The path to being human

Philosophy Forums Philosophy
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this question of being human revolves around
a key question, what is the essential act of being human?

What does it mean to be human?

and the answer seems clear enough to me,
what separates us, define us, is our ability to
make choices… evolution has, for animals anyway,
limited their choices… what defines an animal
is their instincts… and having instinct isn’t having
a choice… animals, as well as human beings are
instinctual… we have an instinct for survival, we have
an instinct to breed… and those instincts are
either stronger in some and weaker in others, but
it is still there…

My problem with most isms and ideologies is the lack of
choices they offer… capitalism is defined as the process
where individual workers are negated, defined by the
nihilism that is capitalism… we have no real choices within
capitalism… it’s either work or die… for example, in
America, to have health care, one must work… for health
care is tied into working… no work, no health care…
that is pretty much the bottom line in America today…
Obamacare is a choice offered too people…
but given the numbers, few enough people are able to,
or given the chance to go into Obamacare… for it still
takes money to go into Obamacare…
it is this lack of choices that keep us from being able
to take the next steps into becoming human…

to be human is to make choices… it is as simple as that…
and a lack of choices means we are, on that path from
going from animal to becoming human, a lack of
choices means we stand on the side of being animal,
not human…

If we were to view our humanity, we should view it
through the lens of our choices… being human is about
the choices we make… hence my objections to various
isms and ideologies… the path to becoming, to becoming
human lies within our choices… and the greater number
of choices, the better/closer we get to being/becoming
human… and if we were to view out choices in terms
of our current isms, we can see that, of the two choices,
liberalism and conservativism, that we have greater
choices with liberalism… and the path to becoming
human lies within the number of choices and the
possibilities that lie within those choices…

to be human is to make choices…
and let us examine on such ism to see if that ism
is about choices, or does it limit choices?

Christian Nationalism… that is the latest conservative
movement… which is tied into two separate idea’s,
one: that America is a Christian nation, and two,
that America first… and both of those choices, must
be rejected as they limit our choices as human beings…

So, let us tackle the Christian part first…
the belief that we are morally better if we were
Christian is refuted by the very actions of Christians
in America today… the majority of Christians in America
support IQ45… a man who has admitted to breaking every
single one of the 10 commandments… he has admitted to
sexual assault, ''Grab them by the pussy"" is admitting
to sexual assault and he has been convicted of sexually
assaulting a women… the Judge said that he, IQ45 did
rape her, but the laws in New York made it very hard to
convict him of rape… so, sexual assault was the best they
could charge him with… IQ45 has cheated on every wife
of his… he cheated with his first wife, with his second wife,
and he cheated on that wife with his third wife…
So how does cheating on his wife and sexually assaulting
women, fit into being a Christian?

And he certainly doesn’t put god first, he first and only
love is very clearly money… all his choices are defined
by his love of money… that is his go to option, money…
and how does that make him Christian?

Thou shall have no other god beside me…
thou shall not commit adultery… is one of the ten
commandments, thou shall not steal… he has broken
this one multiple times…
you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor…
his lies about practically everyone, shows us this is
another broken commandment…
And yet, Christians still believe that IQ45 is a Christian…
when he is clearly not…
to be a Christian requires one to hold to god’s laws/
commandments… and how many of god’s laws have
you broken in the last week? it seems to me that constantly
breaking god’s law in not consistent with the bible or the
ten commandments… and it is not Christian to do so…
and how does enforcing gods law on people, allowing
them their choices? this enforcement of god’s law isn’t
giving people a choice, and it doesn’t lead us to becoming
human… which is defined by our choices…

So, I reject the first part of Christian Nationalism, as
it fails to lead us to making choices… and what about
the second part… Nationalism…
My main objection here lies also with choices…
to proclaim that we must have ‘‘America first’’
is a limitation of choices… for that idea of
America first allows us to reject other countries,
to reject any values that isn’t ‘‘American’’..
but that leaves us with a problem,
what values/beliefs are specifically American?
and what of the choices that comes from following
specifically American values/beliefs? To be an
American means what exactly, and how does that
impact our choices? American nationalism is based on
the misguided belief that America has a unique
destiny, one that is different than other countries…
and yet, how are we to know this? what are the facts
or evidence for this American exceptionalism?
Just a belief, nothing more… and what binds
us before we call ourselves, Christian nationalist?

The fact of the matter is that we are human beings before
we are Christian and we are human beings before we
are Americans… to bottom line human beings, is to
note that we are human beings before we are anything
else… and this being human comes before any other
identity we might profess to… we are humans beings
before we decide on any other identity… and what is
the essential aspect of being human? that of being
able to make choices…

before we are conservatives or liberals, we are human beings…
the problem with conservatism is that it is about limiting
our choices, and liberalism is about expanding our
choices… recall the conservative’s belief that
human beings are born naturally evil, that we cannot
change our spots… a belief that stems from Machiavelli,
and the bible…that of being born of the son of Adam,
that we are born in sin… there is no choice there…
and being liberal is about the choices we make…

One of the central charges against liberals is that
they are subjective, individual… but that is the
way its suppose to be… for we can only make
choices if those choices are subjective…the
subjective path, as oppose to the objective path,
is to make choice the primary value of being human…
and that choices come from the subjective viewpoint, not
the objective viewpoint…objective is to limit our choices,
subjective increases our choices…

and where does this leave us?

