"In his June encyclical and elsewhere, Francis lectures about our responsibilities, but neglects the duty to be as intelligent as one can be. This man who says "the church does not presume to settle scientific questions" proceeds as though everything about which he declaims is settled, from imperiled plankton to air conditioning being among humanity's "harmful habits." - Very good.

It's a great stress reliever. I have outlived the life expectancy of a corrections officer by 10 years.
That bandit I keep picking up on my 6 o'clock, psst he's right below me here, could not make it with that kind of work.
He's wound too tight.
Not only did I outlast most corrections officer for years on the job, I've outlived quite a few.

Off and on, I've wondered if that was a priest I had that online argument with.

I luv your sense of humor, allosaur. Of course, with your background you had to have a great sense of humor.

dino, "once a catholic always a catholic" does not jive with the idea of "free will", in my mind. How does one make the decision, as an infant, to become a catholic without the faculty of actually knowing what is going on? Similar experience as yours, until I started questioning the nuns, etc. who told me to accept all they said on "faith". The older I got, the more I questioned and the more I was denounced for not just accepting. Free will and reason won. I won't argue with a catholic or any other devout believer, nor a child. Same thing.

Hello WDonway,
Great find. I find myself at odds occasionally with Mr. Will, but not this time.
Respectfully,
O.A.

He publicly posted an explanation for his motives in deliberately being confrontational. Anyone has a right to respond to that. It has nothing to do with "running the place". Most people do not behave that way, though some do.

This is how to "objectively" mock religion on this board--
Excuse me while I go beat on my tom-tom until I ooga-booga get Sasquatch to appear. Then I'll get back with ya on a ghost post.
By the way, I found reactions to that link you posted somewhat revealing, since I've long admitted to not being the brightest bulb in the Gulch.

I like that last line.

see my reply to that link there ... :)

Well, as Heinlein might have put it...

Thanks, Miss Grundy... and if you were to have your way, probably 85% of the posts here would/should be removed...

Chill, STFU or just don't read the shit you don't approve of. Do YOU 'run this place'?

If so, delete everything that offends you. If not, see if the folks who DO 'run this place' agree with you enough to do your deleting for you.

Hugs! It sounds like you need some....
:)

Absolutely. He isn't as dumb as he looks. The Catholic Church has been collaborating with radical viros for decades. You will find many references to this agenda in previous bishop pronouncements, "summits", etc. in the Pope's latest Encyclical. Human prosperity on earth is not what he's after, and neither are the viros. http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...

My impression is that Will is secure enough that he writes what he believes. If he's worried about a backlash for taking on the Pope, then he's already in trouble for writing that the Pope "stands against modernity, rationality, science...", which is all true even though it doesn't go far enough to the roots of why.

Trump is at least for now popular for refreshingly standing up to the establishment, but is already tuning his approach for political effect while exploiting the image. If he gets into office with his pragmatism and "Let's make a deal" game without regard for principle we will all find it much less than "refreshing".

This is the frightening anti-intellectual vacuum that confronts us. Most are afraid to even look at the philosophical basis and content of a proponent of 1000 year old religious renunciation and its consequences in reality, uncritically and ostentatiously pandering to it while simultaneously putting a complete unprincipled pragmatist anything-goes deal maker into top popularity politically. Has there ever been a more complete evasion of the importance of ideas and their relation to practical life on earth?

This is a forum for rational discussion associated with Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason, not confrontations. It does not operate at the level of "foul names" and intimidation.

allosaur: "You're not going to change the way I think. And I'm not the only Christian on this board. The Gulch is an odd conservative place where discussion of religion is against the rules--or maybe only in a certain way."

You can believe whatever you want to but this in not a place to promote religion. It is not an "odd conservative place", it is not conservative at all, it is a forum for Ayn Rand's philosophy of reason and egoism. Ayn Rand was, in politics, a "radical for capitalism", not Reform Republican or a "conservative" "clinging" to anything, and as a consequence of her philosophy of reason she rejected all forms of faith in the supernatural as destructive, and consequently religious conservatism.

Discussion of religion is not banned, but it has to be rational discussion, not promoting religion or professing faith. Religion is not the basis of discussion or a presumed criterion for moral and political evaluation. If you want religious acceptance there are other places you can go.

"But what does the Gulch attract due to AS movies? Generally conservatives or a Constitution-clinging libertarian like myself, who used to be a Republican."

