Dorothy Day and Ayn Rand

In which we take a look at the sharp contrast between these polar opposites. Hint: I prefer the former since I would like to go to heaven, rather than hell and figure I’ve got a better shot at it if I imitate Day rather than Rand.

Not that I do imitate Day. I suck at generosity to the poor. But I figure she’s a better guide than Rand’s “To a gas chamber–go!” attitude to the weak.

Speaking of which, am I the only one who finds the currently theologizing about health care from the Right to be really weird? I’m getting various emails landing in my box from people ringing the changes on some form of argument that goes:

Charity is supposed to spring from the heart! By *mandating* health care, the Obama Administration is *forcing* me to be charitable and thus taking away my free will and taking the place of God Almighty!

There are lots of ways to complain about the health care thingie, but this seems to me to be one of the dumbest. There are all sorts of things that are common needs of the human person which the common good demands we supply. Part of the business of the state is to see to it that these common goods are supplied. In ancient Rome, fire departments were originally started and operated as private enterprises. If you ponied up the money, they would put out the fire in your burning house. Otherwise, they’d stand there and let it burn. Not surprisingly, the turned a tidy profit. Only a theologian from the Thing that Used to be Conservatism would cheer if some fireman said, “How *dare* Caesar impinge on my charitable impulse to put out fires by *mandating* that I have to put out all fires indiscriminately!”

The whole argument appears to be predicated on the notion that there is *only* subsidiarity and that both solidarity and the common good simply do not exist. Sorry, but that’s a crappy way to argue about health care. Do over.