Ethnic pride? A disproportinately large number of Objectivists are ethnic Jews, even if they are atheists.
This is not mere speculation. In the mid-1980s, I attended a weekly Objectivist discussion group. Much God-bashing and religion-bashing went on in this group. There was talk of renting Monty Python's Life Of Brian for a group screening.
These Objectivists were mainly "ex-Jews," with many "ex-Catholics" (which mirrored the intellectual core of the libertarian movement in the late 1960s, 1970s). One man said he read Atlas Shrugged (or The Fountainhead -- one or the other) on an Israeli kibbutz. Upon finishing it he realized the evil of socialism, and immeadiately returned to the U.S.
The group leader was also an "ex-Jew." So you can imagine my surpirse when I called one day to ask about the next meeting, and was told that it was canceled as she would be celebrating Yom Kippur (or Rosh Shashana -- again, I forget which). This was no joke.
So, weekly, she would mock God, but then she'd celebrate the Jewish holidays. I didn't ask why (she was group leader, and those flirting with Objectivism learn not to question Randian authority). I can only assume that though she no longer believed in the Jewish religion, she still identified with the cultural/ethnic aspects.
A tribalist attitude, not in keeping with Objectivism's claimed "individualism," but it's the only explanation I can imagine. Anyway, instead of becoming an Objectivist, a joined the LP a few years later -- a group much hated by Objectivists.
There are lots of people who consider themselves Objectivists and Libertarian Party members. I am not one. But you should watch your blanket statements.
Objectivists are not all mindless disciples following Leonard Peikoff, as much as he may wish it. Your description sounds like the Nathaniel Branden Institute circa 1969. Times have changed.