Ayn Rand vs. Jesus

This from Morgan Guyton:

As Paul Krugman has observed, there really are two entirely different moral visions operating in America right now. I disagree with Krugman about where the fault-lines come down. The deepest debate is not over whether the state or private charity should provide a safety net for the poor. Within that conversation (which is still a Christian one), there is still a common underlying presumption that society should provide for its poor, and the debate is over how this can be done most effectively. The irreconcilable disagreement is between: 1) those who think that if you profit from doing business within society using material God created, then you thus owe something to God and society and 2) those who feel that people should be free to do what they like with their money provided they earned every penny of it and they stay within the law.

The latter perspective is the libertarianism of Rand and her disciples. Since Rand was as an atheist who believed that nature was the product of randomness, there was no reason for her to see all material objects as the gifts of our Creator. If you don’t believe that everything you have is a gift from God, then you have no basis for thinking you ought to share what God has given you with others; sharing is something extra you do when it benefits your self-interest by improving your public image, creating a social debt, earning fans, etc.

Christians, on the other hand, believe that “the Earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Ps 24:1). Thus, “private property” really isn’t private at all since it belongs to God who gives it to us as stewards to use for His purposes. Giving to others in need is not a bonus activity we engage in to get our name on a plaque after we’ve spent all the money we’re going to spend on ourselves. We are supposed to prayerfully plan out how we spend every penny of what God has given us, some on ourselves, most on people who really need what we have, and maybe a little on the church’s building campaign.