Ayn Rand - Reason and Atheism

[@kenkkannaparan6162]

''Lack of knowledge is a licence to invent fantasies"" This woman is amazing. Her answers are so logical and make absolute sense to anyone if one invest time to understand her. Simply the best.

[@louiscyfear878]

The depths at which they have to straw-man this women is just shocking.

[@mrbhave]

If you’re taking flak, you’re over the target.

[@ryankelly3579]

scott davis You can certainly be atheist and not an Objectivist. Secular humanism is wholey at odds with Objectivism, however. Not saying you should care, but I am just stating fact.

[@howardfriedly3235]

scott davis I have never read any of Ayn Rand's works, so I am not qualified to judge. But it appears to me that much of the disagreement in these posts is a matter of semantics. A fireman running into a burning building to save a child at the risk of his own life may seem like an act of selflessness, but if the fireman considers his duty to his job or his fellow man to be more important than his own life, then the satisfaction he gets from performing his job despite the risks is a selfish motivation. Selfishness and selflessness can occur simultaneously, depending only on the viewpoint of the observer. Even Mother Theresa got something out of what she was doing, or she wouldn't have done it. Selfishness is simply responding to whatever you consider to be a positive motivator, or avoidance of a negative motivator. The negative connotation to the words selfishness and greed are associated with the implication that there is blatant disregard for the rights of others when pursuing selfishness and greed. That is often, but not always the case. It depends on the morality of the selfish person. We are all selfish. The degree to which it impacts others depends on a myriad of circumstances, and our own morality.

[@ryankelly3579]

I act selfishly everyday when I get up early to go to work. While doing that, the rights of Scott Davis were just fucking trampled because I acted selfishly. Somehow, when I do productive work and respect the rights of other traders (or customers), I am trampling on other's rights. Right to what? A clean environment? The most free economies also have the cleanest environment. Does Scott think myself and others are violating his rights when we don't give him a piece of our pie? Same way that hot girl is violating your rights when she doesn't want to have sex with you. True selfishness, absent rights violating force (see Bernie Madoff or Attilla the Hun) is the primary reason we are so well off today. Self interest drives the world.

[@TeaParty1776]

@@ryankelly3579 A consistent atheist is an Objectivist.

[@sweetcara14]

She was an intelligent woman of substance with a rational, linear thought process, a strong sense of morality, and a life lived with passion. We need more like her.

[@Thindorama]

sweetcara14 morals are made up

[@ryankelly3579]

Thindorama I used to think that. I was miserable when I believed that, but reading Atlas Shrugged convinced me otherwise and as the book puts it "lit a spark in my heart" and I have been happy since.

[@Thindorama]

***** thanks for putting that so succinctly, i feel bad i couldn't do that :(

[@clearlyhazed11]

YES ...well said

[@Thindorama]

john edwards That’s an emotional appeal. I now do believe in morality but not based on flimsy emotional grounds like you do apparently.

[@evanhimebaugh5434]

I love this woman with all if my heart. She is utterly fantastic.

[@evanhimebaugh5434]

matthew kitty bruh, this comment is like 5 years old

[@thechosenone8808]

​@@evanhimebaugh5434 Do you still follow Objectivist philosophy?

[@lefantomer]

I am so glad I discovered Objectivism when I was young. My life has not always been easy, but I have lived it with the guidance of reason and without having to wonder if some Sky Ghost is choreographing everything that happens to me!

[@a.gabbey5569]

"I don't believe that lack of knowledge is a license to start inventing fantasies"

[@marvincool3744]

She’s the best atheist philosopher. Her arguments inescapably make sense.

[@davee91889]

When she says achievement and then says romantic love she makes me cry!! she was surely so sweet to Franck!!

[@immagrande6254]

she had an affair for 18 years but yeah she was so sweet to Franck !!

[@lefantomer]

@@immagrande6254 Those of us who have been targets of predatory males really appreciate the attitude of nags such as yourself. We had to learn it the hard way. You just sit there and smugly joke.

[@fzqlcs]

Every con in history required faith to succeed.

[@5002strokeforever]

The more important point that needs to be made is that to be an aethiest you must first be an objectivist.... Statism is the oldest, biggest, and deadliest religion to exist

[@jonathanbauer2988]

Yes! The only thing I think she missed in the end was that achievement and romantic love are not allll sources of joy and fulfillment, theres also raising beautiful kids and friendship, and sometimes charitable giving (which I guess could be under achievement).

