I read an interesting piece in This Week magazine. It seems that Rep. Paul Ryan has been rebuked by the Catholic Church for his proposed budget that cuts trillions of dollars in spending for food stamps, Medicare, and education while providing trillions of dollars in tax breaks for the wealthy. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Ryan's budget "fails to meet the essential moral mandate of Catholicism" and is more a reflection of the values of Ayn Rand than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ayn Rand, the author of Atlas Shrugged (Ryan gives a copy to all his interns), believed that compassion was morally wrong and described the poor as "leeches who weakened society". Now that he has had his hand slapped by the Church Rep. Ryan claims to reject Ms. Rand's philosophy and has now chosen Thomas Aquinas as his new role model. It will be interesting to see if he alters his budget proposal to reflect a more Christian philosophy.
Quote of the Day
Man should not consider his material possessions his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when other are in need.
--Thomas Aquinas
Note: Columnists quoted in magazine article were Dana Milbank and Marc Thiessen, The Washington Post, and Jay Bookman, AJC.com.
4 comments:
I'm quite willing to bet that he will not change. As a Republican, he is committed to aiding the wealthy and depriving the poor. That's what they do. Example; the recently passed Farm Bill. I'm sure he voted for it.
I have never read one of Ayn Rand's books and don't intend to either. I've read several long articles about her "philosophy of selfishness," which were more than enough to convey its essential inhumanity and evil. It's ironic that Ayn Rand herself depended on Social Security and Medicare benefits in her last years. Interesting how that works--it's always someone else who is the "leech"!
It never ceases to amaze me how some people who profess Christianity (especially politicians) can espouse such ungodly ideologies.
What is disheartening to me is how we all as the church have failed in helping the needy, leaving a void that the government has stepped in to fill, and they have done it so poorly!
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