Republicans may need to pick sides between the Ayn Rand model of capitalism and evangelical Christian values. One Wisconsin congressman learned you can’t always have it both ways.
Shortly after his appearance at the 2011 Faith and Freedom Conference in D.C. on Friday, a Bible-waving protester accosted Chairman of the House Budget Committee Paul Ryan. The man, who is member of the religious group Faithful America, questioned Ryan for modeling his proposed budget after “the extreme ideology of Ayn Rand rather than the basic economic justice values of the bible.” He then offers Ryan a Bible and advises him to “bone up on what it says about how we should treat the poor and vulnerable” with a specific “focus on the Gospel of Luke.”
Ryan politely turned down the Bible, noting that he already has some at home.
Rand, an atheist and author of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, is known for illustrating the morality of free-market capitalism and rational self-interest through her fiction.
— By Harry Grabow