Altruism, Ayn Rand and Christianity.

Photo courtesy of eddie60

One of the more controversial authors in our time has been Ayn Rand, in particular her book Atlas Shrugged. To call her work "conservative" would almost be an understatement. In fact, it may be closer to libertarian but in the end I'm not sure any particular label would fit. No matter what you call it, it is clear that the world that Rand pictures in Atlas Shrugged is strikingly similar to the one in which we find ourselves today. Government had grabbed far more power than it was given in the Constitution and personal achievement and success were demonized.

To be sure, Rand intended this book to be an opus of her philosophy and how it fit into American society and the free-market system. One of the ideas that caused so many ruffled feathers at the time, and still today, was that of the virtue of selfishness. My understanding of this idea is that it is good and right for you to want to live life on your own terms and enjoy success and achievement that allows you to live that life. One could almost sum this up in the phrase from the Declaration of Independence, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." As a side-note I have no doubt that Ayn Rand was patriotic and loved the United States. In fact, her ideas were very closely aligned with those of the Founding Fathers.It was this love for freedom and her country that led her to write such a volatile warning of what could happen if we are not careful.

Lest I get bogged down in other matters I need to move on so that the main point of this post will be addressed.

One of the root problems that Ayn Rand saw in our collective philosophy was the notion of "altruism." This could be understood to mean that other people are more important than I am and, thus, I am willing to sacrifice my own well-being on their behalf. This is seen in the act of a soldier falling on a grenade in order to save his comrades. It is also seen in giving sacrificially so that others who are suffering may have what they need. To Rand this conflicted with her philosophy of selfishness because it hindered you, the productive and creative member of society, from reaching your full potential for success and achievement.

Herein lies the problem. As a committed Christian I am convinced that altruism is a virtue. In John 15:13 Jesus tells us that there is no greater love that laying one's life down for his friends. We are commanded to take care of those who are marginalized by society or cannot otherwise take care of themselves. On the other hand as a constitutional patriot I firmly believe in the ideals of freedom, liberty and the individual's right to pursue their own destiny. So for that part, I am a fan of Rand's political philosophy. The question then is this, "Can Ayn Rand's philosophy cooperate with the Biblical Christian worldview?"Personally, I believe the answer is "Yes," and that is the position I want to defend in this post.

It is no secret that Ayn Rand was NOT a Christian. In fact, if my understanding is correct, she was an avowed atheist. This in and of itself would appear to pose a significant problem to Christians. However, I believe the truth is quite the opposite and here is why:

1) All truth is God's truth. Truth is not something that is relative, a moving target, or completely out of the reach of humanity. If something is true, then it is true for all people, for all time, everywhere. Furthermore, truth relates to the way things actually are. This is called "Correspondence Theory." That is, if I say something is true then it must correspond with the way things actually are. God, as a result of who He is, knows all truth and according to His Son Jesus, He is the Truth. Therefore, it does not matter what type of person discovers a particular truth, if it is true, then God agrees. This opens the door for Christians to glean truth from multiple sources like Greek philosophy, etc. Of course, the ultimate source of truth for humanity is found in the Bible and any so-called truth that contradicts what is revealed in the Bible is not truth. However, truth that is found outside of the Bible that corresponds with, or is not contradicted by, the Bible is fair game. For our purposes here, if Ayn Rand proclaims a truth it doesn't matter if she doesn't believe in God, it is still truth.

2) Altruism itself is not the problem. Because Ayn Rand was a promoter of freedom and liberty I have a hard time believing that she would fault anyone for giving or sacrificing by their own freewill. The problem is that because it is a commonly held virtue, it has now become a nationally mandated virtue. Here is where we really run into problems on the governmental level. The reasoning runs something like this: It is right and good to give and sacrifice for those who are less fortunate (altruism). You have achieved success and prosperity unlike many others. Therefore, since you will not give of your own freewill to help others we will take it from you because you are greedy and selfish. Then we will distribute it as we see fit. In Rand's mind the virtue of altruism had led to governmental thievery and quenching of personal achievement. This is where I see my Christians convictions and the political philosophy of Ayn Rand coinciding. I too believe that mandated altruism is wrong. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is not altruism at all. The Bible is clear that God wants us to give out of a heart of love for him and for other people, and to do so cheerfully; not out of obligation. The virtue of altruism is no virtue at all if it is no longer voluntary but forced. John Wesley has given us a great model that I think speaks to this subject. In paraphrase, he said that we should make all we can, save all we can, so that we can give all we can. The message of the virtue of selfishness is not that people should not help other people. In that case it would be categorically wrong. The message is that people should be allowed the freedom to pursue life as they see fit, to achieve personal success and then do as they see fit to help other people without the interference of the government.

With all of that being said, I do believe that the political philosophy of Ayn Rand coincides well with the Biblical Christian worldview. While I do not agree with everything that Rand stood for I do believe she stood for the same principles that our country was founded upon. She promoted freedom to be creative, freedom to succeed, freedom to believe what we want to believe and freedom to live our lives according to our desires and convictions.

RV