tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post6916845755045186916..comments2024-03-28T12:34:14.649-07:00Comments on dangerous idea: Cafeteria conservatism and the New TestamentVictor Repperthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-26183344613301947892011-11-18T15:36:31.370-07:002011-11-18T15:36:31.370-07:00VR: "I always like conservatism better in the...<b>VR:</b> "<i>I always like conservatism better in theory than I like what actually gets executed when people who are ostensibly conservatives have the power to do what they want.</i>"<br />As in? like, do you even one example that isn't goint to turn out to be:<br />1) politicians behaving as politicians tend to do, regardless of which wing with which they ostensibly fly;<br />2) "people who are ostensibly conservatives" -- that is, people who are actually "liberals" -- behaving as "liberals" and/or leftists;<br />3) people who are actually conservatives -- and thus "evil" according to the leftist puppet-strings which jerk "liberals" hither and thither -- behaving as conservatives; which is to say, the criticism and/or condemnation of them and/or their actions is likely just unhinged (and generally meaningless and/or intellectually dishonest) leftist talking-points;<br /><br />What of what I'm trying to get at is to see whether there is a self-contradiction in your statement.<br /><br /><b>VR:</b> "<i>Why call it a straw man when I am talking about what "conservatives" actually do when they follow the lead of the people who fund their campaigns?</i>"<br /><br />For much the same reason that you used the word 'ostensibly' in the previous sentence and put 'conservative' in quote-marks in this one.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-22372636515245184062011-11-13T11:44:50.683-07:002011-11-13T11:44:50.683-07:00Another way of stating the truism that "the i...Another way of stating the truism that "the individual can spend his money better than The State can" is this: "the individual can spend his <i>time</i> more wisely than The State can" -- the old saying that "time is money" has it exactly backwards; the truth is: "<a href="http://iliocentrism.blogspot.com/2010/05/time-money-is-money-time.html" rel="nofollow">money is time</a>"Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-18640130607275470242011-11-13T11:33:04.162-07:002011-11-13T11:33:04.162-07:00Prokop;
In relation to charity for the poor, such...Prokop;<br /><br />In relation to charity for the poor, such is when individuals are better suited to spend their money themselves. Some things that require the centralized coordination of the federal government (i.e. military, possibly roads) to achieve efficiently individuals just couldn't spend their money on in the first place; but even these functions of government are notoriously plagued by inefficiency and waste.<br /><br />Hence the truism "the individual can spend their money better than the government."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-30832128898250494352011-11-13T06:33:50.048-07:002011-11-13T06:33:50.048-07:00By 'News' as Uncommon Descent: "... W...By <a href="http://www.uncommondescent.com/intelligent-design/can-materialist-theories-help-us-learn-to-do-the-right-thing/" rel="nofollow">'News' as Uncommon Descent</a>: "<i>... We’d add two things: The most dangerous temptation of power is the temptation to simply compel people to behave wisely and virtuously – even if one does happen to be right on the evidence. Also, such compulsion, whether nudge or shove, forms a deadly assault on actual wisdom and virtue which can only be acquired through the experience of making choices and judgements for oneself.</i>"<br /><br />That is, even if you "liberals" were morally (and rationally) right -- and you're not -- on the whole "compassion" vs "greed" thingie, you favored approaches are always wrong, both from a ratinal standpoint and from the moral one.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-1143710222998504412011-11-12T07:36:52.260-07:002011-11-12T07:36:52.260-07:00Non sequitur again, Idion the Village Idiot. Im no...Non sequitur again, Idion the Village Idiot. Im not a socialist--- you're just an illiterate POS incapable of thinking.<br /><br />And like Crude-seed (and Ed Feiser) you don't even read the RCC's official proclamations. Pope Ratzy has called for higher taxes on speculators and the wealthy. As did JPII, who condemned Bush's war and American imperialism in no uncertain terms. The RCC is not comprised of Roody Guilianis. They're european scholars.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-33340403652213812702011-11-11T21:27:06.977-07:002011-11-11T21:27:06.977-07:00"Oh man, did he just let loose with the anti-..."<i>Oh man, did he just let loose with the anti-semitisms AND imply you were a wannabe Catholic? He's the gift that keeps on giving. :D </i>"<br /><br />I don't bother with even looking at such bilge unless someone else directly or inadvertantly calls it to my attention. But yes, his sort -- leftist/socialist -- *would* vainly imagine that it's an insult to call me "Jew-boy". What? I'm supposed to be embarrassed or ashamed because some of my ancestors, going back 4000 years, were worshipping the Living God while his were worshipping wood and stone?Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-54333484893445804812011-11-11T17:54:11.585-07:002011-11-11T17:54:11.585-07:00Yeah, but try to put that on your resume.
