General Discussion

RainDog

(28,784 posts) Fri Oct 25, 2013, 06:35 AM Oct 2013

Paul Ryan, Ayn Rand and... Satanism?

Oh, Republican Party, how far you have fallen, now that you've given over your party to the cranks and the crazies and the cruzaders.

They used to warn people against ridiculous ideologies... before they came to represent them.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2012/8/27/112525/600

I give people Ayn Rand, with trappings"
--- Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan (to Kim Klein of the Washington Post, 1970), as cited on page 2 of Contemporary Religious Satanism: A Critical Anthology, by Jesper Aagaard Peterson (Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2009)

"Ayn Rand, more than anyone else, did a fantastic job of explaining the morality of capitalism, the morality of individualism." --- Congressman Paul Ryan, 2009 official Ryan For Congress video ad.

"My great friend, the late Bill Buckley - one of his greatest contributions to modern conservatism was his effort to purge it of cranks and crypto-cultists and for Buckley, Ayn Rand and her followers certainly fit that description... [Ayn Rand's] patently anti-Christian ideas seem to be gaining steam... powerful committee chairmen on Capital Hill make their staffers read her tracts." --- former Nixon Administration member Charles Colson, May 2011 installment of his "Two Minute Warning" video series, titled Atlas Shrugged and So Should You

"There are two novels that can change a bookish 14-year-old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."
--- John Rogers, screenwriter and comic

Strange bedfellows, when libertarians and fundamentalist "christians" unite in their effort to undermine our economic system, as we saw this month, inspired by a foundational text for...satanism?

It all gets so confusing, especially when all you want to do is undo the New Deal, no matter what sorts of affiliations you make to do so.

9 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Paul Ryan, Ayn Rand and... Satanism? (Original Post) RainDog Oct 2013 OP

I've read the Satanic Bible, and it's all about satisfying the self and LuvNewcastle Oct 2013 #1

LaVey wasnt really a Satanist per se. He was a humanist darkangel218 Oct 2013 #2

I know that the whole Satanist thing was merely a con. LuvNewcastle Oct 2013 #6

It all makes sense, No wonder Ayn Rand admired the serial killer Hickman so much fasttense Oct 2013 #3

"Vote Republicon, and you can lie all you want, like Fox !" - His Nibs (R) Berlum Oct 2013 #4

Not so strange, marrying religion to libertarian independence HereSince1628 Oct 2013 #5

Screwtape changed strategies. gulliver Oct 2013 #7

There you have it (R) Berlum Oct 2013 #8

Is there an exorcist in the House? RainDog Oct 2013 #9

LuvNewcastle

(16,846 posts)

1. I've read the Satanic Bible, and it's all about satisfying the self and

Reply to RainDog (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 07:02 AM

Oct 2013

keeping away people who are needy. Anton LaVey calls needy people "psychic vampires." It's all very much like Ayn Rand's philosophy, and the polar opposite of what I think of as Christianity. Some Christians agree with La Vey's beliefs, though. They're completely unaware that they're really Satanists.

darkangel218

(13,985 posts)

2. LaVey wasnt really a Satanist per se. He was a humanist

Reply to LuvNewcastle (Reply #1)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 07:17 AM

Oct 2013

Who didn't even believe in a Satan.

LuvNewcastle

(16,846 posts)

6. I know that the whole Satanist thing was merely a con.

Reply to darkangel218 (Reply #2)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 07:57 AM

Oct 2013

He had been an organ player in carnivals and, if I recall correctly, supported himself by various shady means. If he believed the things he wrote in the Satanic Bible -- I mean the general philosophy in it -- his take on humanism was rather twisted. I consider myself a humanist, but I believe in helping people and trying to advance the human race as a whole. If he believed in those same things, he had a rather twisted idea of how to accomplish them.

fasttense

(17,301 posts)

3. It all makes sense, No wonder Ayn Rand admired the serial killer Hickman so much

Reply to RainDog (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 07:20 AM

Oct 2013

And no wonder the stars on the GOP logo were turned upside down a common symbol of satan.

I think Anton LaVey, founder of the Church of Satan, would have a lot in common with Paul Ryan and Ron Paul.

Berlum

(7,044 posts)

4. "Vote Republicon, and you can lie all you want, like Fox !" - His Nibs (R)

Reply to RainDog (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 07:22 AM

Oct 2013

HereSince1628

(36,063 posts)

5. Not so strange, marrying religion to libertarian independence

Reply to RainDog (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 07:50 AM

Oct 2013

creates "yeoman for God"--essentially a self image as a knight-errant in service of a code of self-serving and class-serving godliness.

gulliver

(13,181 posts)

7. Screwtape changed strategies.

Reply to RainDog (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 08:41 AM

Oct 2013

Instead of getting Christians to leave the churches he now gets Christianity to do so. The selfish and evil folks in the Republican Party infiltrated the churches and soured them on humanity. You can't be Republican and be truly Christian now. All of the good ideas (patriotism, hard work, faith, charity, honesty...) are much better represented in the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.

Berlum

(7,044 posts)

8. There you have it (R)

Reply to gulliver (Reply #7)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 10:11 AM

Oct 2013

RainDog

(28,784 posts)

9. Is there an exorcist in the House?

Reply to RainDog (Original post)

Fri Oct 25, 2013, 05:10 PM

Oct 2013

heh, heh.

Reply to this discussion