Good Friday Shrugged

Michael Gerson had an interested editorial in yesterday's Washington Post titled: Ayn Rand’s adult-onset adolescence. In it he opines about conservatives and their attraction to the recently released cinematized version of Ayn Rand's book "Atlas Shrugged".
Here is a clip from the editorial:

The appeal of Ayn Rand to conservatives is both considerable and inexplicable. Modern conservatism was largely defined by Ronald Reagan’s faith in the people instead of elites. Rand regarded the people as “looters” and “parasites.” She was a strenuous advocate for class warfare, except that she took the side of a mythical class of capitalist supermen. Rand, in fact, pronounced herself “profoundly opposed” to Reagan’s presidential candidacy, since he did not meet her exacting ideological standards.

Rand cherished a particular disdain for Christianity. The cross, she said, is “the symbol of the sacrifice of the ideal to the nonideal. . . . It is in the name of that symbol that men are asked to sacrifice themselves for their inferiors. That is precisely how the symbolism is used. That is torture.” Yet some conservatives marked Holy Week by attending and embracing “Atlas Shrugged.”

Reaction to Rand draws a line in political theory. Some believe with Rand that all government is coercion and theft — the tearing-down of the strong for the benefit of the undeserving. Others believe that government has a limited but noble role in helping the most vulnerable in society — not motivated by egalitarianism, which is destructive, but by compassion, which is human. And some root this duty in God’s particular concern for the vulnerable and undeserving, which eventually includes us all. This is the message of Easter, and it is inconsistent with the gospel of Rand.

It will be interesting to see how this movie is embraced by conservatives.. especially those on the religious right. I do not think that solutions to the problems that we face are all that easy though. Many conservatives emphatically believe that the government should get out of the welfare business and let religious institutions take over. Others think that the government originally got involved because those organizations dropped the ball.

Politics aside, I suggest that we all take a few minutes on this Good Friday to contemplate the sufferings of Christ on the cross and to remember the nobility with which he died. In doing so I pray that we will each be moved to do something compassionate towards another human being.. even if it goes against our political ideology.