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

​@@jonathanbauer2988raising kids and friendship is also an achievement, you need to put a lot of effort into maintaining human relationships. But you shouldn't live for the sake of others alone.

[@jonathanbauer2988]

@@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573 I agree

[@davee91889]

It is so beautiful and noble how she not only knew her values but also valued them and explained them to others. Objectivism gives birth to capitalism and capitalism is rational selfishness. Superb!

[@fzqlcs]

Everyone is an atheist toward 99% of the world's religion. The truly wise man just adds another 1% to the equation. Irrationality is irrationality.

[@karozans]

fzqlcs Sorry man, but that is one of the dumbest arguments Richard Dawkins ever devised. It is simply a play on the word "atheist". The current definition of God is a maximally great being. There can only be one maximally great being. By definition a REASONABLE person would be willing to accept one God and reject all others that do not fit that criterion. Believing in one God is as reasonable as believing that there is only one ratio of the circumference of a circle to its radius. We symbolize that ratio with a symbol called pi. We symbolize a maximally great being with the word "God".

[@fzqlcs]

***** Believing in God is as reasonable as believing in Santa Claus. There is evidence for pi, not God.

[@karozans]

fzqlcs Another really dumb assertion. There is evidence for God, just none that you are willing to accept.

[@fzqlcs]

***** we seem to be both arguing against faith. For if there IS evidence, what would the value of faith be? You are right that I do not accept the "evidence" for God, but it is important that we both point out the inherent irrationality of faith.

[@karozans]

fzqlcs It takes much more faith to believe that this Universe came from nothing by accident, than it takes to believe that this Universe was designed by something we are not fully capable of understanding. Faith is believing that something is true even though there is no solid evidence. Science itself is riddled with pockets of faith.

[@happybird4942]

Nice. Today, nobody could have the same intellectual dialogue without somebody bumptiously interjecting, "'Man' OR Woman" and "'he' OR she", as if the two interlocutors were too stupid to know or too sexist to acknowledge the obvious fact that every aspect of the topic clearly applies equally to both genders. Another sign of the hypersensitive, mushy intellectual atmosphere of our time.

[@happybird4942]

Happy Bird Okay, I have just learned that Ayn Rand was a bit of a sexist herself. Foot in mouth.

[@kmg501]

Happy Bird Yeah but your first point still stands.

[@Thindorama]

Happy Bird how so?

[@happybird4942]

Thindorama She wrote an article on why she would never vote for a female president. Something about how no woman would be happy as president and how having a female commander-in-chief of the military sounds preposterous to her. I think that necessarily is sexist.

[@Thindorama]

Happy Bird no, it isn't, all the evidence seems to indicate that successful chiefs of state tend to be men and they can handle responsibility better

[@rajeev_kumar]

Ayn Rand is one of the best ladies and philosophers.

[@JadeIsBunny]

Timeless classic.

[@EmberwildeProductions]

Christian libertarians across the country are horrified to learn more about their favorite author and public intellectual's atheism.

[@burkean]

Emberwilde Productions "horrified" and "favorite" are where you go wrong. Try this, "Popular author with fascinating iconoclastic ideas and uncanny ability to illustrate and predict society-wide corruption may have gotten some issues wrong."

[@EmberwildeProductions]

How could she have gotten any issues wrong? She is the first apostle of John Galt!

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

On the other hand, I am very pleased I don't have to choose between the two evils of the atheist left and the theist right. Why compromise when there is an atheist right?

[@Kaledrone]

​@@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573I hold mostly right wing beliefs but am also atheist, so it can get pretty weird sometimes. But that is how I ended up in the libertarian right sphere, and discovered that there are plenty of atheists or agnostics around this part like myself. Murray Rothbard was also atheist for example. This was a huge breath of fresh air, considering a lot of atheists I find online end up being some flavor of marxist.

[@frankbalk7440]

This is a tough topic for me. I believe in almost all of Ayn’s teachings, but I have a problem here, I do not accept any religion as valid and assume they are another form of manmade business attempting to rob as many people as they can with promises of good things to come, like the virgins the Muslims expect to be waiting for them. But I believe, without any question, that God exists. When I was a very young boy, I used to love to walk in the rain. I had learned about an entity called God in Sunday School who was supposed to be all knowing. So I would talk to God, asking him the questions that constantly needed answers that no one seemed to know. Soon I realized that I was hearing those answers, not with my ears, but with my mind. One day I realized God seemed to be at my side, chatting with me, and I asked “How do I know if you are the real God or not?” He responded simply, “Look in the mirror.” I went home and did as he suggested, and saw my eyes looking back at me. Although I was just a child, I understood that no man could make such a wonderous thing as an eye. So that is my proof of God’’s existence. He told me so. That was almost 80 years ago, and I still believe in my God. it’s too bad she was never so blessed.