Idiocy ...<i>Yeah, but try to put that on your resume.</i><br /><br />Idiocy can lead to important careers, but I have no time to raise election money.<br /><br />Oh man, did he just let loose with the anti-semitisms AND imply you were a wannabe Catholic? He's the gift that keeps on giving. :DCrudehttp://crudeideas.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-3238966349948230982011-11-11T17:44:11.338-07:002011-11-11T17:44:11.338-07:00Hey Idion perp--keep 'em coming, jew boy, you ...Hey Idion perp--keep 'em coming, jew boy, you little confused peasant. Go back to yr Ayn Rand sites--even the RCC doesn't want youJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-47745294570774670372011-11-11T17:38:56.824-07:002011-11-11T17:38:56.824-07:00"There we go. I just out-J'd you. ;)"..."<i>There we go. I just out-J'd you. ;)</i>"<br /><br />Yeah, but try to put that on your resume.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-52715043596066769052011-11-11T17:33:49.713-07:002011-11-11T17:33:49.713-07:00Crude-Hayseed, as with your hamfisted, ineloquent ...Crude-Hayseed, as with your hamfisted, ineloquent attempts at what you take to be philosophy,you know nothing about politics either. Stick to the Zig ZiglarJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-54614035052378107412011-11-11T16:57:59.506-07:002011-11-11T16:57:59.506-07:00Was a GOP led plan, Crude the Mumbler.
Fantastic ...<i>Was a GOP led plan, Crude the Mumbler.</i><br /><br />Fantastic accusation, J. Guess what? I don't like most of the GOP, and I've said as much right here. Both parties are rife with problems.<br /><br />Look at you. You're trying so hard to offend me, or argue against what you think my positions are and you miss... every... time. You've so far managed to troll arguably every other person in this thread by accident, except me. Because you, puto, just ain't very swift. ;)<br /><br />Quick, start bashing Rush Limbaugh - maybe that will upset me! Be sure to use a random word to do it, like "duck" with more poor spelling. Again, I shall out-J you.<br /><br />'curde you are a butler at the feet of that oversized waterfowl Rush Limbo'<br /><br />Look at that. I'm like you on your absolute best day.Crudehttp://crudeideas.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-83537644753945286102011-11-11T16:28:06.072-07:002011-11-11T16:28:06.072-07:00Let's see, a bunch of schmucks who alternately...<i>Let's see, a bunch of schmucks who alternately support bank bailouts,</i><br /><br />Was a GOP led plan, Crude the Mumbler. And bipartisan supported--out in Hayseedland aka flyover zone where you live,the Teatards may not have supported TARP, but in NY and CA the GOP did. <br /><br />for that matter, Gingrich and Gramm brought about de-reg (with some help from Clinton)--ie,swaps, easier quals on loans, etc.--yet Newtski will stand up there and blame the nasty demoncrats for the very problems he created(eg,overturning the New Deal for one)Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-31831286623614609042011-11-11T16:22:31.400-07:002011-11-11T16:22:31.400-07:00Romney...is combining Christianity with Ayn Rand&#...<i>Romney...is combining Christianity with Ayn Rand's philosophy.</i><br /><br />That's right Crudestein. Romney was known as the "job killer" in Mass.: anti-union, anti-govt. programs, pro-business. He plays sort of liberal at times-- to get votes-- but is not whatsoever. Member of an especially right-wing branch of the LDS (rumored white supremacist). Mitt. also likes L-Ron! The pre-papal Feser even blessed L-Ron IIRC. Or was it his crony Vallicella. <br /><br />Anyone who thinks the individual mandate is some radical leftist proposal knows nothing about politics-- Romneytoid's actually sort of accurate when he says conservatives thought of it first--why make the plebes buy insurance! Now, that's nearly a ponzi scheme (and just held up by a conservative DC court). BO or Romney's HCR had nothing to do with the original reforms of Hillary or Leahy which had a public option. Now, reread that a few times for yr weekly lesson in democracyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-59007176137010093572011-11-11T15:29:32.695-07:002011-11-11T15:29:32.695-07:00Like all of the GOP candidates in the running for ...