Religion is evil – but is not the worst evil that men must confront.
CULTURE
A nation’s culture is the sum of the intellectual achievements of individual men, which their fellow-citizens have accepted in whole or in part, and which have influenced the nation’s way of life. Since a culture is a complex battleground of different ideas and influences, to speak of a ‘culture’ is to speak only of the dominant ideas, always allowing for the existence of dissenters and exceptions. — AYN RAND
Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Chapter 2, Part 2 of 3)
If we are to establish an objective, fact-based morality, we need to discover a final end–one toward which all of our other goals and values are properly aimed.
Greek Honor: A Monumental Achievement
I’ve been reading some of the Greek historians, and am struck by how different the general attitude of the Greeks was compared to that of the modern world’s. What stands out most is the pride they show in living morally. I suppose the contrast is so stark because,...
Villainy: An Analysis of the Nature of Evil (Part 3 of 5)
In analyzing the means by which evil men gain the power to destroy, the question can be raised: Is there some deeper theory that underlies the ethics of sacrifice and gives rise to it?
Villainy: An Analysis of the Nature of Evil (Part 2 of 5)
How does Adolf Hitler – a dropout, a ne’er-do-well, an unemployed and unemployable itinerant – acquire life-and-death power over the great scientists, industrialists and thinkers of Western Europe?
The Dangers of “Having Faith”
Does it make sense to "have faith" as a way of coping with life? Literally speaking, to "have faith" means to suspend reason. Reason includes looking at facts, logic and using simple common sense. Reason is our means of coping and, ultimately, survival. Reason is...
Villainy: An Analysis of the Nature of Evil (Part 1 of 5)
In the face of evil run rampant, it is crucially important to protect the benevolent universe premise.
Rights Before Religion: The Individual’s Right to Commit Suicide
Bush administration has no right to force such mindless, medieval misery upon doctors and patients who refuse to regard their precious lives as playthings of a cruel God.
“Intelligent Design”: Religion Masquerading as Science
Its advertising to the contrary notwithstanding, “intelligent design” is inherently a quest for the supernatural.
Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Part 7 of 7)
There is only one way to combat a morality that is against human life, and that is by embracing a morality that is for human life–a non-sacrificial morality–the morality of self-interest.
Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Part 6 of 7)
Altruism, in both its religious and its secular forms, is crippling the lives of real men, women, and children every day.
Loving Life: The Morality of Self-Interest and the Facts that Support It (Part 3 of 7)
or morality to be objective, it has to be based on a standard of value derived not from feelings, but from facts.
Labor Day: Time to Celebrate Man’s Mind
Why do Americans have no unique holiday to celebrate the creators, inventors and entrepreneurs who have made all of this wealth possible–the men of the mind?
The War Against Excellence
By attempting to make all students equal, middle-school progressives have given all students subject to their poisonous methods something in common — none can achieve their potential.
Bright Children: Stepchildren of the American Education System
Bright children and their parents have lost a much-needed friend with the recent death of Professor Julian Stanley of Johns Hopkins University. For decades he not only researched and ran programs for intellectually gifted students, he became their leading advocate in...
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation: The End of Slavery in America
“Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation” by Professor Allen C. Guelzo of Gettysburg College, that sets Lincoln in the context of the world in which he lived.
Dealing with Rumors
Q: How should one deal with rumors (especially false ones) about oneself? Should one spend her time chasing them down and trying to explain their false nature, or ignore them? Is there some other alternative? A: The first task is psychological: treat the rumors for...
The Terrorists’ Motivation: From the Camel’s Mouth
After the terrorist attacks of September 11, President Bush declared: "These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith." But the Muslim murderer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh knows better than our president, and recently...
Books: Understanding Jihad
Cook’s achievement lies in tracing the evolution of jihad from Muhammad to Osama, following how the concept has changed through fourteen centuries.
The Faith-Based Attack on Rational Government
America was established for a secular purpose: the protection of individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution neither mentions God (except to forbid religious tests for public office) nor imbues government with any religious purposes.
John Stuart Mill Illusion of Calculating “Social Utility”
What John Stuart Mill rejected in attempting to redesign society according to this shaky premise of “social utility” was the older tradition upon which the great achievements of winning liberty was based in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, the tradition of “natural rights.”
Red Star Over Hollywood: The Film Colony’s Long Romance With the Left
Ayn Rand was ridiculed and derided for years by journalists like Victor Navasky for her evaluation of Song of Russia. But she was completely correct.
The “Sin” of Pride
What does the Catholic Church stand for today? If one examines this question closely, the answer does not give cause for celebration.
The Bait and Switch of “Intelligent Design”
The central issue under debate is whether “intelligent design” is, in fact, a genuine scientific theory or merely a disguised form of religious advocacy–creationism in camouflage.
The Michael Jackson Trial
The good thing about the Michael Jackson trial is that it's currently the top headline news. Better this than another 9/11, a school shooting or thousands of soldiers killed in Iraq at one time. The bad thing about the Michael Jackson trial is that it's a sideshow....
College Admissions Voodoo
Every year about this time, high school students get letters of admission -- or rejection -- from colleges around the country. The saddest part of this process is not their rejections but the assumption by some students that they were rejected because they just didn't...
Oscar Without Glamour
Why Hollywood is losing its luster.
Supreme Court Should Uphold Rights, Not Majority Sentiment in Ten Commandments Cases
Judicial review, properly conceived, is merely one method among many by which judges resolve legal conflicts.
The Phonics vs. “Whole Language” Controversy
The controversy over how to teach reading is not a narrow, technical dispute. It is a broad, philosophic disagreement, with crucial educational implications.
Ayn Rand: A Legacy of Reason and Freedom
Ayn Rand left a legacy in defense of reason and freedom that serves as a guidepost for the American spirit–especially pertinent today when America and what it stands for are under assault.
Ayn Rand and Song of Russia: Communism and Anti-Communism in 1940s Hollywood
Ayn Rand called this movie pro-Soviet propaganda, a deliberate whitewash of the terrible reality of life under communism.
Children Having Children: A “Badge of Honor”?
A few years ago, I visited a friend living in Cleveland's inner city. As we sat on my friend's porch, not one, but two teenage girls -- visibly pregnant -- walked by. My friend cheerfully called out their names. They smiled and waved back as they continued walking. I...
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