I recently became aware of the American Values Newtork's "Ayn Rand or Jesus" Campaign. It is thoroughly despicable. Aside from being incredibly ignorant and extremely bigoted it is also irrational, unethical, and plain old false. It is premised on demonizing atheists as a whole. The basic idea is to bash conservative Christian politicians for their praise of Ayn Rand. It is both amusing and irritating that the AVN ends up acting as a mirror image of those they attack. Conservatives who praise her politics completely ignore her personal life while the AVN focus on one aspect of her personal life to the exclusion of all else. In any case, I've never understood why people insist on using the ridiculous "guilt by association" political attack. Personally, I think Ayn Rand was a horrible human being with terrible political views. I don't see what either has to do with her having been an atheist.
If these idiots want to get into generalizations and the guilt by association tactic they would do well to fact check. Ayn Rand was conservative (libertarian and/or fiscal conservative) but the overwhelming majority of atheists tend to lean liberal. Rand was an adulterer. There is a correlation between fidelity and higher levels of intelligence, as well higher levels of secular attitudes and/or non-belief. There is also a correlation between non-belief and lower rates of crime. Attacking her personal morality, or lack there of, says nothing about other atheists once you start generalizing. If you pay attention to studies and statistics, on virtually every measure commonly used to verify morality atheists fair far better than theists.
The AVN also seem to be a bit off the mark when they claim that you have to choose between Rand and Jesus as role models/idols. If they weren't so ignorant and self-deluded they may have noticed that Christ isn't that wonderful. They attack Rand and through her conservatives as being selfish and greedy. Apparently they skipped over:
"And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her. And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? She hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always." Mark 14:3-7
Translation: The poor are always around so screw them. Me, I'm more important than the rest of you slobs so I deserve to be pampered.
Sounds to me like you can be Christian and still be an arrogant, greedy, selfish prick. Conservative Christians can have it both ways. In fact you can "have it both ways" on virtually anything you want within Christianity since the New Testament is loaded with contradictions. So why does the AVN find it necessary to demonize atheists. In politics, we could be allies. Instead, they have to behave like the scum they attack.
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