** Updated 9/23/07 - Gene Veith adds comments.
There is an atheism that attacks Christianity on the grounds that it
is not true. The new atheism, described below, attacks Christianity on
the grounds that it is not good. But Rand's atheism, with that of her
mentor Nietzsche, is far more devastating, attacking Christianity on
the grounds of its strengths. The ethic of "love," they claim, inhibits
the natural law of survival of the fittest, making successful people
feel guilty, and draining the culture of its strength, with Christian
compassion begetting expensive welfare programs, protectionist economic
policies, and other misguided attempts to prop up failures, etc., etc.
And unlike most atheists, she offers a positive ideology to fill the
void she creates.
When I was in high school, a good friend got way into Rand and this
kind of thinking. It challenged my then rather minimalistic faith more
than anything else. Trying to answer her led me to C. S. Lewis, among
other writers, and drove me deeper into Christianity. But it is driving
even more away.
A reader of Veith's post says:
For a real eye opener go to Booknotes on c-span and see the July of
1989 interview of Nathaniel Branden. He was one of the founders of the
self esteem movement in psychology. Branden was part Rand’s inner
circle with Greenspan he also was Rand’s consort. It seems Rand’s
personal life was nearly as depraved as her philosophy.
Another writes:
Rand did not hate American Christians. Some of her views can be seen
here:
http://forums.4aynrandfans.com/index.php?s=09ef5a488c877095b98a1e8f212f2dc2&showtopic=4867&st=0&p=42353&#entry42353
I would also suggest that John Piper has some worthwhile things to say about what Miss Rand achieved and where she fell short:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1979/1486_The_Ethics_of_Ayn_Rand/
**
For those of us who have heard of Ayn Rand (1905-1982), but haven't read her books, this New York Times article (9/15/07) will serve as an introduction to her ideas and her influence. One of Rand’s most famous devotees is Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The Wikipedia article is comprehensive and helpful.
Rand was an atheist. She summarized her philosophy this way:
"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being,
with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with
productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only
absolute."
Whitaker Chambers wrote a classic critique (required reading!) of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. He notes that no children appear in this novel saying "the strenuously sterile world of Atlas Shrugged is scarcely a place for children." Near the end of his review he speaks of
the book's dictatorial tone, which is much its most striking feature.
Out of a lifetime of reading, I can recall no other book in which a
tone of overriding arrogance was so implacably sustained. Its
shrillness is without reprieve. Its dogmatism is