Ayn Rand, the sometime philospher and perhaps the most prominent atheist in the history of American arts and letters, has (some years after her death in 1982) taken over the Republican party. Rand is the intellectual founder of modern Libertarianism - the movement that spawned GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul and then sparked the "Tea Party" movement. Yesterday in Kentucky, Ron Paul's son won an overwhelming victory in the GOP Senate primary. Ron Paul's intellectual debt to Ayn Rand is expressed in the fact that he named his son "Rand Paul". But how many GOP regulars understand that the central tenet of Rand's so-called philosophy of Objectivism is an absolute rejection of any belief in God or the Judeo-Christian concept of altruism?
Ayn Rand's ties to the American libertarian movement run deep. Rand personally mentored conservative icon and former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan. Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and many others in the wing-nuttosphere are quite open about their intellectual debts to Ayn Rand. But it is only in the past two years that Rand has really gained a controlling influence over the Republican party. The Republican arguments against health insurance reform, Wall Street reform and extension of unemployment insurance all have been classic Randian arguments. The Tea Party movement's embrace of Rand Paul seals the Randian takeover of the GOP.
What most Republicans probably don't understand is the centrality of atheism in Rand's thought. Rand categorically rejected any sort of faith or mysticism as sources of knowledge. Rand was a pure materialist and rejected any claims about the existence of God.
Further, the central ethical tenet of Rand's thought was the pursuit of "rational self-interest": an individual should pursue only what benefits the individual himself or herself. This tenet is directly and intentionally set up in opposition to the Judeo-Christian "Golden Rule" of altruism: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. For Rand, altruism (helping others) was a path to socialism and slavery. Rand, a refugee from the Soviet Union, believed that Christianity was intellectually and morally too weak to overcome the forces of totalitarianism.
The great question, of course, is what would happen if the GOP masses (many of whom are evangelicals) understood the fact that their party has been taken over by a movement fundamentally based on atheism and a rejection of Judeo-Christian ethics. I have long wondered why there was not stronger religious support for health-care reform - certainly care for the sick (as well as children and the poor) was among the key focuses of Jesus' mission. The fact is that Tea Party elites are quite disconnected from many in the GOP base. My suggestion to Jack Conway would be that liberal use of the phrase "Rand Paul, follower of the atheist Ayn Rand" might be quite helpful in his fall campaign.
Update: As several commenters have noted (you guys are smart), Rand Paul's given name is "Randal". That being said, the fact that he's chosen "Rand" as not only his nickname, but what appears on the Kentucky ballot, is certainly emblematic of what he believes.
And to be clear, I have nothing against atheism as a belief system - but I do think that "rational self-interest" as an ethical system is entirely wanting. There are plenty of atheists who have developed entirely honorable and praiseworthy ethical systems - Ayn Rand just isn't one of them.