[Alive]

Quote by: Objectivist History upholds everything that I have said. Christians believe that altruism is an ideal. Objectivism holds that that is the greatest sin. Nothing good has come from the belief that you must sacrifice yourself for others. Only the countless wars and bloodshed.

Um, you are not responding to my point. My point was that for Christians, love was always conditional. It was not the love that lead to wars, but the hatred (broadly defined) present in the religion and/or its institutions. Pacifist sects of Christianity do not fight wars, which proves in itself that love of others isn't the cause of war.

In other words, if everyone took up an unconditionally altruistic religion war would stop. It is not the love in Christianity that brings wars but the hate, which itself does not depend on the love.

Why are we concerned of the past? Concern yourself of the present and what applies to the world currently as we see it. The realities of the present make an impact on us, not the actions of the past.

Uh, I wasn't the one who brought up Marxism and Christian wars. The past is revealing because it tells us things about the present. It is also simply an interesting subject in its own right. So tell me, do you think objectivism is only a religion for our time and not for all time?

It is self-interest to hold an evil-doer accountable. It might save your life or protect you from them.

Or it might not. Consider a murderer who kills people at random, in a huge population. Your own chance of dying is very small, so going after him at full risk and cost to yourself is against your self interest. However, if everyone else thinks that way, the murderer can get away killing people free. The guy who decides to punish the murderer at his own cost and therefore benefit the rest of society is doing an altruistic act.

It is simply a mathematical fact that punishment for crime can only be explained altruistically under certain conditions.

Because when you lie you fake reality. Reality is what you live in, it's where you exist. Do you want to live a fake life? Is it rational to want to live in something that does not exist?

When you lie you misrepresent reality to other people for your own benefit. This does not "fake reality" for yourself. It is completely rational to lie for personal benefit if all you are interested in is self-benefit. If you are an altruist, on the other hand, honesty makes sense as a way to benefit others.