Quick Question

For any one problem we face in our world there are a variety of solutions that are suggested. One very real problem in our society is crime, more specifically violent crime. As I stated in my post entitled The Second Amendment: Ensuring Freedom  it is not beyond my realm of understanding when people connect violent crime with firearms. Someone shooting another person doesn't leave us much of an alternative. Either it was firearm related or it wasn't...end of story. The solution to said problem, from gun control advocates and the media, is usually that we should get firearms out of the hands of criminal. Now, I'd like to say for the record that I agree wholeheartedly with that notion. If we could find a way to give the honest citizen an upper hand on the criminals then that would be GREAT! Now for the question, how do you suggest we disarm the criminals without disarming the honest law abiding citizenry? Yes ma'am, you had your hand raised. Do you have an idea?

"I sure do. What if we had strict regulations defining what types of firearms are legal for the average citizen?"

Well, that is an interesting idea. In fact, it is an idea that our legislators had several years ago and we do have strict regulations regarding types of firearms that citizens are allowed to own. For instance, unless we are actively in the military we are not allowed to have fully automatic firearms. Even in the military those are kept under lock and key unless they are needed. Furthermore, we only recently came out from under a restriction on the capacity of magazine that we could have for our firearms, and of course this can vary from state to state. Does anyone else have an idea. Yes sir, go ahead.

"What if we just outlawed all firearms that are not used for hunting. You know, like hunting rifles and shotguns."

Okay, sir, that is another plausible idea. Let me answer your question by asking you one. Are hunting rifles any less dangerous than any other kind of weapon?

"No, of course not. Okay, then how about we outlaw handguns and stop allowing paranoid gun nuts to carry concealed."

Fair enough. I suppose if we did some research we would find that the majority of crimes are committed with handguns. So it seems reasonable to go ahead and outlaw those. What about the Second Amendment?

"Awwww, you know that was meant to protect our ability to have a national guard. Duh."

So you're saying that we should leave the gun handling to trained professionals. By the way, even the National Guard doesn't get to take their weapons home with them. Just like the regular military they are kept under lock and key. Furthermore, unless they are going to the range most Guard armories don't even have ammunition. Okay, let me ask you this; is there always a law enforcement officer around when you need one? Are they able to stop 100% of the violent crime because they are ever present? Does a police officer live in your house and follow you around wherever you go?

"Well no. I don't guess they can."

Would you like to live in a police state?

"No." 

Alright, now its my turn to ask some questions. What makes a criminal a criminal? Is it that they have guns?

"No, a person is a criminal if they break the law."

Very good, breaking the law is, and should be, what defines someone as a criminal. Now, if someone is willing to break the law by robbing a store, breaking into your house, raping a woman, or dealing drugs don't you think they would be willing to break the law and get a gun? Furthermore, if gun ownership does not define criminality don't you think they could find some other weapon to use for their purposes. Let me say it this way, are guns the only dangerous things? Did the hijackers of 9/11 have guns? Did they use guns, or even bombs to carry out their criminal acts? Maybe we should outlaw airplanes.

"That's ridiculous! What are you getting at anyway? Are you saying everyone should have a gun? This isn't the wild west RV. That would be an uncivilized and chaotic society."

Would it be? Let's just think about that for a moment. I know that if I have in my mind that I'm going to go pull a gun in Walmart in order to get what I want but I realize that a high percentage of the other patrons are armed, I know my chances of getting out of their uninjured or alive are mighty slim. I absolutely agree that known criminals should have an exceedingly hard time getting firearms because we have a pretty good idea what their going to do with them. The fact of the matter is that if someone wants a gun they are going to get one whether or not it is through the legal channels.

"Fine then, let's just collect all the guns and toss them into the ocean. Then no one will have any."

Well, that's one solution but there are several problems with it. First of all, that's going to cost a lot of money. Secondly, how are you going to know you got them all. If someone purchased a gun illegally then there isn't going to be any paper trail to let the authorities know they have it. Then, once 90% of the guns are gone they will know that the chances of success for their criminal activity have just gone through the roof. You can mark my words, if you tried something like that violent gun crime would skyrocket. You will have just let the wolves in with the sheep and removed the shepherd's staff and sling. Finally, why are you going to punish the millions of law abiding gun owners and sportsmen that use their firearms for perfectly legal and just things like hunting, self defense, sport shooting and collecting?

"RV, asking some people to give up their freedom for the protection of society is perfectly fine with me."

I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Did you say "Heil Hitler"?

RV

Altruism, Ayn Rand and Christianity.

Photo courtesy of eddie60

One of the more controversial authors in our time has been Ayn Rand, in particular her book Atlas Shrugged. To call her work "conservative" would almost be an understatement. In fact, it may be closer to libertarian but in the end I'm not sure any particular label would fit. No matter what you call it, it is clear that the world that Rand pictures in Atlas Shrugged is strikingly similar to the one in which we find ourselves today. Government had grabbed far more power than it was given in the Constitution and personal achievement and success were demonized.

