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 Off-Topic / Debate / 20754
20753  |  20755
Subject: 
Re: Property Rights are the foundation of freedom
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date: 
Wed, 30 Apr 2003 21:03:01 GMT
Viewed: 
538 times
  
Wow, I make a post, go to lunch, come back and the thread now is about me
and my religion.

In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Richard Marchetti writes:
In lugnet.off-topic.debate, David Koudys writes:
My compassion, I like to think, comes from my Christian values, but that
sounds stupid--I'd be compassionate no matter what I believed in, 'cause
it's the right thing to do, no matter your porfessed god (or lack thereof).

Excellent!

Or is this a great tangent, like the ones I take everybody on?

Yes and no.  All debates revolve around appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos.
In English these are ethical, logical, and emotional appeals; repectively.

In mentioning Xtianity, I was remembering Costello's trust in a praying U.S.
President who seeks guidance from on high. Having recognized his ethical
concerns, I appealed to Costello on that level. The Xtian ethic I called
into question was that of compassion, as a desirable trait.

Although I do trust in the current president, and appreciate his commitment
to religion, this in now way should be misinterpreted as a blind faith and
trust in anyone else religious. Please don't assume all Christians are brain
washed drones. I approach each situation with a completely open mind, and
can easily differentiate between GWB and David Koresch. I didn't trust
Clinton and he regularly prayed and attended church.

I mentioned Ford selling to his own employees as an appeal to logic that
supports capitalism in a purer, less offensive, form.

And I noted the actual harm suffered by workers abroad as an appeal to
pathos -- in the hopes that Costello had it in him to feel the suffering of
others just a little. This is actually where I began, and was linked to my
final point concerning Xtian ethics more generally.

My position has nothing to do with compassion or empathy toward the status
of the poor workers, I do really feel for them. I am so blessed to have been
born to parents who live in a free country and had good enough jobs that I
never went hungry. I truely believe that if these impoverished countries
were able to experience economic freedom their lives would be better. These
people should be protected and given every opportunity under the law to
succeed economically, and I believe that a free market economy benefits
everyone.

The issue is not that I do not see what you see, nor understand what you
understand, the true issue is that our solutions are different. I believe
that empowering individuals by giving them the freedom to choose who to work
for, or to start their own business is the best answer. I also belive that
too much government regulation hurts business, which in turn hurts workers.

Make sense now?

Taking potshots at Xtianity is just a fun hobby of mine -- no more or less
tedious than the missionaries that show up at my own door from time to time.

Finally as a non religious person, what is the source of your compassion?
True darwinism calls for survival of the fittest, your commitment on a
certain level to compassion betrays your lack of belief in a higher power.



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Property Rights are the foundation of freedom
 
(...) A firm belief in the win-win scenario. Despite my grousing, I am an optimist and an idealist. The optimal result is achieved when everybody wins. When I was in college and faced with the mind-numbing task of having to instantly recall (...) (22 years ago, 30-Apr-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Property Rights are the foundation of freedom
 
(...) Excellent! (...) Yes and no. All debates revolve around appeals to ethos, logos, and pathos. In English these are ethical, logical, and emotional appeals; repectively. In mentioning Xtianity, I was remembering Costello's trust in a praying (...) (22 years ago, 30-Apr-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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