objectivism and christianity

[Nunu]

I am in an english class and we are reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, her testament to objectivism. Though the "heroic" characters in her book do not believe in God and value knowledge over belief I am finding that a lot of what I believe of Christianity is not diametrically opposed to objectivism. I originally posted this in the Christian advice forum to no avail. If anyone here has any advice to give me on this subject that would be appreciated.

 

[Asimov]

I am in an english class and we are reading Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, her testament to objectivism. Though the "heroic" characters in her book do not believe in God and value knowledge over belief I am finding that a lot of what I believe of Christianity is not diametrically opposed to objectivism. I originally posted this in the Christian advice forum to no avail. If anyone here has any advice to give me on this subject that would be appreciated.

Could you possibly go into a little more detail? I'm an Objectivist and I am diametrically opposed to Christianity.

In what way are the two similar? In what way are they different?

 

[DailyBlessings]

While "Christianity" is a bit of a misnomer, since there is not much correlation between christianity and any given philosophical school, I would agree that much of Rand's philosophy agrees with what a lot of Christians espouse, particularly among the evangelical crowd in America. Asimov likely knows more about objectivism than I, so he is free to correct me on this, but here are the basic similarities as I see them.

Objectivism holds, first of all, that there is a mind-independent reality and that individuals are in contact with this reality through sensory perception, something that most Christians would absolutely insist upon against fervent opposition from many modern schools of thought. Creationism in particular is tied to the notion that the universe exists independently of human thought, and that one can therefore make absolute statements about its nature and origins. Rand also felt that humans gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement, and by forming concepts that correspond to natural categories by measurement omission. You would see some opposition to the notion that objective knowledge is generated by the scientific method, but mostly from either very conservative or very liberal Christians- mainline Christians would not object. So the basic assumptions are for the most part in line with each other, though Ayn would fervently object to the conclusions drawn from them in some cases.

Moving on to moral theory, the proper moral purpose of one's life according to Rand is the pursuit of one's own happiness or "rational self-interest"; she therefore encourages laissez-faire capitalism, which she insists is the only way to create genuine balance. Here she does contradict two millenia of church beliefs, which encourage love, mercy, and sacrifice for the well-being of others. However, the American Christian Right would fully agree with her, as evidenced not only by their open support of capitalism and political libertarianism, but also in more subtle ways- the adoption of "personal salvation" as the primal goal, and a general interest in eschatological matters and hell doctrine, all of which imply that personal wellbeing and self-interest should be the guiding factor in one's decision to live a Christian life. This is not to say that Christianity or even fundamentalism directly support or denounce objectivism. Neither Calvinists, Roman Catholics, nor liberal theologians in general would support Rand's theories in their entirety, so by majority rule at least Christians are not objectivist. But I suspect there are a considerable number of people who hold both sets of moral information in high regard.

EDIT to add a side note: how can one be diametrically opposed to Christianity? Christianity is frequently diametrically opposed to itself.

 

[billwald]

Isn't involving onesself in a religion also an act of self interest? Don't Christians and others expect their "pie in the sky, by and by?" God doesn't need anything from us.

 

[DailyBlessings]

Isn't involving onesself in a religion also an act of self interest? Don't Christians and others expect their "pie in the sky, by and by?" God doesn't need anything from us.

Well, that was my point in connecting evangelicalism to objectivism. I don't think it is inherent to religion, though it is a common trend in humanity.

 

[Asimov]

Rand also felt that humans gain objective knowledge from perception by measurement, and by forming concepts that correspond to natural categories by measurement omission.

No. Information is gained from perception, Knowledge is gained by forming concepts through non-contradictory identification. The faculties of reason are what leads to knowledge.

By this token, Reason is man's only absolute because it is the only method with which to gain knowledge. She was not a fervent empiricist, nor was she a strident rationalist. Rand intermixed the two, stating that both experience and logic work together in the road to knowledge.

Here she does contradict two millenia of church beliefs, which encourage love, mercy, and sacrifice for the well-being of others.

The Bible promotes poverty and altruism. Luckily they both go hand in hand.

However, the American Christian Right would fully agree with her, as evidenced not only by their open support of capitalism and political libertarianism, but also in more subtle ways- the adoption of "personal salvation" as the primal goal, and a general interest in eschatological matters and hell doctrine, all of which imply that personal wellbeing and self-interest should be the guiding factor in one's decision to live a Christian life.

The Christian Right supports theocracy, not libertarianism, nor do they support laissez-faire capitalism.

First and foremost, Rand's political ideas centered around actual freedom. Christianity does not offer freedom in that sense.

This is not to say that Christianity or even fundamentalism directly support or denounce objectivism. Neither Calvinists, Roman Catholics, nor liberal theologians in general would support Rand's theories in their entirety, so by majority rule at least Christians are not objectivist. But I suspect there are a considerable number of people who hold both sets of moral information in high regard.

I doubt it, Objectivism rejects the collective mentality that Christianity embraces...as do all religions, by definition. Nobody directly supports or denounces objectivism because it isn't an outspoken community of people.

EDIT to add a side note: how can one be diametrically opposed to Christianity? Christianity is frequently diametrically opposed to itself.

By rejecting everything it teaches.

 

[Asimov]

Isn't involving onesself in a religion also an act of self interest?

Rational self-interest. The keyword is rational.