To be sure, Rand intended this book to be an opus of her philosophy and how it fit into American society and the free-market system. One of the ideas that caused so many ruffled feathers at the time, and still today, was that of the virtue of selfishness. My understanding of this idea is that it is good and right for you to want to live life on your own terms and enjoy success and achievement that allows you to live that life. One could almost sum this up in the phrase from the Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." As a side-note I have no doubt that Ayn Rand was patriotic and loved the United States. In fact, her ideas were very closely aligned with those of the Founding Fathers.It was this love for freedom and her country that led her to write such a volatile warning of what could happen if we are not careful.

Lest I get bogged down in other matters I need to move on so that the main point of this post will be addressed.

One of the root problems that Ayn Rand saw in our collective philosophy was the notion of "altruism." This could be understood to mean that other people are more important than I am and, thus, I am willing to sacrifice my own well-being on their behalf. This is seen in the act of a soldier falling on a grenade in order to save his comrades. It is also seen in giving sacrificially so that others who are suffering may have what they need. To Rand this conflicted with her philosophy of selfishness because it hindered you, the productive and creative member of society, from reaching your full potential for success and achievement.

Herein lies the problem. As a committed Christian I am convinced that altruism is a virtue. In John 15:13 Jesus tells us that there is no greater love that laying one's life down for his friends. We are commanded to take care of those who are marginalized by society or cannot otherwise take care of themselves. On the other hand as a constitutional patriot I firmly believe in the ideals of freedom, liberty and the individual's right to pursue their own destiny. So for that part, I am a fan of Rand's political philosophy. The question then is this, "Can Ayn Rand's philosophy cooperate with the Biblical Christian worldview?"Personally, I believe the answer is "Yes," and that is the position I want to defend in this post.

It is no secret that Ayn Rand was NOT a Christian. In fact, if my understanding is correct, she was an avowed atheist. This in and of itself would appear to pose a significant problem to Christians. However, I believe the truth is quite the opposite and here is why:

1) All truth is God's truth. Truth is not something that is relative, a moving target, or completely out of the reach of humanity. If something is true, then it is true for all people, for all time, everywhere. Furthermore, truth relates to the way things actually are. This is called "Correspondence Theory." That is, if I say something is true then it must correspond with the way things actually are. God, as a result of who He is, knows all truth and according to His Son Jesus, He is the Truth. Therefore, it does not matter what type of person discovers a particular truth, if it is true, then God agrees. This opens the door for Christians to glean truth from multiple sources like Greek philosophy, etc. Of course, the ultimate source of truth for humanity is found in the Bible and any so-called truth that contradicts what is revealed in the Bible is not truth. However, truth that is found outside of the Bible that corresponds with, or is not contradicted by, the Bible is fair game. For our purposes here, if Ayn Rand proclaims a truth it doesn't matter if she doesn't believe in God, it is still truth.

2) Altruism itself is not the problem. Because Ayn Rand was a promoter of freedom and liberty I have a hard time believing that she would fault anyone for giving or sacrificing by their own freewill. The problem is that because it is a commonly held virtue, it has now become a nationally mandated virtue. Here is where we really run into problems on the governmental level. The reasoning runs something like this: It is right and good to give and sacrifice for those who are less fortunate (altruism). You have achieved success and prosperity unlike many others. Therefore, since you will not give of your own freewill to help others we will take it from you because you are greedy and selfish. Then we will distribute it as we see fit. In Rand's mind the virtue of altruism had led to governmental thievery and quenching of personal achievement. This is where I see my Christians convictions and the political philosophy of Ayn Rand coinciding. I too believe that mandated altruism is wrong. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is not altruism at all. The Bible is clear that God wants us to give out of a heart of love for him and for other people, and to do so cheerfully; not out of obligation. The virtue of altruism is no virtue at all if it is no longer voluntary but forced. John Wesley has given us a great model that I think speaks to this subject. In paraphrase, he said that we should make all we can, save all we can, so that we can give all we can. The message of the virtue of selfishness is not that people should not help other people. In that case it would be categorically wrong. The message is that people should be allowed the freedom to pursue life as they see fit, to achieve personal success and then do as they see fit to help other people without the interference of the government.

With all of that being said, I do believe that the political philosophy of Ayn Rand coincides well with the Biblical Christian worldview. While I do not agree with everything that Rand stood for I do believe she stood for the same principles that our country was founded upon. She promoted freedom to be creative, freedom to succeed, freedom to believe what we want to believe and freedom to live our lives according to our desires and convictions.

RV

"Conservative Vision" by Dan Jarvis

Please take a look at this link and download and read this short paper by Dan Jarvis. It is as clear and concise as one could possibly make it.

http://danjarvis.us/?p=46

RV