Is Paul Ryan a closet atheist?

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

From an IRC discussion which moved to the forum.

[Ebowed]

Paul Ryan worships the dollar.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I voted No; he very well may be as may most anybody claiming to have a particular set of beliefs but you can't just decide that he is based upon his admittedly nonsensical claimed political philosophy.

[Averroës Nix]

Yes, and Mitt Romney starts every morning with an Irish coffee.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I fail to see how anyone could admire Ayn Rand and not be, so as I stated once last night the GOP ticket now likely has two non-Christians on it. Rand was more than someone who just didn't believe in God, she was a full on frothing at the mouth Hitchens/Dawkins style atheist. She also said that Christianity was no better than communism.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I fail to see how anyone could admire Ayn Rand and not be, so as I stated once last night the GOP ticket now likely has two non-Christians on it. Rand was more than someone who just didn't believe in God, she was a full on frothing at the mouth Hitchens/Dawkins style atheist.

I wonder how many people think that Biden is the only Christian on either ticket.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

I fail to see how anyone could admire Ayn Rand and not be, so as I stated once last night the GOP ticket now likely has two non-Christians on it. Rand was more than someone who just didn't believe in God, she was a full on frothing at the mouth Hitchens/Dawkins style atheist.

I wonder how many people think that Biden is the only Christian on either ticket.

I feel that Romney and Biden are Christians, Obama is a closet agnostic, and Ryan is a closet atheist.

[RI]

I fail to see how anyone could admire Ayn Rand and not be, so as I stated once last night the GOP ticket now likely has two non-Christians on it. Rand was more than someone who just didn't believe in God, she was a full on frothing at the mouth Hitchens/Dawkins style atheist.

I wonder how many people think that Biden is the only Christian on either ticket.

Biden's a Catholic, so he might not be a Christian to someone too. Wait that would mean that THERE ARE NO CHRISTIANS ON EITHER TICKET GUYS. WHAT IS HAPPENING TO AMERICA? WE MIGHT AS WELL MAKE SATANISM OUR OFFICIAL RELIGION.

[Brittain33]

I've known Republicans who love Rand for her political views but compartmentalize the anti-religious part because it's unthinkable for them to lose their religious identity. We always talk about liberal Catholics who don't agree with the church's point of view on gays or birth control but who identify strongly with the faith. Why not a conservative who disagrees on the social justice angle and doesn't buy into Rand's dismissal of religion? It's just a different set of dishes from two cafeterias.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I'm not even sure if the term makes that much sense, but does it even matter? Besides, Brittain is correct. On the other side of the line, think of the stereotypical Liverpool Irish docker of about fifty years ago with a crucifix hanging next to a picture of Karl Marx.

[BaldEagle1991]

No. He attends some church in Milwaukee.

[Person Man]

I've known Republicans who love Rand for her political views but compartmentalize the anti-religious part because it's unthinkable for them to lose their religious identity. We always talk about liberal Catholics who don't agree with the church's point of view on gays or birth control but who identify strongly with the faith. Why not a conservative who disagrees on the social justice angle and doesn't buy into Rand's dismissal of religion? It's just a different set of dishes from two cafeterias.

A cafeteria Athiest?

[Incipimus iterum]

.... Ryans A CATHOLIC 

[milhouse24]

I've known Republicans who love Rand for her political views but compartmentalize the anti-religious part because it's unthinkable for them to lose their religious identity. We always talk about liberal Catholics who don't agree with the church's point of view on gays or birth control but who identify strongly with the faith. Why not a conservative who disagrees on the social justice angle and doesn't buy into Rand's dismissal of religion? It's just a different set of dishes from two cafeterias.

Well, Ayn Rand was ethnically Jewish, and despised Christianity (which may have been a more common point of view from Jewish people back then).  So she would have been skeptical of any organized religion that wasn't based on ethnicity, and thought people who chose their religion were foolish to practice such beliefs.  She may have saw herself as an outsider in a predominately Christian world.  That would lead to beliefs of individualism and distrust of mass organizations. 

But I do think that Paul Ryan's budget places too much emphasis on free market principles and not enough realistic emphasis that sometimes there are just no jobs for people, or that unique circumstances prevent citizens from rising above poverty.  I would like to see how these austerity policies work at the state level before trying it out at the national level.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

I don't think Ryan is, though I think Obama is agnostic. Nothing wrong with that, either, just pointing out my theory .

[All Along The Watchtower]

Who cares? People hold self-contradictory views everywhere.

[California8429]

No. Is it so incredibly hard to conceive that he admires people, the works, and ideas who are not Catholic?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No. Is it so incredibly hard to conceive that he admires people, the works, and ideas who are not Catholic?

But Rand wasn't just someone who didn't believe in God. She was one of those frothing militant atheist types and probably would've got along great with Richard Dawkins.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Well, Ayn Rand was ethnically Jewish, and despised Christianity (which may have been a more common point of view from Jewish people back then).  So she would have been skeptical of any organized religion that wasn't based on ethnicity, and thought people who chose their religion were foolish to practice such beliefs

If that's true she's an even more revolting human being than I previously thought before. "Ethnic religion" is one of the most disgusting concepts accepted in today's world.

[BaldEagle1991]

I don't think Ryan is, though I think Obama is agnostic. Nothing wrong with that, either, just pointing out my theory .

He is. We have to wait til he is out of office to hear that.

[Brittain33]

Well, Ayn Rand was ethnically Jewish, and despised Christianity (which may have been a more common point of view from Jewish people back then).  So she would have been skeptical of any organized religion that wasn't based on ethnicity, and thought people who chose their religion were foolish to practice such beliefs

If that's true she's an even more revolting human being than I previously thought before. "Ethnic religion" is one of the most disgusting concepts accepted in today's world.

That whole paragraph seems to be 100% supposition by Milhouse, and largely nonsense.

[Bluegrassball]

If his "intellect" is all that some are making it out to be then it is likely that he is but continues to go to church for political reasons much like Clinton.

Obama is probably an atheist too but doesn't feel the need to cover it up as much as Clinton did.

W on the other hand was full on batsh**t for Jesus.

[Lincoln Republican]

Is Joe Biden a closet druid?

[Indy Texas]

Well, Ayn Rand was ethnically Jewish, and despised Christianity (which may have been a more common point of view from Jewish people back then).  So she would have been skeptical of any organized religion that wasn't based on ethnicity, and thought people who chose their religion were foolish to practice such beliefs

If that's true she's an even more revolting human being than I previously thought before. "Ethnic religion" is one of the most disgusting concepts accepted in today's world.

Actually, Rand hated ethnicity-based solidarity even more than organized religion because not only did it subvert the individual will to that of the group, it did so based on something people did not actively choose (we don't choose our race or ethnicity). She despised racism for the same reason.

Christianity and Objectivism are inherently incompatible. Christianity is essentially based on a guy who sacrificed his own life to save humanity. Self-sacrifice is the antithesis of everything Objectivism stands for. So if there are any self-proclaimed Christian Randians out there, I'd love to know how you get out of that philosophical cul-de-sac.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

If his "intellect" is all that some are making it out to be then it is likely that he is but continues to go to church for political reasons much like Clinton.

Obama is probably an atheist too but doesn't feel the need to cover it up as much as Clinton did.

W on the other hand was full on batsh**t for Jesus.

...what?

Without using terms from weird Continental sub-forms of otherwise anodyne social science disciplines it's hard to describe the problems with a post that has so few touchstones in the reality that most people experience.