By SharperIron on
Society & Culture
Libertarianism
Gun Control

“[M]edia personality Glenn Beck has announced that he will build a community based upon “Galt’s Gulch,” the libertarian community featured in Ayn Rand’s fictional work, Atlas Shrugged” Full story

Discussion

Thu, 01/17/13

First, I’m pretty sure these groups aren’t styling themselves ‘communes’!

Second, why in the world does any conservative think Ayn Rand’s thought is a good model?

It’s no wonder conservatives are finding it so difficult to be persuasive with the general population (and young evangelicals especially)

Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.

Thu, 01/17/13

[Aaron Blumer]

Second, why in the world does any conservative think Ayn Rand’s thought is a good model?

It’s no wonder conservatives are finding it so difficult to be persuasive with the general population (and young evangelicals especially)

Exactly. Why Rand is a hero to any Christian is an absolute mystery to me. I am convinced that Beck, Hannity and crowd have done far more damage than help to conservatism. Their problem is that to make their money and keep their ratings, they have to preach to the choir, which is hungry for red meat nonsense that completely turns off everyone else.

Thu, 01/17/13

Rand is popular with conservatives because she had a good handle on notions of personal liberty and how markets react to government intervention. Also, she writes a great novel.

Thu, 01/17/13

[DavidO]

Rand is popular with conservatives because she had a good handle on notions of personal liberty and how markets react to government intervention. Also, she writes a great novel.

Well yes, some of her teaching resonates with any conservative. But the question is how a Christian can ignore the fact that her worldview was anti-God and her idea of capitalism is anti-God. Her extreme conservative viewpoint is certainly no more Christian than the extreme liberal alternative. Probably less so in fact.

Thu, 01/17/13

[GregH] But the question is how a Christian can ignore the fact that her worldview was anti-God and her idea of capitalism is anti-God.

I suppose we could dig her up and burn her bones. :D

Lots of conservatives have elements of their worldview/personal behavior that are unchristian. Lots of SIers probably voted in the last election for someone who doesn’t believe Jesus was God. Welcome to politics.

Thu, 01/17/13

Sigh… David, I couldn’t care less about Ayn Rand’s corpse and I don’t need your lecture about politics. It is not that Ayn Rand had “elements” of unchristian philosophy. It is that her philosophy was unchristian period.

Thu, 01/17/13

[GregH]

[DavidO]

Rand is popular with conservatives because she had a good handle on notions of personal liberty and how markets react to government intervention. Also, she writes a great novel.

Well yes, some of her teaching resonates with any conservative. But the question is how a Christian can ignore the fact that her worldview was anti-God and her idea of capitalism is anti-God. Her extreme conservative viewpoint is certainly no more Christian than the extreme liberal alternative. Probably less so in fact.

Greg,

I don’t much about Rand. Could you explain where her “idea of capitalism is anti God?”

Why is it that my voice always seems to be loudest when I am saying the dumbest things?

Thu, 01/17/13

The most obvious was her idea was the way she viewed self reliance. She believed that it is immoral to help other people. In her world, altruism is a dirty word and selfishness is a virtue. The general idea was everyone should just take care of themselves.

She was an atheist and despised those of faith. To her, reason was all that was necessary.

There are many resources online that discuss her philosophy and it doesn’t take long to see the problems. Here is one example: http://conservapedia.com/Ayn_Rand

Thu, 01/17/13

Why is SI describing the arms company as an “Assault” weapon company. Do you understand what an assault weapon actually is, and why the leftist media and liberals glommed onto that purposefully inaccurate term? Just wondering…

SamH

Thu, 01/17/13

quotes the linked-to article’s title.

[SamH]

Why is SI describing the arms company as an “Assault” weapon company. Do you understand what an assault weapon actually is, and why the leftist media and liberals glommed onto that purposefully inaccurate term? Just wondering…

Hoping to shed more light than heat..

Thu, 01/17/13

Actually, it’s not a “new type of weapon.” The seminal design is the StG 44\MP44. The “Sturm” in Sturmgewehr means storm as in storming a castle. Assault rifle is the English translation. The StG 44 was developed by the Germans during WW2. 44 refers to the year (1944) the weapon went into general issue. It inspired Mikhail Kalashnikov’s design of the AK-47; the first of many follow ons.

[Jim] Even Defining ‘Assault Rifles’ Is Complicated Even the NY Times admits that the definition is fuzzy “a catchy name to identify this new type of gun.”

Hoping to shed more light than heat..

Fri, 01/18/13

… her philosophy was unchristian period.

Her philosophy rejected God. But she was right about some things. Her work is not useless to a believer; for instance, I think there is alot of overlap between Objectivism and what you (GregH) call a Christian worldview.

Also, who is the truly Christian conservative philosopher we believers should champion?

Fri, 01/18/13

I never said she was not right about some things. I never said her work was useless. What I said was I can’t understand why she is a hero to some Christians. I lean her direction from a fiscal perspective (though I don’t go nearly as far) so yes there is an overlap in that way.

An overlap between Objectivism and a Christian world view? Sure that is true on the surface but the underpinnings are drastically different. Who or what was the final authority in Rand’s worldview and what is the final authority in a Christian worldview? It is interesting that Rand arrived at some similar conclusions that we would but that does not make her compatible at all with a Christian worldview. As John Piper would argue in the link below, that probably makes her views more dangerous.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/the-ethics-of-ayn-rand (Someone emailed this to me today and I thought I would pass it along.)

As to your last question, I don’t know a “truly Christian conservative philosopher” that we believers should champion. But I would hope that does not mean we have to scrape the bottom of the barrel and champion Ayn Rand.