Monday, June 11, 2018
Monday, May 7, 2018
Starting up again...
I haven't published in "Old Guy's Rants" for a while. However, I've recently spent quite a bit of time on social media, arguing things that can be better argued and understood in a longer format, and as an actually "thought out" post, rather than as a reaction to someone else's thinking.
So I'm starting up again.
What made me do it was the attitude that some folks have that their reasoning is always correct, while they lovingly embrace false premises, just because they like them or they sound good. An excellent example of this is the current identity politics, in which someone is assumed to be a bad person if he is not part of a certain racial or social group, or if he doesn't espouse the "correct theories" about gender.
So here are some of my premises.
God exists. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He is the Creator of all.
Man is His highest creation, and mankind stems from ONE man.
Mankind was once "untested good," but he was marred when he ate the forbidden fruit, and now is both good and evil. Some people are truly evil. Others seem very good. All are a mixture.
God sent His Son Jesus Christ to set people free from evil and sin, and to give them everlasting life with Him forever.
Anyone may have this, if he or she wants it. Rejecting God's offer of freedom and life is destructive both in the now and in the future.
Rejection of God is at the root of human sorrow and human evil, and causes untold misery and pain.
Rejection of God is the reason that God will condemn large segments of mankind to eternal destruction, as described in Revelation 20.
Nobody will escape the judgment of God. Nobody.
Death is definitely not the worst thing that can happen to you. Unless it's the "second death."
Christianity is the hope of the world, of mankind, of the universe.
Experience is the best teacher, if properly applied.
"Knowledge" can be true or false, depending on the level of reality that it embraces.
There are lots of other things, which, if you follow along, you will learn.
I reject other premises. Those you will definitely see, if you follow along.
I believe in the inductive method, which involves gathering evidence and then making a decision about important matters. Often this method collates the experiences of many people and brings them into focus.
The deductive method can be useful, as long as it's properly applied, but deduction often does not recognize the premises from which that deduction is made.
For example, the Dodge truck is a cool truck. It looks great, it sounds great. There are lots of them here in Payson. What's missing here is objective fact: How does it handle? Is it reliable? Is it durable?
The answers to the above three questions of fact tell a somewhat different story, which you can read on the various auto sites.
So we might say that experience is an excellent teacher, but multiple experiences over time is extremely important in knowing whether to buy a particular vehicle--especially since many of them are now going to cost you north of $50,000.
MATH is important. Lots of people I know are mathematical idiots. No offense intended, of course, but if you don't know that doubling your interest rate will double your payment, you had best take a finance course, or learn on your own.
People lie. This comes from the fact that everyone is a mixture of good and evil. Therefore facts must always be used to test what folks say. For example: "Free trade is good." Is it? It's certainly good for some. However, when you see that "free trade" is essentially code for "Let's export jobs so we can make money," that doesn't work so well, because those who've had their jobs exported now must live without their necessary income.
"The problem with the US is racism." Is it? or is that just a way of making money from a political position, and of dividing people who ought to be / could be friends?
"We have no obligation to poor people." Really. That's something usually said by people who are not poor. It's rarely a position espoused by someone who doesn't know where his next meal is coming from.
We should honor (undocumented) immigrants and let them stay here. The problem with this statement is that the entire statement actually is embodied in what's in the parentheses. This is not a moral issue. It's a political one. The person who wants "undocumented" immigrants in the US is that they never ever want them in their own neighborhoods. In other words, they like the idea, but not the reality.
Same for many other things. When you are trying to see if someone is lying, ask about their personal consistency and their own lives. If, for example, someone is discussing "gun control," be sure to find out if they have any firearms of their own, or if they have any security of any kind.
Words that lie: "Reproductive rights." That's a two lies for the price of one, and the essential question is, "Whose rights?" The concept is abortion, not reproduction, by the way.
You might want to ask, for example, if your local animal rights activist believes in evolution (most do). We usually call that "survival of the fittest;" therefore if the pandas are endangered, it's because they should die. I don't believe that, by the way, but consistency is difficult to find in most of our lives.
I confess to being inconsistent a from time to time. However, I think I know when I am consistent and when I'm not. Mostly.
I hate lies. Really hate them. My hatred of lies comes from my own heart, which is black, and from my experiences with the consequences of lying--both to oneself, and to others.
