There's plenty in Objectivism that's compatible with Christianity (not that Rand would have wanted it that way). Foremost is the idea that you are responsible for your life and for the lives of those to whom you freely obligate yourself.
That's the "selfishness" that so many Christians abhor without bothering to read Rand (beyond excerpts of posts on bulletin boards).
The author addresses that. Her argument that reality is objective and exists apart from consciousness led him to understand that there is an objective reality. For me, the issue is that when she began to build an ethic based on her understanding of self-interest it becomes difficult to defend.
Yes it is appropriate to see her understanding of "selfishness" as taking responsibility for oneself. But despite her protestations, without the objective reality of a personal, infinite creator who determines the good, all ethical systems reduce to one person's opinion vs. another. Who's will is enforced? The one with the power to enforce it.
There's plenty in Objectivism that's compatible with Christianity (not that Rand would have wanted it that way). Foremost is the idea that you are responsible for your life and for the lives of those to whom you freely obligate yourself.
Well said. There is plenty of overlap, and antagonism between overly dogmatic elements of either belief system is unnecessarily divisive, IMHO.
Just like the Founders' philosophy of classical liberalism may have been imperfect in practice, to a large degree the ideas themselves were bigger and more "perfect" than the flawed men who interpreted them.
I consider myself a Christian, as well as a Constitutionalist libertarian, and my belief in Christ and His religious philosophy does not preclude my embracing the many valid aspects of the primarily political philosophy espoused by Rand.
Thus, since Christianity and Objectivism belong to different philosophical categories, I do not find it difficult to synthesize the two into a coherent framework for living my Christian life as a free American.
To me, "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free" applies to both my spiritual and secular existence, and pursuit of these truths is an ongoing process of growth, rather than some static goal which is reached, after which no further progress occurs...