Kicking Against the Pricks 10: Still Kicking, by Anton Thorn

Kicking Against the Pricks

Volley No. 10: Still Kicking

by Anton Thorn

Mr. X,

You write:

"What are these 'individual rights' you keep talking about? Can you outline them for me?"

Thorn responds:

Yes, I can, but I will not. It is time for you to sing and dance, Mr. X. A few messages ago, you wrote: "The Declaration of Independence had its foundations in Christian thought..." (see Volley 4). However, you still have not shown me where the Bible, as the source of "Christian thought," offers a coherent philosophical doctrine of Man's rights, including an objective definition of the concept 'rights' as well as an elaboration of the principles in that concept's formation. Furthermore, you have not shown how certain biblical ideas, such as I identified in earlier messages, can be integrated with an objective doctrine of Man's rights.

Also, I have already referred you to sources which address your question above. You mention below that you check all the references I have included in my messages to you, so why do you need me to hold your hand here?

Enough of your cowardly red herrings. Get to the point, or mind your manners and move on.

You write:

"So, if the universe is the sum total of existence, where was this existence before there was a universe?"

Thorn responds:

Mr. X, I already told you to watch your stolen concepts. Your flagrant reliance on them is an embarrassment to yourself. Your question amounts to: Where was the universe before there was a universe? Or, as if I were to ask you: Where were you before there was a 'you'? Such questions are meaningless.

You write:

"Yes, Causality DOES presuppose existence."

Thorn responds:

But in your last message, you asserted that "causality is at the heart of existence," which I corrected (see Volley 9). Now you suddenly agree with me! Good grief! Can you ever be consistent in your thoughts and position?

You write:

"I argue that God is existence; the universe is a creation of this existence."

Thorn responds:

Okay. Let's see your argument. Begin by identifying your starting points, the bedrock of your reasoning, if you can. (Mr. X eventually offered a version of the cosmological or 'first cause' argument, which I deal with in Volley 11, even though in Volley 3 he admitted that he could not prove his claims, but relied on faith.)

You write:

"Did you even read what the definition of 'faith' is that I provided, and the meaning of having faith 'to move mountains'?"

Thorn responds:

Sure. Indeed I did. When shall I dispose of my glasses???

You write:

"By the way, I do check out all the references you send me."

Thorn responds:

Oh? Really? Have you tried reading and comprehending them?

Face the facts, Mr. X: You have no case whatsoever, neither for your particular brand of god-belief, nor against Objectivism. All your efforts to date have been a blistering failure to produce any results favorable to any position you've tried to argue so far.

Later,

Anton Thorn

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