Paul Ryan & Ayn Rand vs. Judeo-Christian Morality
Rep. Paul Ryan–the Republican VP nominee and author of the Republican budget–credits Ayn Rand as the reason he got in to politics, and he requires all his staff and interns to read her books. He has posted numerous videos on his FB page praising Rand and her morality. In one he said, “Ayn Rand more than anyone else did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism.” This is precisely the “Social Darwinist underbelly of the Republican Party” that conservative icons Marvin Olasky and Chuck Colson warned Democrats would be able to use to divide the GOP base and allow Democrats to peel off evangelical voters.
So who is Ayn Rand, and why this spike in interest in her teachings? Ayn Rand has resurfaced in recent years as the philosopher championed by the Tea Party and many prominent Republican leaders. But, as conservative evangelical icons Marvin Olasky and Chuck Colson pointed out, Ayn Rand’s strong atheism, absolute rejection of Christ’s teachings, and goal of replacing religion with her belief system stands in total opposition to all that which America’s faith community holds most dear. (Read more of Colson’s critiques and TIME’s coverage of this issue).
Below are quotes from Republican and conservative leaders praising Ayn Rand, Rands beliefs in her own words, as well as pertinent Scripture.
Republican and Conservative Leader Quotes
Rep. Paul Ryan: “Ayn Rand more than anyone else did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism…it is the morality of what is going on right now and how it offends the morality of individuals working toward their own free will that is under attack and it is that that I think Ayn Rand would be commenting on that we need more than ever.” “It’s that kind of thinking, that kind of writing that is sorely needed right now.” “I give out Atlas Shrugged as Christmas presents, and I make all my interns read it.” Ryan posted other videos on his Facebook page praising Rand, and he said Ayn Rand is the reason he entered politics and came to Washington.
Senator Rand Paul – “I am a fan of Ayn Rand and I’ve read all her novels.”
Sen. Ron Johnson called Atlas Shrugged “his foundational book.”
Glenn Beck - “Ayn Rand, you’ve got to love Ayn Rand. She’s great.” [Fox News, 6/15/10]
Rush Limbaugh – “The brilliant writer and novelist, Ayn Rand, has written about this. Let me give you a couple quotes from Ayn Rand on this.”
Rep. John Campbell – “People are starting to feel like were living through the scenario that happened in Atlas Shrugged.” And he gives his interns copies of Rand’s books.
Supreme Ct. Justice Clarence Thomas – “I tend really be partial to Ayn Rand, and to The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.” And he makes his law clerks watch The Fountainhead.
Majority Leader John Boehner attended a private screening by makers of the film Atlas Shrugged, along with conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart.
Fox and Friends declares the “Atlas Shrugged” movie a ‘victory for capitalism.”
Fox News Network promoted the “Atlas Shrugged” movie during their shows, including repeatedly airing the trailer and interviewing cast and crew members. [Fox News Network, 4/15/11, 4/9/11]
Freedom Works, the conservative grassroots organizing group headed by former GOP House Majority Leader Dick Armey, played an active role in promoting the film adaptation of Atlas Shrugged. The trailer for Atlas Shrugged premiered at the 2011 CPAC.
Sean Hannity - “[Ayn Rand] almost had a crystal ball and could see the future and I think a lot of what she was warning about is happening today, before our eyes. . . the demonization of big business, capitalism, class warfare all the things we discuss on a regular basis.” [Fox News Network, 4/15/11]
Dennis Miller - “[I] think [Ayn Rand's] at the front of an objectivist movement that’s coming in this country.” [Fox News, 12/9/09]
Alan Greenspan – “Atlas Shrugged is a celebration of life and happiness. Justice is unrelenting. Creative individuals and undeviating purpose and rationality achieve joy and fulfillment. Parasites who persistently avoid either purpose or reason perish as they should.”
