for him. The forgive criminals, they admire dictators. Crime and violence are a tie. A form of mutual dependence. They’ve got to force their miserable little personalities on every single person they meet….Notice the malignant kind of resentment against any idea that propounds independence. Notice the malice toward an independent man.”
And what have I said? I have said there is no human authority structure to represent God or truth. None can. I have said there is no reason to follow any human, since no human can know the truth in any absolute sense. I have shown the full consistency between that statement and the statements of both Jesus and Paul, with no one to prove otherwise.
James says he gets emails from people saying “WTF?”. Has anyone, as an individual, challenged my thinking or shown the flaw? No, you have resorted to the arguments of the collectivist and second hander, the psychology and ad hominem of the collectivist. The mentality of the group.
Ex-Anrdoid, you want to show the truth of Ayn Rand to me? Show me you can grasp the range and application of her thoughts.
Retired prof, don’t hide be hid the facade of “nice’. Show me the flaw in my reason. I don’t think you can.
I’m accused of playing games, when all I’ve done is to repeat a simple argument and a simple conclusion over and over, with no one even trying to challenge it. Your response is collectivist and “democratic”. It is ‘democratic” because you must insist that no individual can ever ho;p to show intelligence that rises above your own, and that no individual can ever claim the right to rise above the collectivism of mobocracy. Reduce everything to the lowest possible common denominator. Find the new priesthood of the deniers and expert demoralizers. Find the leaders whom you can hide behind to justify your anguish and hate, but never step outside as an individual to think, to question. No, can’t do that. Must reduce every single human to the collective of the group. Nonbe higher than the group. None higher than your hatred.
And what have you hated? A man named HWA. Were you warned in advance? Yes, about two thousand years in advance. Jesus said it. Don’t follow any man saying “here is Christ”. Paul said it There exists no decision procedure by which any person can get from here to God by his own power. You were warned, I was warned, but you see, this educational system in which we live, this ‘world” in which we exist, must derive its power from our acceptance of non-existence, acceptance that no man can ever rise above the group and say “I am!” .
I stand alone, proudly, defiantly, and I challenge all of you and all who read: Prove me wrong!