[@willnitschke]

If you have a problem in people not believing in your Magical Sky God, perhaps that speaks more to your doubt and uncertainty than you care to confront.

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

So basically... Your own thoughts in your head, plus a lack of understanding about how evolution works. That's okay, not everybody knows it. But the evolution of the eye is a very thoroughly documented process. There is no mystery about it. Even our current eyes are imperfect, as is every living organism. We have blind spots in our eyes, leftover viral DNA in our genetics, mucus flows out from where we breathe, our eating and breathing tubes connect, etc... Very imperfect "design".

[@TheKaffeeKlatsch]

Sanity.

[@DarrinSK]

mystery: a thing which man does not understand... yet

[@gaugesharp6406]

Coming from people we defeated and fought against. Their need to tear down what others believe and what moved them. We are stronger than they will ever be.

[@davee91889]

If God existed the stereo audio would be balanced.

[@julians9070]

This is a philosopher and writer I would of being pleased to talk to. Ayn Rand know atheism very well.

[@marwanmalek2147]

yet she is buried at Kenisco cemetery, in the Sharon part...which is the Jewish part!!

[@silvanabaralha8665]

so....???

[@2Oldcoots]

"It is wrong to believe anything for which there is no evidence". This gets the "Time on Target" Award from this former Airman.

[@jovialbard3001]

Was she ever accused of being a communist just for being an atheist and also a former Soviet citizen?

[@OneGenericName]

Marco the Triple Star Taco Hunter Research it. She has spoken on why she left Russia and Communism.

[@janekennedy3764]

She wrote the Capitalist Manifesto!

[@cherihausmann]

I disagree with Rand that we shouldn't concern ourselves w death rather we should consider Socrates in that philosophy begins with death. To find the highest aim as that of life dismisses the actuality of death in that merely we are the walking dead.

[@BrokenKoolAid]

Rand has been instrumental in my development of understanding the world around me through the observation of evidence and reason. However, i would argue with her on this because she admits it herself, "lack of knowledge is not permission for creating fantasies". Then she goes on to declare her fantasy that God does not exist. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The best we can do is admit that we dont know. In fact, the reason and evidence displayed by natures complexity and the way it manifests itself fractally seem to imply intelligence behind creation.

[@silvanabaralha8665]

if you don't know, then it does not exist until you do know- until you prove it. There is no such thing of having a fantasy that God does not exist, it can only be either his existence, or not. Not believing is not a form of belief system...

[@willnitschke]

I believe she explained that there is no evidence for believing in a magical sky God, not that the Magical Sky God exists or does not exist.

[@WeirdCrazyShortGuy]

She had a deep voice.

[@gwarlow]

Mike Soluna And?

[@WeirdCrazyShortGuy]

I'm jealous :(

[@jimwilliams4088]

I love her deep voice! 😉

[@janekennedy3764]

She was a passionate smoker all her life and unfortunately all the way to her grave.

[@DerickTherving]

She acts like logic and reason are the most valuable assets a person can attain, but she never tells exactly why she feels that way. She acts that more knowledge = good is a universal truth while on the contrary it is not. Without the existence of God or something outside of logic and reason, logic, reason, and life all together becomes pointless. I agree with Ayn Rand on many things, but this is not one of them.

[@spikebarnett]

DerickTherving "She acts like logic and reason are the most valuable assets a person can attain, but she never tells exactly why she feels that way." Do you really need more evidence for this? Look around at the achievements based in something other than logic and reason. Prepare to be completely underwhelmed. "Without the existence of God or something outside of logic and reason, logic, reason, and life all together becomes pointless." For you maybe. Some of us aren't so pathetic that we need a sky daddy.

[@DerickTherving]

spikebarnett "Do you really need more evidence for this? Look around at the achievements based in something other than logic and reason. Prepare to be completely underwhelmed." You miss my point. Why do you care about achieving anything? "For you maybe. Some of us aren't so pathetic that we need a sky daddy." Go back to reddit.com/r/Atheism, if your best attempt at an argument is 'sky daddy' jokes then you're even more of a mongoloid than I first thought.