Kropotkin

2

To be human is to exist consciously, in relation, with responsibility, and in search of meaning.

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and how are we to work out this notion that
existence is subjective and not objective?
some will say that by being subjective, we are
anarchists and will destroy our state/society…
but that isn’t true… the question is about the
choices we have and make…

In this regard, we must see that human beings can only
survive within the society/state… we cannot, under any
circumstances, survive alone, without the state/society…
it is simply not possible…so, this individualism/choices is tempered
by the realization that we can only exists within the state/society…
we can do no other… and given this extreme need for the state/
society, we must make choices that allow the state/society to
succeed… for if the state/society succeeds, we in turn
succeed and survive… if enough people harm the state/
society enough, it will fail… it is a simple notion…
we survive only if the state/society survives…
so, every choice we make must take into account
the success and failure of the state/society…we can
make choices that improves us individually, but not
damage us collectively, by damaging the state/society…
the misguided conservatives believe that we can succeed
without the state/society… we cannot… our individual
choices need not damage or destroy the state/society…
we can make choices that allow us to become better
human beings without harming the state/society…
it is this balance that allows us to individually prosper
and for us to collectively prosper… the conservatives
believe in one or the other, but the liberals believes that
possibilities are available to us… possibilities are
choices…

If our lives our open ended, we have choices, if
our choices are closed in, we don’t have choices…
conservative values of god and Christian nationalism
are closed values, they don’t lead us to having greater
choices, but in less choices…

Let us follow this into another topic…
that of the '‘meaning of life’" we have seen this
topic be of some interest… but what does it actually
mean? if our choices are limited to god or
we are limited to being good or evil, there isn’t
much in the way of choices here… for life to
have meaning, it must be about our choices…
What is the meaning of life?

we can through our choices, establish that the meaning
of life is found not in the limitations of god or in that
man is irretrievable evil, but in our subjective choices
to become who we are… which can be found within
our choices of being human… or said another way,
the meaning of life is subjective, not objective…

and what does this mean for us?

Kropotkin

4

Based on the earlier parts of your OP/replies, did you end up in favor of the bad form of anarchism? Or do you think we can treat each other as ends (against such things, there is no law) instead of means, and that there is an unlimited variety of possibilities of how to do that?

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Trump is of course an atheist. 99.9999% of the Christians who still believe that Trump is a Christian, are probably never going to read posts such as this. Christianity is Trump’s grift to America

Christian Nationalism… that is the latest conservative
movement… which is tied into two separate idea’s,
one: that America is a Christian nation, and two,
that America first… and both of those choices, must
be rejected as they limit our choices as human beings…

America is an Illuminati nation, a White Illuminati nation of masons and Gnostic Christians. The Illuminati was hijacked in the 1800s and is now under new management. Who it was hijacked by is anyone’s guess, but its not the same Illuminati of 1776. America was founded on separation between Church and State

To be an
American means what exactly

Usually when someone mentions it, it evokes a field full of Americans, with a stage in the middle of the field, someone important on it, with large speakers on either side with a subwoofer. Next to it is a Pepsi truck, and next to that is a booth with someone peddling something, probably brochures or beverages. Then fireworks go off, loudly, while everyone is standing with their nachos and cheese, in a red and white lace patterned carton.

It is effective because to be an American means also to ignore how America has started more wars than any other country, all the politicians are liars and crooks, and the land was stolen from the Indians. Political change never happens in this country, because they prefer the American fantasy (the nacho chips and fireworks) over acknowledging the reality.

The key is, when someone is 8 or if they are 12, and once they learn how crooked politicians really are… to keep on hating them. Hold on to the hatred. Society keeps talking about love this, love that, its part of the propaganda. These same morons keep going to the voting booths as if these politicians are going to be somehow different than all the others. They aren’t. The sooner people lose hope the better. If everyone could just hold on to their hatred of all politicians, instead of relapsing back and forth with all this false hope and make-believe shit, then things might actually change.

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Judging from what I read from you, PK and Mr. A. here, America (Amerika?) is not exactly a land of happy people.

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@Maxx

Freedom exists inside the United States if you have a lot of money to purchase it for a price tag, for everybody else there is only slavery and bondage. If you complain about that slavery and bondage they’ll tell you stop complaining or whining by getting a second to third job.

Peter would probably say something on the lines of, “Why aren’t you voting for the liberal democratic party?”

My retort would be that both political parties in this nation are controlled by the same scoundrels on Wallstreet. This is the reason why I hate democrats and republicans equally where I have overtime become communist.

