A Libertarian Rejection of Rand’s Opposition to Religion

As a hoax on April Fool’s Day, Swedish libertarian Mattias Svensson blogged about his “coming out” as a religious man. He is very far from religious, although his treatment of Ayn Rand’s novels resembles religious devotion. Well, his sudden religious awakening was intended as a joke, but perhaps he should read what libertarian academic Walter Block says about Ayn Rand’s “belligerent atheism”:

I reject religion, all religion, since, as an atheist, I am unconvinced of the existence of God. Indeed, I go further. I am no agnostic: I am convinced of His non-existence. However, as a political animal, I warmly embrace this institution. It is a bulwark against totalitarianism. He who wishes to oppose statist depredations cannot do so without the support of religion. Opposition to religion, even if based on intellectual grounds and not intended as a political statement, nevertheless amounts to de facto support of government. […] It is time, it is long past time, that the Austro-libertarian movement reject the virulent Randian opposition to religion. Yes, Ayn Rand has made contributions to our efforts. We must not throw out the baby with the bathwater. But, surely, anti-religious sentiment belongs in the latter category, not the former.

Personally, I have had a very complicated relationship with religion. On the one hand, I reject much of the supernatural claims; but on the other hand, I do find moral comfort in the Torah and social comfort in the religious civilisation of which I am a member. To me, religion is a humanism of sorts—created by people in an attempt to understand and justify morality and society.