[@DerickTherving]

spikebarnett "I'm not the one preaching to everybody about my heavenly father and passing laws about it." I'm not passing laws about it. You think every Christian is an extremist fascist? That's just as illogical as calling every Atheist a communist. "you'd stop telling everybody what they can and can't do based solely on your delusions" Buddy I'd love to live in a world without objective moral codes, but they exist, and people might as well follow them if they care at all about themselves or others. "Until you assholes can stop doing that, you've go no business calling any one else a mongoloid." So you're calling for my free speech to be restricted because you disagree with my religious views? okay...that makes loads of sense... "Would you like to live in a thatch hut? Do you think you might miss electricity if it stopped being produced? I care about achievement (not necessarily my own) because it makes my life better. Simple as that." So you live entirely off the emotion of the moment and your own personal achievement is only rational as long as it makes you happy? Those are the achievements of others, not yours.

[@spikebarnett]

DerickTherving "So you're calling for my free speech to be restricted" How in the fuck did you come up with that from what I said? I'm not arguing that you shouldn't be able to say it, I'm arguing that saying it makes you a hypocrite. The most backwards mongoloids I've met in my life have all been religious fundies. "So you live entirely off the emotion of the moment" Maybe you haven't noticed, but the universe is a cold, lonely, and unforgiving place. If the earth were destroyed tomorrow, the universe wouldn't even notice. Nothing we do here matters to anyone but us. So yes, I judge achievement subjectively. "I'm not passing laws about it." You don't have to. Others will do it. And they will seek cover behind the moderate people of their religion when called on it. You know, Hitler was a Catholic.

[@spikebarnett]

DerickTherving The Hitler comment was too much wasn't it? I thought I might tip my hand with that one. Any way, I'll go troll someone else. Have a good day.

[@mashable8759]

2:10 Man i wish my parents hadn't forced it on me

[@Justin_Beaver564]

I also highly recommend Matt Ridley's book "The Evolution of Everything".

[@Stevie7316]

It’s funny but I just heard her say “I hope to GOD the Supreme Court would not allow affirmative action do… Atheists get caught saying that all the time. I like what Rand has to say about many things. But she mentions GOD as if he exists. God does exist, and He puts in all our minds the knowledge of who He is. We choose to accept or deny His existence.

[@fzqlcs]

My favorite Ayn Rand quote, “I’d like to go heaven, whatever the hell that is.”

[@igorkrupitsky]

Without religion people lean toward Statism which is responsible for most of the atrocities of the twentieth century. In some way, religions inoculate people from statism. Historically religions were in the service of the state but today it is largely an opposing force. Perhaps as the individualism spreads the appeal of the Statism will diminish and the atheism will become safe for public consumption...

[@igorkrupitsky]

TimeWarp66 Perhaps it is. This still does not change my point. An average mind emptied of all religions gets quickly filled by some form of Statism.

[@igorkrupitsky]

TimeWarp66 Godspeed :)

[@silvanabaralha8665]

statism is a problem in its own, nothing to do with traditional belief systems, although statism is a belief system in which Rand believe, btw...

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

Ideally, the hole left by religion will be filled with Reason and Individualism.

[@luiscarvalho1997]

She was fantastic!

[@halfmt4643]

Watching this video on Ayn Rand makes me think of Ann Lee and the Shakers.

[@dwighthouse]

Don't sound like she's talked to many Christians, or studied their history. Strawmen indeed.

[@SaulOhio]

Dwight House I used to be a Christian. Now I am an Objectivist. As far as I can see, she's got it right.

[@dwighthouse]

SaulOhio A couple examples of how I believe she got much of her statements here incorrect. She conflates "religion" and "Christianity" when she says "I resent religious morality which tells man that he is an inferior being," because Christianity is one of the only religions that assert man's inferiority. All Eastern religions that I am aware of explicitly deny this, they claim that all humans (and most animals) are gods. Most of the pagan religions, along with Greek and Roman mythology had gods that were more powerful than humans, but usually only in one area of strength, for which a clever human could either reason or trick the god into changing its behavior to the man's advantage. "It is wrong to believe anything for which there is no evidence." She asserts this absolute moral statement, and others, for which she has no objective reason. Paraphrased: "A god so superior to man that one could never aspire to reach equal power will inevitably lead to psychological inferiority complex." This is based on the non-objective assumption that all humans have exactly identical capacities. For example, given enough effort, every man, woman, or child could be the fastest runner in the world. This is impossible due to genetics. So her statement doesn't even work when you remove supernatural beings from the equation. Furthermore, it is based on the assumption that people will inevitably develop inferiority complexes when faced with anything for which they cannot achieve. This is also false. As a secular example, I will never achieve ANY musical fame or expertise, because of my mental structure and history. If I started right now and studied for years (as I have done in the past), I still would not achieve anywhere close to average human levels of musical competence. Do I feel inferior for this lack of ability? Not in the slightest. She believes that romantic love and various forms of human happiness are the greatest moral aspirations of mankind, yet these are things that are not objectively quantifiable, measurable, take up no space, and their affects and effects are purely subjective.

