On his radio show, Peikoff invited listeners to call in with philosophical questions. Unfortunately, Peikoff seemed to believe that philosophy gave him the power to look inside men's minds, and determine their true motivations on the basis of a single question. Peikoff never hesitated to tear into someone, once he had "determined," from reading their question, that they were dishonest. Here's an example:
Moderator: Here's a curious question from Bill in Moro Bay, California. He asks, "What would you think of someone starting a local church of Objectivism?" He is defining a local church as a small organization that regularly brings a few families in the community together to participate in strictly positive forums and lectures that celebrate life in alignment with objective principles. For the convenience of its members, it would allow Objectivism to be spoken of as a religion.As you can see, Peikoff called the questioner a liar, a coward, and referred to him as "The Creature From Moro Bay," all on the basis of a question that could have been perfectly innocent, and due to honest error. Nice fellow, Peikoff, eh?Peikoff: I'm sure they would find that very convenient. A church is a building of God, and of religion, and religion is by definition a belief in the Supernatural and self-sacrifice, on faith. This would be a total lie to call it a church of Objectivism, because we're atheists. We don't believe in the Supernatural, we reject faith in favor of reason, we reject every tenet of religion. This would be tantamount to saying that if you have a rational philosophy, that's a religion. That's what every person who attacks Objectivism claims. It would be the destruction of Objectivism. Are you then going to call me a priest? Are you then going to say that every time you sleep with your wife, this is really a higher celibacy? This is a lie on the scale of Clinton when he says it's not sex, it's just oral relations. The only motive for this is cowardice. It's nothing higher or more complicated than this. This creature from Moro Bay wants to say, "Don't be mad at me, I'm just like you. I've got a religion. I go to church." That is shameful! Better to join the church than to put Objectivism into that disgusting category.
Unfortunately, it's all too typical behavior for Peikoff.
After a station break, Peikoff announced that after a "heated discussion" with his co-workers, he decided that he had unfairly insulted Bill, from Moro Bay, and apologized for implying that Bill was a coward and a liar.
Of course, anyone with common sense wouldn't have insulted Bill in the first place.