Is Ayn Rand’s philosophy compatible with Christianity?
So we want to be very clear: Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, as an integrated philosophy, is not compatible with Christianity. We do not call ourselves “Christian Objectivists.” We do not believe that such a thing is possible. Nor do we select which parts of her philosophy we accept by arbitrary whim.
Who is the CEO of Ayn Rand Institute?
Tal Tsfany is the president and CEO of the Ayn Rand Institute. Mr. Tsfany has been an entrepreneur, investor and executive in the software world. He has built and grown successful teams and businesses in Israel and the United States. Mr. Tsfany is a co-founder of the Ayn Rand Center Israel.
Did Ayn Rand open a door to the Gospel?
When I embraced her philosophy, Objectivism, the conversion was far more dramatic than my decision, several years later, to follow Jesus Christ—more dramatic, but in the end transitory. Yet Rand, the novelist, philosopher, and uncompromising atheist, inadvertently opened a door for the gospel.
Who is behind the Ayn Rand Center Israel?
Tsfany is a co-founder of the Ayn Rand Center Israel. Mohamed Ali is a junior fellow currently pursuing his master’s degree in philosophy and is a teaching assistant at the Objectivist Academic Center. Kirk Barbera manages donor and prospect accounts, as well as fundraising dinners and events for ARI’s development team.
What is the most recent work of Ayn Rand?
His most recent work on Ayn Rand is an annotated edition of her previously unpublished play The Unconquered (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).
What is the mission of ARI?
You’ll be the first to learn about our latest initiatives and program successes and how you can help ARI achieve its mission to spearhead a cultural renaissance of reason, rational self-interest, individual rights and laissez-faire capitalism. Now more than ever, it’s an exciting time to engage with ARI.
Who is Jim Brown?
Jim Brown is the former CEO of the Ayn Rand Institute. Prior to his tenure with the Ayn Rand Institute, Mr. Brown served as an airline pilot, an Air Force pilot and an instructor pilot.
Who is the chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute?
Chairman of the Board. Yaron Brook , PhD, is chairman of the board of the Ayn Rand Institute. He is coauthor, with Don Watkins, of In Pursuit of Wealth and the national best-seller Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government and the host of The Yaron Brook Show on TheBlaze Radio and BlogTalkRadio.
Who is Harry Binswanger?
He is the author of How We Know and The Biological Basis of Teleological Concepts and was the founding editor /publisher of The Objectivist Forum.
Who is Marilee Dahl?
Marilee Dahl manages donor and prospect accounts , as well as fundraising dinners and events for the Development division. Prior to working as Development Account Manager, Marilee served as ARI’s director of Education, overseeing all high school outreach programs.
Who is Ben Bayer?
Ben Bayer, Ph.D. in philosophy, teaches in the Objectivist Academic Center, lectures and gives interviews for ARI. He writes for and is an associate editor of ARI’s online publication, New Ideal. (See here for his Expert information.)
What did Ayn Rand say about capitalism?
6 For Rand, greed was the basis for a free economy. Capitalism and greed go together like fat cats and big cigars. To prevent readers from thinking she was using hyperbole, Rand went out of her way to espouse atheism and stridently denounce Christian altruism as antithetical to capitalism: “Capitalism and altruism are incompatible,” she said, “ they are philosophical opposites; they cannot co-exist in the same man or in the same society.” 7 In fact, she had a hard time distinguishing Christian altruism from socialism.
What was the purpose of the Nathaniel Branden Institute?
After a decade at the center of Rand’s inner circle, Branden founded the Nathaniel Branden Institute with the goal of promoting her philosophy. The Institute was largely responsible for the spread of Rand’s ideas during the 1960s, but came to an abrupt end when romantic conflict between Branden and Rand tore apart their professional association.
Why does Galt’s character work?
But insofar as Galt’s character works, it’s because he contradicts the miserly stereotype that Rand’s philosophy leads the reader to expect. In fact, not one of Rand’s best fictional characters fits her philosophy very well. Rand convinced me that collectivism was a false moral pretense.
What is Rand’s philosophy?
In her novels, she developed characters that expressed her philosophy “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.” 8 Her books read more like tracts for her philosophy of “objectivism” than ordinary novels. As Daniel Flynn puts it, “The themes of Rand’s four novels— We the Living, Anthem, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged —are identical. As far as the philosophy of her novels goes, to read one is to read them all.” 9
Did Smith agree with Mandeville?
Unlike Mandeville, moreover, Smith didn’t view all our passions as vicious. We may be passionately committed to a just cause, for instance. At the same time, he saw greed as a vice. So while he agreed with Mandeville that private vices could lead to public goods, he was an ardent critic of the Dutchman. “There is,” he said, “another system which seems to take away altogether the distinction between vice and virtue, and of which the tendency is, upon that account, wholly pernicious: I mean the system of Dr. Mandeville.” 13 You’d never catch Smith endorsing Ayn Rand.
What is the motivation of the bees in the poem?
The poem describes avarice, pride, and vanity as producing great wealth for the hive. The bees, however, are discontent. They grumble at the lack of virtue around them. They gripe so incessantly that Jove eventually gives them what they ask for. Honesty and virtue now fill the hive. And everything collapses. The bees’ virtuous actions led to disaster whereas the individual acts of evil had led to social good.
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What are Rand’s antireligious views?