[@SaulOhio]

Dwight House Have you read Homer's Odyssey? The whole point of that story is that Man is helpless in the face of the Gods who determine his destiny. “Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.” ― Homer, The Odyssey “Think not to match yourself against the gods, for men that walk the earth cannot hold their own with the immortals.” ― Homer, Iliad “Man is the vainest of all creatures that have their being upon earth. As long as heaven vouchsafes him health and strength, he thinks that he shall come to no harm hereafter, and even when the blessed gods bring sorrow upon him, he bears it as he needs must, and makes the best of it; for God Almighty gives men their daily minds day by day. I know all about it, for I was a rich man once, and did much wrong in the stubbornness of my pride, and in the confidence that my father and my brothers would support me; therefore let a man fear God in all things always, and take the good that heaven may see fit to send him without vainglory.” ― Homer ""It is wrong to believe anything for which there is no evidence." She asserts this absolute moral statement, and others, for which she has no objective reason." What do you mean, no objective reason? All of her published works explain the reason. Explaining the reason was practically her life's work. "Paraphrased: "A god so superior to man that one could never aspire to reach equal power will inevitably lead to psychological inferiority complex." This is based on the non-objective assumption that all humans have exactly identical capacities. For example, given enough effort, every man, woman, or child could be the fastest runner in the world. This is impossible due to genetics. So her statement doesn't even work when you remove supernatural beings from the equation. " But her statement IS ABOUT supernatural beings. So the differences between human beings, genetic or otherwise, are irrelevant. She would never make the assumption that all humans have identical capacities. That would be absurd, and she would say so.

[@dwighthouse]

SaulOhio I have not read Homer. I don't have much of an opinion on his statements either way, though I think that the statement "nothing is bred that is weaker than man" is an observably false statement, baring additional context. Perhaps she does have an airtight argument to legitimize her opinions in the absence of an extra-human objective context. I can only comment on what she says in these statements. Here, she made an absolute assertion without providing any evidence on an issue for which one would have a difficult time claiming such an absolute position, without some absolute arbiter or a very strong assumption-less logical case. That is not my point. If her statement doesn't work for the lesser, why would we expect it to work for the greater? What is the difference between "a supernatural being that can do something I cannot" and "a non-supernatural being that can do something I cannot," when talking about the inevitability of inferiority complex generation over lack of ability?

[@Justin_Beaver564]

I love it! Sums up the way I view the world.

[@ninagoldiloks]

Xcellent xplanations... Too bad science so often has taken to making things up, though. We have to regroup.... well continue the regrouping soberly, and reasonably. Great snippet vid. I luv Ayn. Brilliant, by far.

[@gwarlow]

Nina Houchen What exactly, has science "made up"? Gravity? That the earth revolves around the sun? That the earth is not flat?

[@derrickvandevelde2066]

Nina Houchen Science doesn't "make things up". Science is simply the word we use to define the process of finding out about the world around us. It is a PROCESS. By it's definition it can't make things up.

[@Carlos-iu2me]

Paynus Vajonas so apply that to all religion, "the process of finding our human origins"

[@gregDino32]

​@@gwarlow She's is so ignorant.

[@mikeellis9919]

Love Ayn's logical mind but it's when she denigrates our belief in God is where we part company. Let's hope when she passed through judgement after her soul left the body, she wasn't too astonished to learn that the creator of all things is, in fact, a reality.

[@willnitschke]

You shouldn't be offended by facts, though.

[@alfredthepatientxcvi]

Only falsifiable questions can be treated by reason. The existence of God isn’t falsifiable. She confused between the absence of evidence and the evidence of absence.

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

The existence of a nondescript god? Yeah, not falsifiable. The existence of the gods of known religions? Very falsifiable, because we know a lot of their concrete claims. We falsify them with contradictions in the dogma.

[@thebatmanover9000]

I love you cool Grandma!

[@timmycorini]

yuck

[@jacksonofalltrades2665]

Straw men... Straw men everywhere...

