Quotes: Infamous, satirical and inspirational

Moezel, Germany

Since my MPhil/PhD theses topics are theodicy/the problem of evil, I thought I would take a few infamous quotes and look at them through the lens of my academic study.

Please feel free to provide your own quotes/citations in comments.

Infamous quotes:

Stalin1

Stalin2

Death solves all problems - no man, no problem.

Joseph Stalin

My comment and take on what is meant:

Human opposition to Stalinist communist political philosophy is a problem.

Death for such persons is preferred.

Stalin3

Stalin4

Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas.

Joseph Stalin

My comment and take on what is meant:

Thinking intellectuals could be a threat to Stalinist communist political philosophy.

Non-intellectual citizens are preferred.

Mao1

Mao2

Communism is not love. Communism is a hammer which we use to crush the enemy.

Mao Tse-Tung

My comment and take on what is meant:

Communism is rule by dictatorial, totalitarian force.

No one must be allowed to be a serious threat to the State.

Mao3

Mao4

Passivity is fatal to us. Our goal is to make the enemy passive.

Mao Tse-Tung

My comment and counter to what is stated:

Communism is a threat to democracy.

Political freedoms should be maintained through diligence.

Hitler1

Propaganda must not serve the truth, especially as it might bring out something favorable for the opponent.

Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf.

Below appears to be a more full citation:

Hitler2

Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favourable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side. Mein Kampf, Chapter VI War Propaganda

My comment:

Propaganda uses persuasian.

Propaganda appeals to emotion.

Propaganda uses filtered information.

It is not necessarily truth.

A few years ago I came up with the idea of putting the words promotion and propaganda together.

Promoganda.

I am not stating that I am the originator of the word. But at that point I had never heard of it or seen it. I have since then seen it on the web elsewhere.

Satirical quotes:

Wilde1

Wilde2

Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much. Oscar Wilde

On a British comedy T.V. program in 2004, Jonathan Ross stated that a Muslim extremist suicide bomber was expecting to be taken to heaven where he would be rewarded with 72 virgins. Instead he was given a 72 year old virgin.

Inspirational quotes:

My comment:

The way of Biblical salvation and the ultimate benefits.

John 14:1-6 (New American Standard Bible)

1"(A)Do not let your heart be troubled; [a]believe in God, believe also in Me.
2"In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for (B)I go to prepare a place for you.
3"If I go and prepare a place for you, (C)I will come again and receive you to Myself, that (D)where I am, there you may be also.
4"And you know the way where I am going."
5(E)Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"
6Jesus said to him, "I am (F)the way, and (G)the truth, and (H)the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Revelation 21:1-9 (New American Standard Bible)

1Then I saw (A)a new heaven and a new earth; for (B)the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
2And I saw (C)the holy city, (D)new Jerusalem, (E)coming down out of heaven from God, (F)made ready as a bride adorned for her husband.
3And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, (G)the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will (H)dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them[a],
4and He will (I)wipe away every tear from their eyes; and (J)there will no longer be any death; (K)there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; (L)the first things have passed away."
5And (M)He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am (N)making all things new " And He said, "Write, for (O)these words are faithful and true."
6Then He said to me, "(P)It is done I am the (Q)Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end (R)I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the (S)water of life without cost.
7"(T)He who overcomes will inherit these things, and (U)I will be his God and he will be My son.
8"(V)But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in (W)the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the (X)second death."
9(Y)Then one of the seven angels who had the (Z)seven bowls full of the (AA)seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "(AB)Come here, I will show you the (AC)bride, the wife of the Lamb."

Short audio post: fideism (too much reliance on faith)

Fiji

This is an audio post version of some text last provided on my thekingpin68 blog in October 2008.

I will add some further comments within the audio.

Thanks. The short mps3 audio post is below and I provide some of the related text.

fi.mp3

Definitions

Blackburn writes that fideism takes a pessimistic view concerning the role of reason for achieving divine knowledge. The emphasis is instead on the merits of acts of faith. Blackburn (1996: 139).

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Stanford

'The term itself derives from fides, the Latin word for faith, and can be rendered literally as faith-ism.'

'Fideism” is the name given to that school of thought—to which Tertullian himself is frequently said to have subscribed—which answers that faith is in some sense independent of—if not outright adversarial toward—reason. In contrast to the more rationalistic tradition of natural theology, with its arguments for the existence of God, fideism holds that reason is unnecessary and inappropriate for the exercise and justification of religious belief.'

According to R.K. Johnston, fideism is a term used by Protestant modernists in Paris in the late 19th century. It is often used as a pejorative term to attack various strands of Christianity as forms of irrationalism. Johnston (1999: 415).

Johnston explains that the concept of fideism has little value as most theologians would not deny the use of reason. The term fideism is useful when it describes an excessive emphasis upon the subjective aspects of Christianity. Johnston (1999: 415).

My propositions/premises:

Fideism can be religious and non-religious

It appears to me that many persons with both religious and non-religious worldviews at times concerning certain subjects are fideists. They operate with an over reliance on faith, as they rely heavily on the understanding of their own worldview and perspective at the expense of other views and evidence which may challenge their own ideas.

Fideism in an unorthodox fashion could be defined as faith over reason in the rejection of religious truth.

The my team is best (comfort as truth) approach is problematic

To use figurative language, just because someone is born onto the green team, or has had an intellectual and/or emotional experience with the green team and joined it, does not make the green team the team with the most truth in comparison to the blue, red, yellow, black, or white teams, etc.

Whether or not the green team is essentially correct in worldview is dependent on reason and evidence, and faith can be involved.

Faith has its place

I am not against faith. Christianity is dependent on reasonable faith, as God revealed himself historically through scribes, prophets, apostles and Christ himself. This took place over 1500 years and through various persons and in various regions. It was documented in Scripture and individual books were copied many times. There was also oral tradition. Christianity also relies on philosophy, as in, for example, the concept of first cause, and archaeology to verify that places described in the Bible actually existed as described.

There is not complete objectivity

I do not claim complete objectivity. In many ways we are made up of what we read, hear, and experience. But, in a sense all things are intellectually up for grabs, and up for intellectual challenge. We hold the primary doctrines of Christianity as essential and they can be defended well with Bible, theology and philosophy and at times other disciplines. We trust that God has revealed himself and is guiding his own through the Holy Spirit.

Lack of significant objectivity is intellectually deadly

In a fideistic approach human beings that insist something must be true will likely find an intellectual way for it to be true, no matter what the evidence. One should make as certain as possible that evidence is guiding one to conclusions concerning truth. Being guided by God in the process of finding truth is of course of primary importance.

Conclusion

I would therefore conclude that proper reasonable religious philosophy needs a heavy dose of rational thought that works with faith. In other words, it presents itself reasonably in order that more faith is warranted.

An example would be the documented Biblical, historical resurrection of Christ that is clearly presented in Scripture. It lends itself (1 Corinthians 15) to the theological concept that believers shall likewise one day too be resurrected within a reasonable faith.

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

JOHNSTON, R.K.(1996) ‘Fideism’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.) Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

Magic Island, Hawaii

Classic video revisited with more explanation


I saw this on the Tonight Show. Staged.

Hoax