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Atlas Shrugged is a morally bankrupt tome to analyze conservative policies. Nothing wrong with that, but Our Founders told us to “prefer Christians”. Character is what we do when no one is looking. What would John Galt do if he bought some real estate and found a flaw in the contract to his favor? A Christian may feel morally bound to reveal the flaw if it were discussed in negotiations. What would a pure capitalist do? We can't know because we can't know where and atheist gets their morals. Sort of like arguing about the word “is” when denying you had sex after lying to the whole world on TV. Christians are people too and do fall from time to time, but our Founders knew that any other people would have to have 2700 page laws to follow or they would just make up scenario's and say it wasn't covered. We may know the spirit of the law, but we need a lawyer to tell us what we can get away with. Ayn Rand wrote a good book to teach the finer points of conservatism, but I think a Christian conservative would probably do the “right” thing and not just the conservative thing. The commands of Jesus, IMHO, are of utmost importance to our daily lives and not just the laws of the jungle. Ayn felt objectivism was a moral set of laws that were always the best policy and it really depends on the person how they interpret objectivism. If I meet a Muslim, I know where his morals come from, as I do a Hindu or a Christian. They are obviously NOT the same. Ayn would say that objectivism was better than all the others even though she knew people that showed no mercy, compassion, or love to their fellow man. Her life was as a conservative communist or a communist capitalist because that is what she knew. It depends on the subject. She was raised in communism so she was familiar with their “morals”. She loved freedom here,, but I'm afraid she never learned why we are free.

I believe there is a religious part of freedom that can't be expressed in other countries that are secular. Islam breeds it's own type of morals as does atheists do in communism. In the end, doing the right thing comes from God, and others will fail trying to figure out what the "right" thing is from their made up rule books.

A Christian may feel morally bound to reveal the flaw if it were discussed in negotiations. What would a pure capitalist do? We can't know because we can't know where and atheist gets their morals.

And this is the exact misinterpretation I am trying to point out. A pure capitalist cannot be a looter. A pure capitalist, as demonstrated in Atlas Shrugged, first bases their interactions involving money on honesty. It is the looter who uses the flawed contract to steal your production.

Christians are people too and do fall from time to time, but our Founders knew that any other people would have to have 2700 page laws to follow or they would just make up scenario's and say it wasn't covered. We may know the spirit of the law, but we need a lawyer to tell us what we can get away with. Ayn Rand wrote a good book to teach the finer points of conservatism, but I think a Christian conservative would probably do the “right” thing and not just the conservative thing.

vs.

The idea of what Rand tried to teach us,

"Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We *want* them broken. You'd better get it straight That it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against– then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted – and you create a nation of law-breakers – and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with." -- Ayn Rand, _Atlas Shrugged , Ch. III, "White Blackmail"

The 2700 page law signed this past week makes us all criminals in some form or another. What is the "right" thing to do with this 2700 page law? Even our founder's would say we're not bound by such unconstitutional laws.