Atlas Shrugged is not a political novel. Ayn Rand emphasized that she wrote it as a philosophical novel to present her view of the "ideal man" in all realms of life. Those who from whatever background are attracted to the sense of life portrayed in Atlas Shrugged but who don't know much about Ayn Rand and her ideas should be seeking the excitement of discovering the philosophy that made it possible. The political realm is only one consequence of that and is not all that is open to discussion here. Even topics here that are political often involve discussion of underlying principles of morality and political philosophy, and the proper approach to knowledge of them.

As Ayn Rand famously said of her own work: "I shall say that I am not primarily an advocate of capitalism, but of egoism; and I am not primarily an advocate of egoism, but of reason. If one recognizes the supremacy of reason and applies it consistently, all the rest follows."

"This -- the supremacy of reason -- was, is and will be the primary concern of my work, and the essence of Objectivism. (For a definition of reason, see Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.) Reason in epistemology leads to egoism in ethics, which leads to capitalism in politics. The hierarchical structure cannot be reversed, nor can any of its levels hold without the fundamental one—as those who have tried are beginning to discover."

A recent discussion of sources for finding out about Ayn Rand's philosophy can be found in the recent thread with this link http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts...

LOL! Well, thanks!
I have a background many lack.
For 7 years during the 70s, I was a bush league newspaper reporter in a rough around the edges rural county who at times received threats.
After that, I was an Alabama corrections officer who worked at a maximum security prison for 21 years.
After that, I semi-retired off-and-on worked for 4 different security guard companies (one hired me twice) since 2003.
So guess what I am used to doing? Confrontations. Standing up to somebody.
I've been called every foul name in the book and more than once.
One exception! I've never been called a "dirty screw" like in the old prison movies.
I said as much to three inmates during the 90s. Think I was shaking down a cell or something.
I told them I wanted to hear someone call me a dirty screw. I even did so talking like James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson.
"Nyah! Ya dirty screw!"
But they just looked at me with glum faces and were too scared to do it.
How disappointing.
Waaa!

Worse, he seems unaware he is being used to support environmental sanctions to gain control over the people he says he wants to help.

--- or maybe he IS aware and is part OF a plan to Be IN Control.

Hm?

Yeah, allo- many decades ago I used to say it the way you implied and I inferred...

"You have a right to your opinion... as stupid and as non-reality-based as it is..."

:)

First they go against the teachings and history of our biblical ancestors, and make it up on their own, only to eventually go against Everything we know to be good and successful. Our way has proven itself but they interfere and continue down the wrong path.

Like many, I was baptized Catholic, attended a Catholic school, and retain a moral code from those days. I no longer practice the religion. I also find myself at odds with the beliefs and actions of the current Pope, who I feel is either very ignorant of economics or a willing pawn for the socialist/communist UN. When he came out saying we had to do something about climate change, the UN mantra, I knew he was way off base. A real Pope would have left it in God's hands, not those of communists. Worse, he seems unaware he is being used to support environmental sanctions to gain control over the people he says he wants to help. How does it help to put all in poverty to equal the playing field? How can he think he is saving the Catholic religion by following those who would replace it with Gaia worship? I do not notice his giving away the vast fortunes of the Vatican in an effort to help the poor, so he is not completely a pawn. He clings to the idea as Will puts it, to go backward to a simple society, wherre people have diisease which is not treated, food shortages which will come from UN calls to eliminate red meat and put farmers out of business. Why does the Pope not question why the US uses science to heat the ionosphere and chenge climate for the worse? The Pope in short seems completely to lace reason.

Bless you, my son, and may your search be rewarded.

I'd like to modify the above first sentence to that statement pertaining to my faith.
People here do influence my thinking in other topics. freedomforall comes to mind.

Globalizing Argentina's downward mobility. Wow.

You're not going to change the way I think.
And I'm not the only Christian on this board.
The Gulch is an odd conservative place where discussion of religion is against the rules--or maybe only in a certain way.
But what does the Gulch attract due to AS movies?
Generally conservatives or a Constitution-clinging libertarian like myself, who used to be a Republican.
And then we have these posts about such things as the pope and Kim Davis.

Perhaps not.
But Will is a very public figure whose income depends on a following. If he gets too harsh in his criticism, he might lose some readers. That's Trump's big advantage, he doesn't care who he pisses off, and it is refreshing to the populace.