Will Willimon has written a great piece on what Ayn Rand represents to us right now.

In college an older student handed me a book, solemnly saying, “This tells the truth.” The next day I read Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” cover-to-cover. Even as a freshman I could tell it was a poorly written novel. I assumed Rand’s bloated prose was due to her having to learn English as a second language. Like all of her novels, “Fountainhead” is a tract that depicts rich people as victims of small-brained, weak people who use government to punish others for genius, hard work and financial achievement. Rand’s “Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged” repudiate family and community. Their major characters’ families and spouses are leeches whose communities are filled with sponges attempting to live off the powerful, brilliant few.

Only later did I learn the seminal truth about Rand — she was a fanatical atheist.

Keep reading Ayn Rand and Christmas.