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

...in the bible... in the quaran... in all mythical doctrines...

[@barbourjohn]

Watch the movie The Passion of Ayn Rand. You will see how messed up she was. In this video she shows her misunderstanding of the nature of man saying that religion "tells man he is an inferior being". No, Ayn, it is atheistic evolution that tells us that man is an inferior being. But beyond that she misunderstood Capitalism. She thought it was based on greed. She made some of the same mistakes Marx made but just came to opposite conclusions believing greed is good. She had no understanding of entrepreneurship which is based on finding a way to actually please your customer. If she had married one of the great captains of industry she admired, she would have learned a few things. Instead, she was a novelist that married an artist and gardener she met at a movie set. ( they were both trying out for minor parts in a movie about JesusChrist). She also spent a lot of time in immorality having sex with her protege. Perhaps she disliked God because she loved her sin. Just saying.

[@spikebarnett]

John Barbour "finding a way to actually please your customer" Why would you do this? Is it by chance, that they might give you money? Jackass.

[@barbourjohn]

***** Of course the entrepreneur wants to make money ( although most are motivated by something beyond just money) but in order to do this, he must find something that the customer wants ( He also wants to feed his family and those he loves). This is not greed. Greed would be just the opposite. A greedy person only thinks of himself and not others. He puts money above everything. The classic example of this is the miser who hoards his money or the thief that will steal the money or the beggar that will beg for money. That's what a greedy person is. It leads to theft, fraud, miserliness, covetousness, and laziness. The doctrine of man in Christianity begins with being made in the Image of God - co-regents with God - higher than all of the rest of creation. When we fell into sin, God who is rich in mercy provided a way back to the Father and we are reinstated as Children of the Creator - the God and Father of all. Heirs of all his promises and rulers of all He made. Atheistic evolution, on the other hand, relegates man as a mere accident evolved from lower life forms, a mere animal on a pale blue dot, an insignificant planet, in a meaningless galaxy and universe.

[@barbourjohn]

John Barbour adaptdnation.com/greedy-entrepreneur-fail/

[@barbourjohn]

***** Yes, outside of the work of God in our hearts we are all greedy that is we are all sinful - broken God's law which includes "Thou Shall not Covet".. But those who are made new in Christ are no longer greedy, they are new creations, the old has passed away that is why whole cultures change for the better when the gospel has been planted. You are confusing the differing definitions of evolution ( there are at least 6 definitions) . I am talking about the larger Darwinian Theory that is based on Naturalism, a philosophical viewpoint that denies anything that is not verifiable by the senses and thus atheistic. You said it yourself, "science does not address the god issue". Your viewpoint which includes laughing and saying that I believe in a fairy tale does not come from science. It comes from your own presuppositions which are by definition atheistic. Truth does not have anything to do with which century you live in. Truth by definition is timeless.

[@barbourjohn]

***** Ok, All Wise Science Delivers the Goods Guy, girl or whoever. May all the minions pay homage to your infinite wisdom.

[@PilgrimLad]

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

[@MRSlade-hh7xr]

LOVE HER.

[@jahaapana]

Yeaup... Time less classic!!!

[@patrickmccarron5059]

Sorry, but I disagree with Ayn Rand when it comes to abortion. What about the rights of the unborn?

[@silvanabaralha8665]

I do too!

[@veraniahmares9203]

I love this lady. She say man is the superior kind in civilization. 💕👍

[@quatele]

Beautiful mind!

[@louiethegreater1]

Atheism is the absence of objectivity, Faith is the action of abjectivity. Ayn Rand , like Allen Greenspan would - if alive today would admit she was wrong.

[@fzqlcs]

Let me help you out. You are obviously quite confused. Reason = based on evidence. Faith = based on belief not evidence. Objectivism = a philosophy based on reason. You may feel that devotion to faith is a virtue. But it is not to be confused with pursuit of the truth (Objectivism), which is the opposite endeavor. You're welcome.

[@fzqlcs]

So you just abandoned your idiotic "atheism is absence of objectivity" crap and moved on to another mindless rant, eh?

[@louiethegreater1]

Well, actually if you base your assertion on: that it takes faith to be an atheist. My position is that it takes more faith to believe there isn't a God, then to believe there is one. If ethical moral theory is objectively real, than the absence of any moral theory would need no objectivity, that mindset, would be conclusive.

[@louiethegreater1]

Surely you must suspect that Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman and many others, were little more than global pawns, used to destroy America. The fact that the US was practicing free trade while the rest of the world was protecting their economies, must be a real painful awakening to you.

