As college freshman in 1968, the year left-wing radicalism went mainstream on college campuses, I discovered Ayn Rand.
Having only a year earlier declared myself a committed atheist, Rand’s writings appealed greatly to me on an intellectual level. I read every word she ever wrote in the next few years, and read Atlas Shrugged cover-to-cover at least twice, although “inhaled” would probably be a more accurate term than “read.”
The next year, I became editor-in-chief of my college newspaper, and remained so for the next three years. I am proud to say that during my tenure, my college had the only non-Marxist student newspaper in the country — at least that was my impression from attending the annual United States Student Press Association (USSPA) conference every year.
Under my editorship, we constantly espoused liberty and free-market economics, and derived great pleasure from consistently inventing new ways to give the leftwing radicals and SDS members on the faculty and in the student government a deliciously frustrating time — publicly opposing them and organizing against them at every possible turn.
After I left college, I never lost my passion for liberty and free markets, although I moved way beyond Ayn Rand as I discovered Henry Hazlitt, Adam Smith, FA Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and so many great conservative writers and organizations such as the Foundation for Economic Education and other conservative think-tanks.
In my 30s and early 40s, after reading books for laymen about modern physics (such as The Universe & Doctor Einstein), and undergoing many personal transformations, I renounced my Atheism and remain to this day a firm believer in God’s existence.
I am so grateful to Ayn Rand for initially raising my consciousness (when I first got to college, I was petitioning door to door for Eugene McCarthy like all my other young liberal skull full of mush peers).
I don’t understand why so many religious conservatives are so hostile to Ayn Rand. And I consider the fact that she developed a non-theistic justification for limited government and free markets to be a real contribution — especially in this day-and-age when so many potential converts to liberty are instantly turned off by any mention of God.
Everyone has their own spiritual path. It took my 20 years to come to God as an adult. I would rather live any day in a country comprised of traditional religion-based conservatives and Ayn Rand Objectivists than one in which the other side is composed of leftwing totalitarians, which is the case today.
As far as I’m concerned, I may have parted ways with her intellectually in many respects, but GOD BLESS AYN RAND! I wish more young people would be exposed to her these days.
As a christian.... I discovered Rand in the late 1980...
I found her work and philosophy very appealing.....also too appealing..
But in the end my christain faith and belief system did not mix well with an objectivist belief system....that does not mean I disavowed portions of it and are a much more rounded person philosophically because of her writings...
I would recomend her writing to any christain.....
They can't separate Caesar from Christ.
I don’t understand why so many religious conservatives are so hostile to Ayn Rand.
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Because they are knee-jerk Christians.
In some ways they are like the simple-minded animals in “Animal Farm”.”Two legs baaaaad! “Any idea from an atheist baaaaaad!”