<i>Like all of the GOP candidates in the running for President ? Flat taxers, rabidly anti-statist, union-busters, Galts. Mitt Galtney</i><br /><br />Mitt Galtney. Wow. The guy whose health care program was the model for Obamacare, a mormon, is combining Christianity with Ayn Rand's philosophy.<br /><br />And the GOP field is dominated by Randites. Let's see, a bunch of schmucks who alternately support bank bailouts, expanded international intervention or worse. Except Ron Paul, of course.<br /><br />J, you are adorable. C'mon, call me something precious again! Be sure to have really, really poor spelling. Wait, I'll do it for you.<br /><br />'Fesseir is a natzi also pope neocon villein crude'<br /><br />There we go. I just out-J'd you. ;)Crudehttp://crudeideas.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-84414624205589888642011-11-11T14:21:35.213-07:002011-11-11T14:21:35.213-07:00"or that a system that helps the rich get ric..."or that a system that helps the rich get rich and allows the poor to get poorer is acceptable."<br /><br />What system are you talking about? The poor are getting richer too, just not as fast as the rich. Remember when you were a kid? How many outfits did the average person have? How many cars or telivisions were in their homes? The poor in America today live pretty well compared to the poor in the 60s and 70s wouldn't you say? If that is the case, why does it matter how far ahead the rich are pulling? As Christians should we say that the top should not be richer than others even if the bottom is getting richer? <br /><br />If poverty is simply a relative measure compared to the top then Jesus phrase "the poor you will always have with you" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. But statements about poor getting poorer purely in terms of relative income compared to the top don't seem to suggest helping the poor as much as punishing the rich. Maybe that is justified, maybe not, but at least that gets to what we're really talking about.<br /><br />Perhaps because the rich have pulled so far ahead you could argue from a utilitarian viewpoint that they are a good resource to tap for aiding the poor, but statements about the poor getting poorer seem odd to me. In the mean time I will have to find out what is so bad about some people being really successful.Matt Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05947081596759328950noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-78767272460608998962011-11-11T13:29:18.729-07:002011-11-11T13:29:18.729-07:00Rawls valued Kantian ethics to some degree--"...Rawls valued Kantian ethics to some degree--"the kingdom of Ends". While his writing is not specifically Christian, his conceptions of distributive justice are similar to some of the ...communitarian elements of the New T. (ie, "rich man/eye of a needle" however obvious).<br /><br />Many modern conservatives lack any sense of History and tend to think of..like Obama or Hillary when considering Democrats. They should think of JFK ,Truman, Woodrow Wilson instead. What does the Philosophaster call that? Presentism or something.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-744787999362097472011-11-11T12:55:47.063-07:002011-11-11T12:55:47.063-07:00It might be worth pointing out that Peter Singer&#...It might be worth pointing out that Peter Singer's position on infanticide is un-Christian, or Rawls' distributive justice is un-Christian, or that Cantor's views on keeping the people on top on top is un-Christian, if Christians are tempted to buy in on it. <br /><br />Of course the next step is to explain why.Victor Repperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-56012579964021936002011-11-11T12:35:49.687-07:002011-11-11T12:35:49.687-07:00Since Eric Cantor is Jewish, Reppert's claim t...Since Eric Cantor is Jewish, Reppert's claim that Cantor's position is "unChristian" is unintentionally comical. Why would we expect a Jew to take a Christian position or NT position (even if we grant Reppert's tendentious characterization)? You might as well say John Rawls's distributive justice is "unChristian." That's a truism.stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16547070544928321788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-40191689294216992772011-11-11T11:57:07.251-07:002011-11-11T11:57:07.251-07:00Amtheomusings wrote, "it's a truism that ...Amtheomusings wrote, "it's a truism that I can spend that dollar much better than the government".