tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post6251773561231777563..comments2023-06-15T09:13:45.467-04:00Comments on Liberty's Torch: Moral Wrongs Part 2: The Secular ImperativeFrancis W. Porrettohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-27350486163233209902012-08-25T03:07:48.498-04:002012-08-25T03:07:48.498-04:00Fran, by applejack, are you referring to the cerea...Fran, by applejack, are you referring to the cereal? I've never had it.<br /><br />Somehow, though, "applejack" sounds like some sort of backwoods alcohol.<br /><br />Trust me, after reading political blogs and websites all day long, then playing my silly baseball simulation and drinking cheap boxed burgundy for 3 or 4 hours, I do *not* need more alcohol, backwoods or otherwise.<br /><br />As for a blog, I have nothing original to say. In REactive mode, I can read and consider Scott's monetary stuff and your musings. But in PROactive mode, I find myself getting all wishy-washy because I think flash mobs, reality tv and 24/7 progressivism and pandering - ala MSNBC - are bad and a sign that our culture has taken a wrong turn.<br /><br />. . . but I can't bring myself to take up arms against it.<br /><br />The leftist meme and propagandizing for statism of MSNBC is a recipe for disaster, not only for the explicit message it sends, but for the fact that it hides the need or "entertainment" of objective truth about issues.<br /><br />I was told by the Army in 1969 that I had an IQ of 143, but I've screwed up enough to convince myself that IQ doesn't mean much in the real world.<br /><br />I'll continue to read you, Mark, the Greek guy and others and count my blessings that you all have the guts and energy to continue learning and speaking.furballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-84883327632993161692012-08-24T15:26:56.849-04:002012-08-24T15:26:56.849-04:00What many of those suspicious of Catholics in char...What many of those suspicious of Catholics in charge don't remember is that they didn't actively seek power, but were forced into it by the power vacuum after the Roman Empire dissolved.Linda Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15024201252345608291noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-3151522680447544382012-08-24T08:11:58.424-04:002012-08-24T08:11:58.424-04:00It's time for you to get a blog of your own, F...It's time for you to get a blog of your own, Fur. That having been said...wheat thins and peanut butter with <b><i>milk?</i></b> Is there no applejack in the house?Francis W. Porrettohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-18453607119628249262012-08-24T04:13:13.268-04:002012-08-24T04:13:13.268-04:00I turned off my computer after posting that last c...I turned off my computer after posting that last comment because I knew Fran might not be awake yet, and besides, what's the point of arguing on a blog site where (probably) most readers have similar opinions?<br /><br />But as I was waiting for Windows to close, I realized: I don't need to go downstairs for a snack. I don't need another gulp of wine. I don't need Fran to comment favorably on what I posted. I don't need to argue with Rachel Maddow or Bill Maher.<br /><br />I NEED THE LAWS OF MY COUNTRY TO BE ENFORCED!<br /><br />Banking fraud.<br />Illegal immigration.<br />Voter fraud.<br />Presidential usurpation of power.<br />Congressional overspending.<br />The Fed's inflationary policies while printing money for "Quantitative Easing."<br />Putting government unions in front of private investors in the bailouts of car companies or banks.<br /><br />I don't need to argue with progressives or my congressman or Obama or my conscience or some "holier than thou" commentator from MSNBC.<br /><br />I JUST NEED MY DAMN GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE THE LAWS THAT ARE ALREADY ON THE BOOKS!<br /><br />And if Jon Corzine (MF Global) and Eric Holder (Fast and Furious) et. al. AREN'T GUILTY, then F*** you. What they did was wrong. All the editorials in newspapers and all the hemming and hawing of politicians doesn't change that.<br /><br />Stealing and lying are WRONG! If this country can't enforce its laws to prevent that, then it deserves what it gets, I guess.<br /><br />I shouldn't have to worry whether there are enough Frans or Greek guys or Col. Bunny-types out there who see the depredations I do. We're supposed to be a country, godammit.<br /><br />If we're to the point that a significant number of our "citizens" don't believe in the rule of law, then we are not a NATION. <br /><br />Sorry for the rant. I despair. I guess I *will* go pig out on wheat thins and peanut butter. And milk, of course.furballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-22321897850523657042012-08-24T03:34:55.407-04:002012-08-24T03:34:55.407-04:00Francis;
I'm sorry to be the devil's advo...Francis;<br /><br />I'm sorry to be the devil's advocate here, but I'd like to gloss over your apology for the Catholic Church in this essay and zoom right in to your 3rd section:<br /><br />"So why do we have laws against murder, theft, fraud, and perjury, if not because God Himself forbids them?<br />...<br />Simple: We have laws against those things because they involve objectively demonstrable harms to individuals: invasions of their rights to their lives, their liberty, and their property. Good laws address nothing but such harms, and prescribe unvarying punishments for them." <br /><br />Via Ann Barnhardt, please watch this video (please cut and paste it, I'm unable to just give an easy link.):<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UzLGuJt8Qbg<br /><br />I submit that those two girls have no concept of "demonstrable harms to individuals: invasions of their rights to their lives, their liberty, and their property."<br /><br />Now, contrast those girls' "ignorance of right and wrong" with this quote:<br /><br />Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.<br />-John Adams<br /><br />I don't want to argue the relative merits of Catholicism or any other religious perspective. Contrary to what I've "sort of" thought for 30 or more years, there probably isn't an "objective" morality or a "diverse" meaning of justice.<br /><br />Those girls are objective proof that if you don't "teach" a higher purpose - or at least smack your kids when they infringe on the rights of others - they may well go on to just TAKE.<br /><br />I AGREE with you: "We have laws against those things because they involve objectively demonstrable harms to individuals. . ." But objectivity itself is NOT the default mental construct of people instructed since kindergarten to think fairness itself is a Universal Constant.<br /><br />It is possible to raise children such as the ones in the video while proclaiming that we are not imposing our morality or values upon anyone.<br /><br />It appears to me that morality and values **ARE** subjective and can be taught (or not.) And if we don't teach them, we'll get hyenas like these girls instead of functioning members of a society that protects and promulgates itself.<br /><br />NOTE! : For 40 years, I've figured that anyone left to their own thoughts would discover the golden rule and the simple tenets of how to get along and find acceptance, honor, a mate and purpose in a society. I no longer know if that's true. But I KNOW that no one is left to their own thoughts anymore.<br /><br />Whether those girls' attitudes are the result of their own ideas or they were taught them somehow doesn't really matter. They are anathema to a civil society.<br /><br />Catholicism or God may not be required, but whatever Adams was referring to as, "a moral and religious people," certainly IS.furballnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-34314714351038116312012-08-23T22:43:10.970-04:002012-08-23T22:43:10.970-04:00To put matters more succinctly: You cannot use the...To put matters more succinctly: You cannot use the Ring!Josephhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04720409839023747889noreply@blogger.com