Time's Sullivan Cites Left-wing 'Religious Group' to Insist Catholic Rep. Paul Ryan Has 'Ayn Rand Problem'
"I am fairly certain that when Paul Ryan first decided to publicly share his admiration of Ayn Rand, he could not have imagined it would lead to him speed-walking to his SUV to avoid a young Catholic trying to give him a Bible and telling him to pay more attention to the Gospel of Luke," Time's Amy Sullivan snarked in a June 3 Swampland blog post.
"But that’s what happened Friday morning in downtown Washington after Ryan spoke to the surprisingly smallish crowd gathered for Ralph Reed’s Faith & Freedom Conference," the magazine's religion correspondent added, introducing a YouTube video of the episode.
Sullivan explained that "an interesting thing is happening right now around the GOP budget proposal. A broad coalition of religious voices is criticizing the morality of the choices reflected in budget cuts and tax policy." As part of that "broad coalition," Sullivan went on to describe and embed an anti-Ryan YouTube video by "the religious group American Values Network."
But even a cursory look at the website for AVN shows it has decidedly leftward liberal bent with a penchant for left-of-center political issues and liberal advisory committee members such as National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL)-endorsed former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) and former Clinton pastor Phil Wogaman.
The American Values Network has every right to do what it does and couch its liberal arguments in a religious light, but Sullivan should inform her readers that AVN is not simply a "religious group," suggesting it is apolitical or devoid of ideological grounding.
- Ken Shepherd's blog
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Comments
Was Luke a proponent of Medicare?
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 5:13pm.
I didn't realize the program dates back that far.
But truthfully, Ayn Rand
Submitted by redfish on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 5:13pm.
But truthfully, Ayn Rand hated religion, called it an evil, attacked traditional ideas of Christian charity, brotherly love, and viewed sex as a tool of empowerment.
So if some genuine Christian group criticized Paul Ryan for admiring Ayn Rand, they'd be on a solid basis.
No, not even then.
Submitted by Tenebrous on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 6:25pm.
They'd only have a point if Ryan said that he viewed those principles of Rand positively.
Visions and Principles blog
I don't think there'd be a
Submitted by redfish on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 7:12pm.
I don't think there'd be a basis to condemn Ryan personally, but I would think some Christians would be worrying about how a lot of people in the conservative movement are using Ayn Rand as some standard bearer for their philosophy.
I agree with you redfish
Submitted by Hoosier Conservative on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 7:19pm.
Way too many conservatives gush over how great Ayn Rand is, and half of them don't even know/care about her anti-religion views. If Ayn Rand had not written a libertarian book, she would simply have gone down in history as a narcissistic, angry atheist who attacked family values every chance she got.
Something to think about
Submitted by Unsane on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 7:22pm.
Rand's atheism does not offend me, but here's some food for thought, nothing more:
Would it be so bad if Christians chose to ignore Rand's religious views and stuck with the aspects of her philosophy that relate to economics and business?
Hey, it wouldn't be the first time a portion of a philosopher's creed was dismissed by people for whatever reason...
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
I'm pretty familiar with the
Submitted by motherbelt on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 6:29pm.
I'm pretty familiar with the gospels.Even if I never picked up the Bible on my own (and I have) I have been listening to gospel readings in church for my entire life (trust me, that's a lot of Sundays and holy days!)! and I can't think of a single situation where Jesus talked to the politicians running the country and told them to pass laws to benefit the poor.
The only "government" person He ever addressed, to my knowledge, was the tax collector. And he admonished him not to collect more than was due.
Amy Sullivan = Liar (Can I use that word, Vet?)
Submitted by Tenebrous on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 6:31pm.
There is no broad-based Christian movement to give Paul Ryan trouble. And any Christian who is a leftist either soon jettisons his faith or jettisons his politics; this looks like the typical "take things out of context" gambit that the left is so good at.
And, yes, I used the L word. I wonder if I'll be reported for violating the Vet's standards of discourse. Maybe he'll tweet Jer and sic that guy on me, just to winnow out what is really meant by the word "liar". Jer has much experience in that department, so I know we'll get to the bottom of it quickly.
Visions and Principles blog
Jer is a liberal, Tenebrous---
Submitted by matthewdean on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 9:50pm.
but he is NOT a liar.
He may on occasion do a masterful job of out-debating a conservative, but he doesn't use lies to do so.
He is often, as a liberal, a supreme irritation to conservatives, but Jer has never used lies to promote or enforce a position.
Your statement that " Jer has much experience in that department" - (lying) - is unadulterated crap.
You demean yourself by asserting such twaddle; and all because you want to take shots at The Vet.
You are a sad case.
MD
Jer
Submitted by QMCS on Mon, 06/06/2011 - 10:04pm.
I'll second that, I dont think I have even seen Jer lie on here, he's one of the few libs that i actually enjoy reading his posts, His arguments are usually pretty solid.
And if someone says he does lie then please give us examples to back up that position.
Agree MD,
Submitted by Agnostic on Tue, 06/07/2011 - 2:10pm.
This a baseless attack on Jer and humorless backhanded slap at the Vet. All in all - pointless and wrong.
Paul Ryan's extraordinary, atypical "young catholic"
Submitted by russedav on Tue, 06/07/2011 - 1:57pm.
Since the typical papist position is to discourage people from reading their Bibles and arriving at their own interpretations, rather having the religious system do it for them, this "young Catholic" is quite extraordinary and atypical in so courageously having Ryan seek a Biblical foundation. At the same time, however, it's likely the hosility to Ayn Rand is based on ignorance of her profound religious complexity in her dogged no-holds-barred pursuit of truth at any cost as briefly describe by John Piper at www.desiringGod.org, especially http://www.desiringgod.org/searches/Ayn%20Rand?utf8=%E2%9C%93