[@louiethegreater1]

@LOL God is Jesus Christ in the flesh who came as a man, to buy back what Adam was tricked out of. If you ignore that, I assure you that you will not be dead but about one second until you change your mind. However then it will be to late.

[@bal8724]

Crowley would have blown this woman’s mind.

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

Who, Aleister Crowley? He was a heroin addict and a cultist who believed in magic. Rand would have avoided him like you avoid a stinky, sketchy hobo in an alleyway...

[@patrickmccarron5059]

Can't bullshit an objectivist.

[@bafanakhumalo4036]

Ayn Rand was, is n will forever be a world class thinker 🙌🏾 I’ve got mega-love for her

[@Americangirl1956]

The FAIL here is strong.

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

The fail of religious people clinging to their myths

[@DerickTherving]

2:30 "It is wrong to believe anything for which there is no evidence." It may be ILLOGICAL or IRRATIONAL but no one is arguing that faith is rational or logical. And without God or any moral code coming from outside of physical plane, there is no "right" or "wrong".

[@johnhammond6423]

DerickTherving Morals are subjective. What is right or wrong is simply a personal choice based on our empathy for our fellow human beings and therefore is not the same in all people as can be observed. And it *is* wrong to believe anything for which there is no evidence for many reasons. An obvious example is what radicalized Muslims are doing but there are many other less evil but still bad things that come from religion.

[@SaulOhio]

DerickTherving Do you value life? Then for you, there is a right and wrong. "Life or death is man’s only fundamental alternative. To live is his basic act of choice. If he chooses to live, a rational ethics will tell him what principles of action are required to implement his choice. If he does not choose to live, nature will take its course."“Causality Versus Duty,” Philosophy: Who Needs It, 99

[@atheismisawesomesmith4541]

Ok, so tell me: How many slaves can I own and where should I get them from?

[@Darrell1019]

Miss Rand now knows that there is a GOD.

[@SaulOhio]

Mark Jones How do you know that? Have you talked to her recently?

[@Darrell1019]

No. I know because she like all of the departed find out that there is one or the other "existence" on the other side of death. Madelyn O'Hare found out too!

[@SaulOhio]

Mark Jones And how do you know that they all found this out? Did you ask them?

[@Darrell1019]

I don't want to see them for if I do, then I'd share the fate of all unrepentant atheists. The same goes for unforgiven theists!

[@SaulOhio]

Mark Jones You never answer the question: How do you know this?

[@reneecarter6702]

How sad… Jeremiah 10:10 says; “But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God, the eternal King...” Isaiah 40:28 says; “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.” She knows about God’s existence now without a doubt.

[@willnitschke]

Nope. Quoting nonsense is just, well, nonsense.

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

Just because you HEAR about something, doesn't mean you'll BELIEVE that something. Surely you read about the muslim god, yet you think it's nonsense. Well, that's what we think about all religions.

[@Michiganman800]

Her joy in life is her husband, that she cheated on?

[@SaulOhio]

Michiganman800 Its not cheating if it is done with his full knowledge and permission.

[@Michiganman800]

Wow, that's a great moral system you got there. Let me guess you don't need God to be moral, right?

[@SaulOhio]

Michiganman800 You don't know much about Ayn Rand, do you? Just what you have heard from the "I hate Ayn Rand" smear machine.

[@Michiganman800]

I'm not a follower, no. But what you've said already reveals much about how you process moral questions

[@SaulOhio]

Michiganman800 If you really think you do need God to be moral, if the only thing that's keeping you from committing murder, rape and torture is fear of hellfire, then maybe its a good thing you believe in God.

[@limitless1692]

That is a free person She inspired me so m much

[@rubenr9300]

I pity her.

[@willnitschke]

No doubt she pitied people who believe in fantasy worlds.

[@apokalypthoapokalypsys9573]

​@@willnitschke/thread

[@FurlogTheGiant]

she is evil

[@kyled1673]

Because she is a smart individual who thinks for herself. If that's "evil" to you then I love being evil!

[@kdemetter]

What is evil about her ? Her whole philosophy is against coercion, against being forced to live for others ( which would be a form of slavery). It's altruism ( the demand that you live for others, not for yourself , the idea that you can be sacrificed for the benefit of the group ) that is evil.

[@cptndunsel8088]

I believe that Ayn Rand was an intelligent woman who had some good ideas, but there are things that I simply do not agree with her on. This is one of them.