OK. I think I've ranted enough. I'm planning on discussing things with you all that impact our lives on a daily basis, from the exquisite comfort of my living room. Retirement is fun. I can say what I want, and unless you are willing to brave the machine gun emplacement in my yard, I can do so with impunity. Just kidding. Maybe.
So I'm starting up again.
What made me do it was the attitude that some folks have that their reasoning is always correct, while they lovingly embrace false premises, just because they like them or they sound good. An excellent example of this is the current identity politics, in which someone is assumed to be a bad person if he is not part of a certain racial or social group, or if he doesn't espouse the "correct theories" about gender.
So here are some of my premises.
God exists. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He is the Creator of all.
Man is His highest creation, and mankind stems from ONE man.
Mankind was once "untested good," but he was marred when he ate the forbidden fruit, and now is both good and evil. Some people are truly evil. Others seem very good. All are a mixture.
God sent His Son Jesus Christ to set people free from evil and sin, and to give them everlasting life with Him forever.
Anyone may have this, if he or she wants it. Rejecting God's offer of freedom and life is destructive both in the now and in the future.
Rejection of God is at the root of human sorrow and human evil, and causes untold misery and pain.
Rejection of God is the reason that God will condemn large segments of mankind to eternal destruction, as described in Revelation 20.
Nobody will escape the judgment of God. Nobody.
Death is definitely not the worst thing that can happen to you. Unless it's the "second death."
Christianity is the hope of the world, of mankind, of the universe.
Experience is the best teacher, if properly applied.
"Knowledge" can be true or false, depending on the level of reality that it embraces.
There are lots of other things, which, if you follow along, you will learn.
I reject other premises. Those you will definitely see, if you follow along.
I believe in the inductive method, which involves gathering evidence and then making a decision about important matters. Often this method collates the experiences of many people and brings them into focus.
The deductive method can be useful, as long as it's properly applied, but deduction often does not recognize the premises from which that deduction is made.
For example, the Dodge truck is a cool truck. It looks great, it sounds great. There are lots of them here in Payson. What's missing here is objective fact: How does it handle? Is it reliable? Is it durable?
The answers to the above three questions of fact tell a somewhat different story, which you can read on the various auto sites.
So we might say that experience is an excellent teacher, but multiple experiences over time is extremely important in knowing whether to buy a particular vehicle--especially since many of them are now going to cost you north of $50,000.
MATH is important. Lots of people I know are mathematical idiots. No offense intended, of course, but if you don't know that doubling your interest rate will double your payment, you had best take a finance course, or learn on your own.
People lie. This comes from the fact that everyone is a mixture of good and evil. Therefore facts must always be used to test what folks say. For example: "Free trade is good." Is it? It's certainly good for some. However, when you see that "free trade" is essentially code for "Let's export jobs so we can make money," that doesn't work so well, because those who've had their jobs exported now must live without their necessary income.
"The problem with the US is racism." Is it? or is that just a way of making money from a political position, and of dividing people who ought to be / could be friends?
"We have no obligation to poor people." Really. That's something usually said by people who are not poor. It's rarely a position espoused by someone who doesn't know where his next meal is coming from.
We should honor (undocumented) immigrants and let them stay here. The problem with this statement is that the entire statement actually is embodied in what's in the parentheses. This is not a moral issue. It's a political one. The person who wants "undocumented" immigrants in the US is that they never ever want them in their own neighborhoods. In other words, they like the idea, but not the reality.
Same for many other things. When you are trying to see if someone is lying, ask about their personal consistency and their own lives. If, for example, someone is discussing "gun control," be sure to find out if they have any firearms of their own, or if they have any security of any kind.
Words that lie: "Reproductive rights." That's a two lies for the price of one, and the essential question is, "Whose rights?" The concept is abortion, not reproduction, by the way.
You might want to ask, for example, if your local animal rights activist believes in evolution (most do). We usually call that "survival of the fittest;" therefore if the pandas are endangered, it's because they should die. I don't believe that, by the way, but consistency is difficult to find in most of our lives.
I confess to being inconsistent a from time to time. However, I think I know when I am consistent and when I'm not. Mostly.
I hate lies. Really hate them. My hatred of lies comes from my own heart, which is black, and from my experiences with the consequences of lying--both to oneself, and to others.
OK. I think I've ranted enough. I'm planning on discussing things with you all that impact our lives on a daily basis, from the exquisite comfort of my living room. Retirement is fun. I can say what I want, and unless you are willing to brave the machine gun emplacement in my yard, I can do so with impunity. Just kidding. Maybe.
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