"My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute." — Ayn Rand
This is how convoluted the conservative "Christians" are in their thinking when it comes to their politics. Much of the conservative political ideology is based on Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism. I won't get into any lengthy explanation of just what objectivism is, but you can Google it and research it in detail if you like and I hope that you will. In a nutshell Ayn Rand's philosophy amounts to militant views on the virtue of selfishness and the “evil” of helping others, combined with a strident opposition to any social safety nets or government regulation of the economy. It has many natural affinities with the Tea Party and Republican ideology. Ayn Rand was a staunch atheist who absolutely rejected Christ’s teachings. Her goal was the replacing of religion with her belief system that man's greatest virtue was in pursuing happiness based upon his own self interests, something that stands in absolute opposition to all that which true Christian faith is based. Yet this is what those who claim to be Christian are supporting wholeheartedly with their consistent and fervent support for the Republican party and it's ideology.
If you are questioning this in any way, please research Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and others who are, or have been, avowed Ayn Rand followers. Ryan, the Republican Speaker of the House, once said that Ayn Rand’s philosophy was the reason that he got into Public service. Kentucky Republican Rand Paul told supporters in 2009 that he cut his teeth on Ayn Rand in high school and that he has read all of her novels.
There are plenty of other present day Republicans, and others from the past who have also praised the Rand philosophy of objectivism. Ronald Reagan, for example, expressed his admiration for Rand, something that should surprise no one, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas hosts a screening of the 1949 film version of her novel, The Fountain Head, for his new law clerks.
The Republican party claims to be the party of family values and thousands upon thousands of conservative “Christians” in America seem to believe that they are, not only the family values party (which they obviously are not) but also the party of Christian values. This is a sham. A cruel hoax. A clear distortion of Christianity. It's based on a huge deception that many who claim to follow Christ have been duped into believing....that somehow conservative political ideology and Christianity are one and the same when, in actuality, the moniker "Conservative Christian" has become an oxymoron of major proportions.
One wonders what Jesus would have to say about all of this. Perhaps we might find the answer in this passage from the Bible: "He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich - both come to poverty." - Proverbs 22:16.
