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"I may be jumping in the deep end here but here goes anyway...
....It seems to me that the conservatives who despise Rand are the Morality police, religous nuts..."live your life my way or your going to hell"(whatever that might be)folks that will continue to turn more tolerant people off from our cause."

Your post made more sense than any so far. Straight, to the point and in English.

The problem with intellectuals is that they feel the need to obfuscate their rhetoric with excessive and grandiose verbiage. (and they like to hear themselves talk). If people are trying to make a point, then make it, and move on.

In comparison, you have struck to the heart of the matter with a few simple words. As they say in the tobacco chewin' belt, " You ain't got yer good stuff, but yer still pitchin' strikes."
If people find their happiness with like minded people, then all the power to them, just don't come down the street to try and cram it down my throat.

Freedom is not a right, it is a responsibility, and cannot harm others, or infringe on another's freedom. It is the pursuit of freedom that is a right.

As far as God goes, each person has to face Him alone, and your church parking permit ain't gonna help you. It's not where you park your car, its how you drive it.

It seems to me that the conservatives who despise Rand are the Morality police,

If you read the Whitaker Chambers piece linked to earlier in the thread (1957, National Review, _the_ classic attack on Rand) you won't get support for your view.

Underlying Chambers critique as far as I can figure it out are a couple of assumptions that seem to be shared by a majority (maybe only a plurality?) of Freepers:

(1) A man-made or man-based morality is not really a correct moral system, since morailty comes from God alone.

(2) Man-made moral codes lead to totalitarianism if carried to extremes since man will revert to evil measures to enforce them if unconstrained by a correct moral system.

That seems to be the basis of Chambers claim that Rand was advocating "to the ovens go".

When I was younger the Chambers critique made no sense to me at all. I just didn't know what he was talking about and nobody I knew was able to explain it to me.

It looks like actually Chambers and Rand are fighting over a premise or an assumption on the question "Can there be morality without God?"

I believe that for either side to call the other "extremist" or "totalitarian" misses the point.

They have an honest disagreement on a fundamental assumption.

Both are very good advocates for their views and imho we need every man and woman on board for the ongoing battle against the dangerous Utopian leftists who have shredded our institutions and our culture.

"and your church parking permit ain't gonna help you"....

That is great I've never heard it put that way. Thanks for the compliment. I've never understood why people get so wrapped up in the way others live. I mean, I pay my taxes, I keep my grass cut, I give to charity and I don't follow too closely in traffic.