Ayn Rand on why the Christian Message is “Monstrous” and Christ’s Teachings are “Evil”
Mike Wallace: “You are out to destroy almost every edifice of the contemporary American way of life, our Judeo-Christian religion, our modified government regulated capitalism, our rule by majority will. Other reviews have said you scorn churches and the concept of God. Are these accurate criticisms?” Rand: “Yes.” (4:19 [1])
Wallace: “You say you don’t like the kind of altruism by which we live. You like a certain kind of Ayn Randist selfishness.” Rand: “ ‘Don’t like’ is too weak a word, I consider it evil.” (5:20) Luke 6:27-30 [2]
Rand: “According to the Christian mythology, [Christ] died on the cross not for his own sins but for the sins of the non-ideal people. In other words, a man of perfect virtue was sacrificed for men who are vicious and who are expected or supposed to accept that sacrifice. If I were a Christian, nothing could make me more indignant than that: the notion of sacrificing the ideal to the non-ideal, or virtue to vice. And it is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture. ” (Print Interview) John 3:16-21
Rand: “If you take Jesus Christ as the example of the ideal human being, and that is properly the view of Christians, what do you do with your ideal human being? You put him on the cross. You torture him and murder him for the sake of those who are less virtuous . . . I think that is a monstrous idea.” (3:03) John 10:11
Ayn Rand on Why One Must Choose Between Following Her or Following God
Rand: “I am the creator of a new code of morality, which so far has been believed impossible, a morality not based on faith, not on arbitrary whim, not on emotion, not on arbitrary edict, mystical or social, but on reason.” (2:34) Matthew 7:15-16
Rand: “[Faith] is a sign of a psychological weakness. . . I regard it as evil to place your emotions, your desire, above the evidence of what your mind knows. That’s what you’re doing with the idea of God.” (5:06) Hebrews 11:1
Rand: “If I had to choose between faith and reason, I wouldn’t consider the choice even conceivable. As a human being, one chooses reason.” (Print Interview)
Donahue: “You have to allow that you’re not smart enough to know there isn’t a God.” Rand: “Yes I am and everybody here is smart enough. It doesn’t take much intelligence.” (3:38) Romans 1:18-23
Rand: “I am challenging the base of all these institutions, I am challenging the moral code of altruism, the precept that man’s moral duty is to live for others, that man must sacrifice to others . . . since I’m challenging the base, I’m necessarily challenging the institutions that are the base of that morality.” (4:44) John 15:13
Rand: “I have no faith at all, just convictions.” (19:18)
Rand: “I don’t approve of religion.” (3:02) Micah 6:8
Ayn Rand on How Her Followers Should “Love” One Another
Rand: “You love only those who deserve it.” Wallace: “And then if a man is weak or a woman is weak he is or she is beyond love?” Rand: “He certainly does not deserve it. He certainly is beyond it . . . he cannot expect the unearned, neither in love or in money, in matter or in spirit.” (8:36) Matthew 5:5
Wallace: “There are very few of us in this world, by your standards, who are worthy of love.” Rand: “Unfortunately yes, very few.” (9:08) John 13:34-35
Wallace – “What’s wrong with loving your fellow man? Christ, every important moral leader in history has taught us that we should love one another. Why, then is this love in your mind immoral?” Rand: “It is immoral if it is placed above love of oneself. It is more than immoral, it is impossible.” (6:42) 1 John 4:7-12
Rand: “Each man must live as an end in himself and follow his own rational self-interest.” (3:52) Matthew 22:36-39
Ayn Rand On Paul’s Claim that “Greatest of These is Charity” and Love of Neighbor
Rand: “What I am fighting is the idea that charity is a moral duty and a primary virtue.” (Print) 1 Corinthians 13
Wallace: “Isn’t it possible that we all believe in it [collectivism] because we’re all basically lonely people and we all understand that we are our brothers’ keepers?” Rand: “You couldn’t really understand it because there is no way in which you could justify, nobody has ever given a reason why man should be his brothers’ keeper, and you have every example, and you see examples around you of men perishing by their attempt to be their brothers’ keeper.” (18:35) Genesis 4:9-10
Ayn Rand Praises Murdering Rapist for Violation of Social Morals…Really
William Hickman, a notorious murderer who raped and dismembered a 12 year old girl, was lifted up as a model for admiration by Rand for his selfishness and ability to completely disregard the mores of society.
From the Journals of Ayn Rand : “[Hickman's trial presents an] amazing picture of a man with no regard whatever for all that society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. A man who really stands alone, in action and in soul.” Ecclesiastes 4:7-12
“[Hickman’s] utter remorselessness; his pride in his criminal career and in things that are considered a “disgrace”; his boasting of more and more crimes and his open joy at shocking people…his utter lack of anything that is considered a “virtue”; his strength, as shown in his unprecedented conduct during his trial and sentencing…his immense, explicit egoism – a thing the mob never forgives; and his cleverness, which makes the mob feel that a superior mind can exist entirely outside of is established morals.” Revelation 13:5-6
“A strong man can eventually trample society under his feet. [William Hickman] was not strong enough. But is that his crime? Is it his crime that he was too impatient, fiery and proud to go that slow way? That he was not able to serve, when he felt worthy to rule; to obey, when he wanted to command…He was superior and he wanted to live as such – and his is the one thing society does not permit.” Luke 1:49-53
[1] the number (e.g. 4:19) indicate the time stamp for the quote on the video of Ayn Rand, which is hyperlinked to each number.
[2] hyperlinks are to the Bible’s teaching on this subject
Click here for a list of Ayn Rand’s beliefs by topic
