I
have another major parting of the ways with Ayn Rand regarding her views on
“altruism,” but for today I’d like to address her views on Christianity (and
Christians) a bit more.
Atlas
is as much a presentation of her philosophy (Objectivism) as much as it is a
piece of fiction, and her view of Christianity fits right into her stereotype
of them. Actually, in her novel religious figures are nearly completely absent.
I seem to recall one time in the story in which the hero happens to hear a
preacher/pastor publicly pronouncing that he’s joining the chorus of supporters
for the government administration and its business partners. I also seem to
recall (it’s been a while since I read the book) in which a news reporter
breathlessly announces (the media are all in the pocket of the collectivists in
power) that all the church leaders have publically signed on with the
administration’s plans. Other than that, religion and religious leaders are pretty
much absent from the book. There are plenty of business leaders, government
officials, and media people represented in the book. The heroes who flee the
outside world and set up their own little community of freedom-lovers have
artists, scientists and philosophers. To my knowledge religious people are
pretty much missing from the picture.
In one of the longest chapters in
the book, John Galt (the leader of these freedom lovers) gives a very long
speech over the airwaves in which he expounds his philosophy and what’s wrong
with the world. He does heavily criticize “mystics” who are just as guilty of
collaboration with the collectivists as anyone else. In fact, he considers any
type of spiritual belief as a holdover from our primitive ancestors who believed
in tree spirits and river spirits.
As I was reading Rand’s attack on
religion (and of course by sheer numbers in America this would refer mostly to
professing Christians), I was wondering to myself “Did she never meet any
politically conservative Christians?" I know the Moral Majority didn’t come
about until the mid-70’s, but surely she met or heard of some Christians who
believed in the Free Market, a strong military, etc., who weren’t Leftists.
And as a matter of fact, she did.
She had some dealings with Bill Buckley, the founder of National Review and primogenitor of popular political conservatism.
From the early 1950’s he was the most popular voice for what would be known as
conservatism. He was a practicing Catholic, and he believed (as far as I know)
pretty much the same things as Rand as far as economics and politics were
concerned. He reached out to her as a potential ally, and she liked him
personally, but couldn’t get over the fact that he was a professed Christian.
My point about the above paragraph
is that she couldn’t claim ignorance on this score. Even before she became
famous (late 50’s), there were plenty of people who considered conservatism not
only compatible with their belief in
Jesus, but naturally sprouting forth
from their religious beliefs.
But in fairness, she died in 1982,
so she didn’t see the rise of the Christian Right in all its fullness. But her
followers (and I use that term purposefully) have much less of an excuse.
Today, Evangelical believers make up
the single hugest voting bloc of the Republican Party. The strongest supporters
of the Free Market System, a strong military, the death penalty, etc., are
Evangelical Christians. You know why I know this? Because Tony Campolo wrote a
book called Is Jesus a Republican or a
Democrat? in which he presents the case that it’s wrong for either
political party to claim it has a monopoly on God. That he feels the need to
say that shows that his side has lost ground.
To the fans (and absolute followers)
of Rand, I’d like to say this: “Your best friends are Bible-believing
Christians. Statistically speaking, the more theologically conservative a
Christian (or Jew) is, the more likely he is to wholeheartedly or mostly agree
with you in politics and economics. And the converse is true: The less seriously a Christian or Jew takes
his faith, the more likely he is to be
on the Left. And quite frankly, have you noticed how lonely you tend to be
among fellow atheists, as far as politics and economics are concerned? If
someone is an atheist (a really hardcore materialist who not only doesn’t
believe in God but openly despises religion), he’s much more likely to be on
the Left.”
Ms. Rand, to my knowledge, never
wrestled with the fact that the freest nation in the world (and in history) is
also the one in which Christianity had such an influence. As I pointed out
yesterday, the opening words in our Declaration of Independence reveal how much
this was so. Read the writings of the Founding Fathers, especially the “big
names.” Try to find a speech by Abraham Lincoln which doesn’t allude to or refer to or appeal to the Scriptures.
We’re probably the best friends you have. Please don’t make the same mistakes she made.
We’re probably the best friends you have. Please don’t make the same mistakes she made.
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