Column: You can't reconcile Ayn Rand and Jesus
The new darling of the Republican Party is pro-choice and anti-religion. She once wrote that, since "an embryo has no rights," abortion "should be left to the sole discretion of the woman involved." And when asked by Playboy magazine whether religion "ever offered anything of constructive value to human life" she answered "no," adding that "faith, as such, is extremely detrimental to human life."
Her name is Ayn Rand, and though she died in 1982 this novelist, philosopher and anti-communist crusader is the hot new thing in the GOP. The American public may have met the April opening Atlas Shrugged, a film based on her novel of the same name, with a collective shrug, but Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh tout her books, and her genius. And the opening line of "Atlas Shrugged" ("Who is John Galt?") pops up regularly on handmade signs at Tea Party rallies.
USA TODAY OPINION
On Religion
Faith. Religion. Spirituality. Meaning. In our ever-shrinking world, the tentacles of religion touch everything from governmental policy to individual morality to our basic social constructs. It affects the lives of people of great faith — or no faith at all. This series of weekly columns — launched in 2005 — seeks to illuminate the national conversation.Among Rand's adoring acolytes on Capitol Hill is Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who at a Library of Congress symposium held in 2005 on the centenary of the Rand's birth called her "the reason I got involved in public service." Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who announced his third presidential run last recently, has invoked Rand in the House on matters as disparate as NASA and the post office. His son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, used her novel Anthem in Senate hearings in April to argue against government regulations to phase out the incandescent light bulb.
When asked to name his favorite political philosopher, George W. Bush named Jesus Christ. But Ayn Rand is the GOP's new savior, and no one seems to be taking notice of just how opposed their two philosophies are.
Individualism vs. collectivism
In Rand's Manichaean world, it is not God vs. Satan, but individualism vs. collectivism. While Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor," she sings Hosannas to the rich. The heroes of Atlas Shrugged (which, alas, is only slightly shorter than the Bible) are captains of industry such as John Galt. The villains are the "looters" and "moochers" — people who by hook (guilt) or by crook (government coercion) steal from the hard-won earnings of others.
Turning the tables on traditional Christian morality, Rand argues that altruism is immoral and selfishness is good. Moreover, there isn't a problem in the world that laissez-faire capitalism can't solve if left alone to perform its miracles.
I first read Atlas Shrugged and her other popular novel, The Fountainhead, while festival-hopping in Spain after graduating from college, so I can attest to the appeal of this philosophy to late adolescents of a certain gender. As an adult, however, Rand's work reads to me like a vulgar rationalization for greed lying on top of a perverse myth of the right relationship between individual and community. So when Ryan says that, "Ayn Rand, more than anyone else, did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism," I have to question his use of the word "explaining." "Duping" seems like the more appropriate verb.
As someone who has written extensively on the religious illiteracy of the American public, I am not surprised that few Republicans today seem to understand that marrying Ayn Rand to Jesus Christ is like trying to interest Lady Gaga in Donny Osmond. But there is nothing Christian about Rand's Objectivism. In fact, it is farther from Christianity than the Marxism that Rand so abhorred. Despite the attempt of the advertising executive Bruce Barton to turn Jesus into a CEO in his novel The Man Nobody Knows (1925), Jesus was a first-class, grade-A "moocher."
I am somewhat surprised, however, at how few GOP thinkers seem to see how hostile her philosophy is to conservatism itself. Real conservatism is first and foremost about conserving a society's traditions, including its religious and political traditions. But Rand's Objectivism rejects in the name of reason appeals to either revelation or tradition. The individual is her hero, and God and the dead be damned.
Real conservatism is also about sacrifice, as is authentic Christianity. President Kennedy was liberal in many ways, but, "Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country" was classic conservatism. Rand, however, will brook no such sacrifice. Serve yourself, she tells us, and save yourself as well. There is no higher good than individual self-satisfaction.
One of the reasons we are in our current economic quagmire is that none of our leaders is willing to ask us to sacrifice. Democrats call for more spending and more taxes; Republicans call for lower taxes and less spending, and what we get is the most fiscally ruinous half of each: lower taxes and more spending.
A budget of too little Jesus
Over the last few weeks, various Christian groups have criticized Republican leaders for proposing a 2012 budget that in their view is both un-Christian and anti-life. First, dozens of professors, priests and nuns at various Catholic universities criticized House Speaker John Boehner for a legislative record on the poor that was, in their estimation, "among the worst in Congress." "Mr. Speaker, your voting record is at variance from one of the Church's most ancient moral teachings," they wrote. "From the apostles to the present, the Magisterium of the Church has insisted that those in power are morally obliged to preference the needs of the poor."
Then a consortium of evangelical and Catholic groups aired an ad scolding Ryan, who spearheaded that GOP budget, for his own "anti-life" stands. In this ad, Father Thomas Kelley, a self-described "pro-life" priest from Elkhorn, Wis., insisted that "God calls us to protect life at all stages," not just in the womb.
In short, these Christians are telling the GOP that there is too much Rand in their budget, and too little Jesus.
I don't see either Atlas Shrugged or the Bible as holy writ. I think the Bible is more wise, better written and, ironically, less likely to come across as holier than thou, but I have not come either to bury Ayn Rand or to lament her recent resurrection. My aim is to force a choice.
If you are going to propose a Robin Hood budget, you have to decide whether you are robbing from the poor to give to the rich, or robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Because you cannot do both. You cannot worship both the God of Jesus and the mammon of Rand.
