Ayn Rand & GOP vs Jesus
The American Values Network just produced an ad pitting Paul Ryan’s love of Ayn Rand against Christian values: GOP leaders and conservative pundits have brought upon themselves a crisis of values. Many who for years have been the loudest voices invoking the language of faith and moral values are now praising the atheist philosopher Ayn Rand whose teachings stand in direct contradiction to the Bible. Rand advocates a law of selfishness over love and commands her followers to think only of themselves, not others. She said her followers had to choose between Jesus and her teachings. GOP leaders want to argue that they are defending Christian principles. But, at the same time, Rep. Paul Ryan (author of the GOP budget) is posting facebook videos praising Rand’s morality and saying hers is the “kind of thinking that is sorely needed right now.” Simply put, Paul Ryan can’t have it both ways, and neither can Christians. This is turning into an interesting development. Conservatives that say they are part of the religious right and support the odious principles of Ayn Rand are starting to get called out on it by other Christians. You would then presume to believe that the Catholic Bishops would be also siding against Paul Ryan and Ayn Rand, but as I’ve written before, lookie here: It seems sacrilegious to suggest the leader of the America’s Catholic Bishops has made a deal with the devil. But his latest political gesture makes me wonder if he is in negotiations. Timothy Dolan, the Archbishop of New York and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter on Wednesday to House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan. The subject of the letter was the House Republican Budget, which Ryan wrote, and it was part of an ongoing dialogue between the two men. Dolan’s letter did not endorse the Republican budget per se. But it praised Ryan for his attention to the Church’s values and, if you read the text, you can see why Ryan has (according to Politico ) been brandishing it as a signal of support You can see why I believe the Conference of Catholic Bishops is more of a lobbying arm for the pro-life movement than anything else. I agree with Jonathon Chait that Dolan’s letter seems to try to ease the pain for Rep. John Boehner when this happened: Professors At Catholic Colleges Tell John Boehner: Your Budget Fails To Uphold Church Moral Teachings And then Ryan got called out over his budget a short time ago: by a ‘Catholic’ at Faith And Freedom Conference 2011 Let me remind you of this Amy Sullivan post in TIME : Across the street from the Faith & Freedom Conference Friday afternoon, a group of religious leaders continued the attack on what they now consistently refer to as “The Ayn Rand Budget.” Father Cletus Kiley, a Catholic priest, declared the Ryan budget “does not pass our test” of Catholic teachings, and suggested that supporters of the budget “drop Ayn Rand’s books and pick up their sacred texts.” Rand’s influence on Ryan’s politics is also the subject of a new ad produced by the religious group American Values Network, which hopes to run the spot in Ryan’s district. It’s a stinging attack, and again, one that was wholly unanticipated by the Republican rising star. ( Is Paul Ryan a coward? ) This ad isn’t for the hard core Religious Right that is embedded in the GOP, but Independent voters that work too hard to support their families to get involved in politics like we do. Will it be effective? One thing is for sure. It’s a message that Paul Ryan doesn’t want to hear.
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on June 9, 2011. Filed under