You're not the only person here who thinks he "understands" Rand. I was 16 years old when I read my first Ayn Rand story, "Anthem." By the time I was 19, I'd read pretty much everything she'd written, and though she was an atheist, interestingly "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" were powerful nourishment in my own relationship with Christ. Rand said she didn't believe in God. Well, I don't believe in atheists, and I pray for Rand's soul. She was a GIFT from God, and I trust that God has taken her under His wing.
Rand DID venerate capitalism; she mistook the morality in the men who made it great as being a result of Capitalism, when in fact that morality, AND THE RESULTING SUCCESS OF CAPITALISM, was due solely to God knows how many hundreds of generations of Europeans and Americans whose ENTIRE CULTURES were founded on the Judeo-Christian moral code.
Her grasp of the PHILOSOPHY, the THEORY, of laissez-faire capitalism was and remains a worthy beacon. But don't for one instant kid yourself into thinking that she wasn't sadly mistaken in confusing it, as she did, with a kind of spiritual strength the fount of which BELONGS SOLELY TO THE ALMIGHTY.
Your commentary is really right on target. I see Ayn Rand as grasping the true philosophy of free will and freedom and malice to none, but enriching the spirit within ourselves as individuals. The missing link is the realization of communion with God and one another, and I sense that Ayn was very conflicted about that, perhaps as being a Jew in a very oppressed society from which she came.
But I totally relate to your point that she enriched my spiritual and Christian beliefs and really helped me to understand that charity comes from the heart and one’s free will, not from government mandate and confiscation. Thanks for sharing a great post!