I don't agree very often with the Watergate criminal and evangelical leader Chuck Colson, but he has it right when he refers to Rand's "idolatry of self and selfishness" as "the antithesis of Christianity"
Rand's trinity is "I me mine." Christianity's is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So take your pick. Or say no to both. It's a free country. Just don't tell me you are both a card-carrying Objectivist and a Bible-believing Christian. Even Rand knew that just wasn't possible.
Stephen Prothero is a religion professor at Boston University and the author of the book God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World — and Why Their Differences Matter.
For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections.usatoday.com.Posted 3d 21h ago | Updated 3d 18h ago
We've updated the Conversation Guidelines. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation on how to use the "Report Abuse" button. Read more.
Please wait while we process your request
Please wait while we retrieve the user's information
Bio
Your bio is currently empty. Now is a great time to fill in your profile.
This profile is private.
This profile is only shared with friends.
This profile is under review.
We were unable to request friendship with this user.
We were unable to request friendship with this user. Are you logged in?
Your friendship request has been sent to this user.
We were unable to terminate friendship with this user.
We were unable to terminate friendship with this user. Are you logged in?
You are no longer friends with this user.
We were unable to ignore this user.
We were unable to ignore this user. Are you logged in?
This user is now ignored.
We were unable to stop ignoring this user.
We were unable to stop ignoring this user. Are you logged in?
This user is no longer ignored.
We encountered a problem recommending this user.
pluck_user_recommend_permission
You have recommended this user.
Score: 13Name withheld
teachusteacher
6:03 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore teachusteacher. Show DetailsHide Details
The right wing is no stranger to hypocrisy.
Score: 82Name withheld
ClemsonS197
6:33 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore ClemsonS197. Show DetailsHide Details
Equating that all Republicans are deeply religious is the same as equating all Democrats are homosexuals.
Score: 58Name withheld
Sergeant Jackson
6:40 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Sergeant Jackson. Show DetailsHide Details
Ayn Rand was neither Rep. or Dem. She liked being free in America after growing up in Russia.
She loved her freedom. She believed in working for a living, she did it.
There is no right or left wing in our volatile problems. Time to work and contribute to the USA. Whatever, from either party. Live and Learn on your own. Then Vote, every election.
Score: 46Name withheld
R.A.Stro
7:10 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore R.A.Stro. Show DetailsHide Details
A big key is missing in this puzzle, whether the oversight is willful or from ignorance doesn't matter. The missing key is that the individual earns his money; it is up to him to tithe, donate to the truly needy, or to an organization that can efficiently put his donation to good use. This is the Christian reconciliation, I don't have to have someone else do this for me.
Because of the inherent lack of efficiency in the Government it is a waste to let the Government mandate you pay tax dollars to be distributed to those who won't work, those who milk society for their "Artistic" existence, those who are corrupt and to line the pockets of the Government in crowd.
It's sad but the author put blinders on himself, Ayn's book was about excepting responsibility for ones own actions, and applying self determination instead of trying to figure out how you can survive off the sweat of someone else's labor.
Score: -15Name withheld
jjcctt
7:14 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore jjcctt. Show DetailsHide Details
Real conservatism is first and foremost about conserving a society's traditions, including its religious and political traditions.
__________________________
The author's argument hinges on this premise, and it is false. Conservatism is first and foremost about financial responsibility among individuals and governments. It is the one unifying theme, the common thread that ties all conservatives together.Score: -52Name withheld
100378
7:16 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore 100378. Show DetailsHide Details
Props to Ayn Rand....and come to the real world Stephen Prothero...admitting to writing on the 'religious illiteracy of the American public' shows your ignorance. Rand was clearly ahead of the times.
Score: 18Name withheld
crppplll
7:19 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore crppplll. Show DetailsHide Details
I've never understood how Repubs can be Christian and Conservative. I have always considered them to be oxymorons.
Score: 47Name withheld
mindstorms
7:20 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore mindstorms. Show DetailsHide Details
One should really do a bit of investigation before picking your heroes.
Score: 31Name withheld
John Q. Public
7:36 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore John Q. Public. Show DetailsHide Details
If the wealthy do not care if the poor and middle class live or die, the poor and middle class will not care if the wealthy live or die. I really don't think that is where they want to go.
Score: 11Name withheld
Denel12
7:46 PM on June 5, 2011
This comment is hidden because you have chosen to ignore Denel12. Show DetailsHide Details
Political views and religious beliefs are separate. Conservatives are drawn to her concept of individualism as a core value of the human condition rather than collectivism.
That her views of religion are entirely negative is irrelevant. Thomas Jefferson is a hero of Conservatives and he was agnostic.
If we didn't appear to be headed toward a government that favors collectivism and if a movie on Rands beliefs were not in the theatres, Rand's beliefs would retreat to their esoteric tomb.
I know many liberals who are also Christians and I know many conservatives of the same Christian beliefs.
Please wait while we send the email.Email This
Score
vote upvotes up
vote downvotes downChristian Based Business
Do what we do and earn six figures
from home. No MLM. Free report/Mp3
www.FourStepConsultants.com
Real conservatism is first and foremost about conserving a society's traditions, including its religious and political traditions. But Rand's Objectivism rejects in the name of reason appeals to either revelation or tradition. The individual is her hero, and God and the dead be damned.
No comments:
Post a Comment