By highlighting them, Sapp and liberal Christians hope to discredit the GOP budget and drive a wedge between the conservative Christian and Tea Party wings of the Republican Party.
How many books did Ayn Rand write?
The atheist philosopher and novelist Ayn Rand published more than a dozen books before she died in 1982. Now some liberal Christians say another work belongs to Rand’s controversial canon: the 2012 Republican budget.
What is the philosophy of Rand?
In nonfiction writings, Rand is more explicit about her Objectivist philosophy , which views religion as a "primitive" sop to the feebleminded masses.
How many people signed the petition to put down Rand?
More than 6,000 people have signed a petition asking Ryan to put down Rand and pick up a Bible, according to Kristin Ford of Faithful America, a left-leaning online group. "Ayn Rand’s philosophy of radical selfishness and disdain for the poor and struggling is antithetical to our faith values of justice, compassion and the common good," the petition reads.
Who is in the American Values Network video?
The American Values Network video, which Sapp said will be e-mailed to 1.2 million Christians in Wisconsin, opens with antireligious remarks from Rand and segues into scenes of Republican leaders, including Ryan and Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.), offering high praise of the Russian novelist.
Was Rand a Jew?
Biographer Anne C. Heller says Rand was raised a secular Jew in Russia at a time when Jews were persecuted by the Russian Orthodox Church. Early on, Rand decided that the existence of God and the Christian ideal of self-sacrifice were untenable ideas, Heller said.
Who is the author of the GOP budget?
By means of a petition drive, a video, ads and websites, liberal Christians counter that Rand’s dog-eat-dog philosophy is the real inspiration for the GOP budget and for its author, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.).
Is Ayn Rand an atheist?
That’s a legitimate question. After all, Ayn Rand’s philosophy — called “Objectivism” — is atheistic by definition. More importantly, Rand, herself, vehemently disagreed with many core aspects of Christianity as she understood it. But that doesn’t mean that she has nothing to offer the contemporary Christian intellectual.
Is Ayn Rand’s philosophy compatible with Christianity?
So we want to be very clear: Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, as an integrat ed philosophy, is not compatible with Christianity. We do not call ourselves “Christian Objectivists.”. We do not believe that such a thing is possible. Nor do we select which parts of her philosophy we accept by arbitrary whim.
Did Ayn Rand invent political freedom?
We encourage our readers to explore Ayn Rand in her own words, starting with her novels. Rand did not invent political freedom. But she has been its best defender. The same is true for other topics of importance, including the four ideals we explicitly advocate:
Did Ayn Rand agree with all of Ayn Rand’s ideas?
We do not agree with all of Rand’s ideas. But we believe Rand was onto something important. (See John Piper’s article The Ethics of Ayn Rand.) To make our own viewpoint clear, we found it helpful to title our project For the New Christian Intellectual. This is a reference to Rand’s first non-fiction book.
Where is the M.A. in Worship Leadership?
M.A. in Worship Leadership, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville KY.
Is Atlas Shrugged a Christian?
It is a nod to Rand’s masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. While we believe that our perspective is fully Christian, we give credit to Ayn Rand for her role in helping us develop our own philosophical perspective. While there are some similarities, the views we express are not the same as Rand’s. We speak only for ourselves.
Is it an honor to hear you?
It would be an honor to hear you and to answer questions you may have. A conversation can be fruitful even if it does not lead to agreement. Many within the Christian tradition will view our project with skepticism. That can be a good thing. Let the skepticism lead to careful questions of discernment.
How has Ayn Rand impacted the world?
In spite of the insults hurled at her from both sides of the political aisle, Ayn Rand has had a profound impact on the culture—and that impact is growing, not shrinking. In a poll conducted by the Library of Congress in 1991, her magnum opus, Atlas Shrugged, placed second—next to the Bible—as the most influential book among readers. In 2009—more than 50 years after it was first published—Atlas Shrugged sold more than 500,000 copies. The Ayn Rand Institute holds one of the largest scholarship essay contests every year, paying out up to $130,000 to students who have read her novels and entered the contest. In addition, the institute provides thousands of free books to middle & high school classrooms for educators to teach them as part of their curriculum every year. Last year, teachers ordered 205,000 books from the institute through this program.
Why is Rand often accused of being a materialist?
Because Rand was an unabashed advocate of capitalism, she is often accused of being a materialist, concerned with nothing but material wealth and material values. But this accusation betrays the fact that the accuser has never taken the time to actually read what she wrote.
Why is Rand so maligned?
It’s one of the primary reasons she is so maligned—especially by Christians, who think that the Bible teaches the morality of altruism unequivocally. While I think a closer reading of both Rand and the Bible would reveal more similarity on this issue than most expect, I don’t think you have to be convinced about Rand’s morality of rational self-interest—for human beings—in order to see the value of it when it comes to thinking about God.
What did Rand see in man?
Rand saw man as fundamentally different—and far more valuable—than any other animal, and much of that was tied to her recognition of the central role of the mind in man’s life.
Do Christians benefit from reconsidering Rand?
Believe it or not, there are a lot of Christians who have benefited from reconsidering Rand—but many of them feel the need to hide it. We’re working to change that. And we’re working to help Christians understand Rand’s thought in order to take full advantage of the potential value hinted at above. In fact, we’re starting a course to explore Rand’s ideas from a Christian perspective.