<br /><br />Huh? How is this a truism? Sounds more like an opinion to me. Sometimes, it might be true; other times not so much. <br /><br />The government can certainly spend a dollar on defense better than I could. Same goes for roads, infrastructure, police, emergency services, etc. Yeah, there are a few places where I might be able to do a better job than "the government", but then again, who's fault would that be? After all, I <i>own</i> the government. This is not Stalinist Russia. <b>We the People</b> rule ourselves in the USA.<br /><br />(By the way, I just got home from a beautiful Veteran's Day service at my church. Said a prayer for my wife, who served in Iraq during the height of the fighting there. Made it home safe, only to die of cancer.)B. Prokophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10548980245078214688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-58930783877064379792011-11-11T11:27:43.817-07:002011-11-11T11:27:43.817-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-31022759863400649592011-11-11T11:26:02.138-07:002011-11-11T11:26:02.138-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-68754035958203869202011-11-11T10:50:33.427-07:002011-11-11T10:50:33.427-07:00I always like conservatism better in theory than I...I always like conservatism better in theory than I like what actually gets executed when people who are ostensibly conservatives have the power to do what they want. <br /><br />Why call it a straw man when I am talking about what "conservatives" actually do when they follow the lead of the people who fund their campaigns?Victor Repperthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10962948073162156902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-61366870629997819462011-11-11T10:37:37.931-07:002011-11-11T10:37:37.931-07:00VR, in OP: "Greed is not good."
How is ...<b>VR, in OP:</b> "<i>Greed is not good.</i>"<br /><br />How is <i>someone else's</i> <a href="http://iliocentrism.blogspot.com/2011/09/greedy.html" rel="nofollow">alleged greed any of your damned business</a>?<br /><br />How does someone else's "greed" -- whether the term is used to refer to real greed, or whether it is used to refer to the false "liberal" refefinition of the term -- harm you or anyone else?<br /><br />It wasn't "greed" -- it wasn't citizens wanting to keep for their own use as much as possible of the fruit of their own labor -- which rounded up, stole the wealth they had created, and deported to the wilds of "Indian Territory" a significant number of my ancestors; it was government which did that -- it was <i>democracy</i> (and, in fact, it was Democrats!) at the behest of <i>actual greed</i> who did this. Yet, this actual greed was itself powerless to harm my family, it required government guns to round them up and steal their farms and homes and wealth.<br /><br />And, just as Democrats of 170-180 years ago (in the life-time of my great-grandfather) were <i>actually greedy</i> for the wealth of others, and used the force of the US government to dispossess those people, so too, today's Democrats are <i>actually greedy</i> for the wealth of others, and seek constantly to use the force of the US government to dispossess those persons. Those Democrats used all sorts of false reasons and reasoning to justify their theft; but they were pikers compared to today's Democrats, for today's Democrats seek to turn reality on its head when they declare: "<i>That you keep resisting our efforts to take from you what is your just proves how 'greedy' you are!</i>"Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-15117411994838049492011-11-11T10:19:02.843-07:002011-11-11T10:19:02.843-07:00No, that's you, Idion. You're false-- not...No, that's you, Idion. You're false-- not a christian, or even American. Just another confused, anti-statist libertarian joto.<br /><br /><br />See like JC and cleansing of the temple for starters. Or better, just join the Feser-Randians. <br /><br /><i>con usura </i>Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11567400697675996283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10584495.post-26488312310623917472011-11-11T10:14:08.233-07:002011-11-11T10:14:08.233-07:00One thing I've noticed in the past few days ab...One thing I've noticed in the past few days about this 'J' is that *everything* he says concerning Christ and Christianity and the NT is false.Ilíonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339406092961816142noreply@blogger.com