[@rxa177]

david boell Middle eastern folklore is way more reasonable.

[@treizTUBE]

Certainly the folk lore is more reasonable than violations of the physical laws we can actually test.

[@Dlahusen1]

david boell So what if you disagree. Nothing she said here is incorrect....

[@cptndunsel8088]

I am merely expressing an opinion. Surely you would agree that I have the right to do so?

[@Dlahusen1]

david boell Sure, I am just pointing out that having mere opinions are meaningless. Actual arguments are all that matter when discussing fundamental facts about reality.

[@petersrule]

This woman hasn't had any personal experience with God and so she believes that there isn't a God. She would feel very different if she had a real witness that couldn't be proved to anyone else. I know God lives and I bear that witness to everyone that reads this. God lives.

[@jimlovesgina]

Jeremy Peters Which god? The god of the bible? Did he say? I have talked to many of you so-called witnesses. None of you say the same thing. Schizophrenia can be controlled with medication.

[@petersrule]

jimlovesgina The only God and his Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. To accuse someone of schizophrenia with no medical background oor understanding of that person shows that you have no understanding of anything really, let alone psychiatry . Just because you or she knows some things doesn't mean you or she know all things. Come back when you can prove there is no God, until that time understand you are religious person as I am but your religion is atheism.

[@jimlovesgina]

Jeremy Peters Is that the Mormon Jesus Christ? Do I get to lord over my own planet with My wife(ves)? Is it the Catholic Jesus Christ? Lutheran? Protestant? Can you be more specific?

[@petersrule]

It is the only Jesus Christ, Son of God, and Savior of the World that I believe in. Anybody who follows Jesus Christ is on the right path. That doesn't mean they know all nor does it mean they are perfect. He doesn't save people just because of their religious organization. All Christian religions, even many non-christian religions have some truth. We are all lacking understanding including Ayn Rand. She may have some truth but she does not have all truth nor does anyone but God. We are all a work in progress.

[@jimlovesgina]

Jeremy Peters Of course, "some truth" is that which doesn't conflict with your truth. None of you witnesses can agree with what that truth actually is. Muslims and Jews don't believe Jesus was God and are witnesses to a truth you don't agree with. How do you reconcile that? Why is their truth not the same as yours? Are they just crazy nutters where you are not?

[@mormovies]

genius. such crystal clear reason when few men, let alone a woman, would dare express.

[@CHURINDOK]

Rand 2016!

[@Thindorama]

CHURINDOK I SEE WHAT YOU DID THERE! AWESOME RAND 2016!!!! OR CRUZ

[@srinivaspillai4622]

One can be rational in studies, politics and so on but not in the matter of God, to know God is through faith, there is no other way, madam, Ayn rand missed it knowing, she says it is very dangerous, it could reciprocate on her if those things of God are true, now listener you be rational, decide for yourself, madam has objectivism as philosophy, if followed, it is not dangerous but what about after death? If what Jesus has told in Bible is true and you deny it, so think what will be your state after death, choice is yours, think who is true and who is liar? Jesus or Ayn Rand, my take, Jesus hundred percent, Ayn Rand deceived herself and deceived others, do not fall in to Genesis Satan trap, knowledge of life and evil.

[@jeffrey6244]

I have no quarrel with Rand when it comes to atheism, but her extreme libertarianism is odious.

[@gurugeorge]

Jeff Rey Umm, she hated libertarianism, particularly extreme libertarianism (in the sense of anarcho-capitalism). She's for a strong government, but a limited government. If she fits any standard political definition, she's a classical liberal (Locke, Mill, etc.). Modern libertarianism was formed partly by people who had been inspired by Rand but broke away from her.

[@jeffrey6244]

gurugeorge Please elaborate, because that ain't the way I heard it.

[@SaulOhio]

Jeff Rey So there is something wrong with living in peace with other people? What is wrong with not killing people, not threatening people with guns and prison if they don't obey your commands? Is there something wrong with letting people keep what they produce? What is wrong with offering goods and services you produced in exchange for goods and services other people produce? How can there be something wrong with choosing persuasion over coercion? What is odious about all these values, which I think are very civilized?

[@jeffrey6244]

SaulOhio Because it's a naive fantasy, that's why. You want total freedom with no regulations on anything, move to fucking Somalia and see how it's working there.

[@jeffrey6244]

SaulOhio I see you're not taking this seriously, so adios.

[@smoothuncut]

For A "Woman" she actually makes a lot of sence!!

[@wayneclements4184]

I bet she can spell sense.