The nation as it exists now is not worth fighting for or preserving. I wish nothing but the worse on this nation and on others whose makeup is similar.

:clown_face:

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@futureone
Pretty sure Donald Trump is our first Jewish president. He claims to be a Christian Zionist much like his predecessor before him also claimed to be, but then I see videos of him praying in Hebrew inside Jerusalem where not many Christians know how to speak Hebrew which leads me to believe he very well could be a closet Jew. I don’t know why he would be a closet Jew as half of his entire family is very publicly Chabad Lubavitch.

:clown_face:

9

I used to believe he was merely a bumbling puppet but I have been told the Trump legacy has a deep history with Zionism. Trump was probably playing us all for fools, the Trump presidency was probably pre-planned decades in advance. He was the only president nominated in the British royal society or some shit idk what its called

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Is “being human” synonymous with being a good person, ‘good’ defined in Jude-Christian ways?
Humanitarian…that’s being human?
Universalist?
Messianic?
Binary - good vs evil? Is that being ‘human.’

What is the proper way of being human?
Is it altruism?
Collectivism?
Is being Christian the best way to describe 'being human."

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Parable of the Good Samaritan

Who is the neighbor?

(Who is asking? About whom?)

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Ichthus, If we both claim that we don’t exist then we are both liars who exist because we both need to exist to claim that we don’t exist.So you are my neighbour and I am your neighbour and vice versa.Whether we posses life or not is irrelevant.

We exist and either possess life or we don’t posses life,

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An “expert in the law” asked, “And who is my neighbour?”

After the story, Jesus asks, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Many people forget the question.

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And, Bob?…what is your point? Are you an atheist? How can an atheist have mercy on a neighbour if the atheist doesn’t possess life (because the atheists claims to be a misrepresentation of reality-an illusion) to be able to have mercy on a neighbour?

We know that we both exist and are both liars if we claim otherwise because we both need to exist to claim that we don’t exist and we both know that we don’t exist if we don’t posses life.

You are trying to be wise Bob….you’re not.

You have no understanding whatsoever of what Jesus was trying to teach you.

We don’t exist if we don’t possess life and yet we do exist.

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Yes Christianity is being a good person.

The American military industrial complex is not Christian, it is the anti-Christ.

Christians need to tone down the woke open borders shit and get practical. Even if Jesus would support open borders. Its not practical

Before Christianity it was just a bunch of savages and barbarians. Rome went around crucifying people. Greeks went around acting like America and bullying other countries. More than 85% of the Spartan population were slaves. Then they were conquered by war-ape Persians.

Christianity should tone down the homophobia as well, its not natural. Most nations were much less homophobic before Christians invaded.

Catholics perverted Christianity and turned them into a bunch of militant invaders, crusaders, warmongers etc.

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Good without God? Sure. On your own steam? (life based on earning/meriting—the so-called “Protestant” work ethic)? Missing the point … and you’re gonna burn out. But faith (life/consent/trust) without works (fruit/evidence) is dead (fake as)—in other words, are you really alive? Or are you a tare among wheat (an ethical p-zombie, if you will)?

‘Tis the season for uncanny…ness.

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Sure you can jump the fence rather then go through the gate Ichthus….but it will do you no good.

We have been through this already and you wouldn’t listen.

Your choice.

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“Yes Christianity is being a good person.”

Can you give me an example of someone who would have lied, cheated, and stole in a happy society unless they found christianity?

Uh oh. See what I did there?

If not, then it’s not the christianity that’s making them a good person. Ergo, the good things christians do are not done because they are christian, but because in a happy society, one doesn’t need to do such things, so it doesn’t cross their mind, doesn’t become a survival strategy.

The christian is only proselytizing when he claims there is no moral intuition without god and that only because of god does and should he not want to lie, cheat, and steal.

Build a giant Skinner’s world and plant a generation in it, but don’t introduce them to christianity. Watch what happens.

Yeah, so don’t do that. Don’t blow a christian’s head up by calling him good because he’s a christian. It’s total baloney.

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Absolute Nonsense ….christianity is not about trying to be good enough at all.Its about the realisation that you will never be good enough no matter how many good works you do.Of course,there will be those jumping over the fence believing that their good works will be good enough.

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I’m a Christian and I don’t say that there is no moral intuition without God. Paul is a Christian (and a Jew) and he doesn’t say that, either. He says “they show…the law is written on their hearts” (Romans 2:15). The show part is that behaviorism you referenced.

The law is just the how. The life is the why. You call that “happy”.

How do you do the how when you’re not happy, if you don’t already have the happy (motivation)? If you know the Answer to that, you don’t have to live in a happy society to do the how without burning out. Because you’re only a source of why if you consent to the ultimate Why.

I think you’re maybe on the verge, but I don’t think you’re there yet. At least you haven’t shown yourself to be. Fear and tremble much?

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