My Son is reading Ayne Rand

[voxpopulisuxx]

should I be concerned about my 18 year old readin Ayn Rand?
I agree with Rand on many things but my understanding is that its athiestic in nature?

[BrevisVir55]

I have only studied portions of her work in my literature class. As an 18 year old I was not morally or spiritually harmed. Rand espouses what she called Objectivism, which according to her, is "the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute."  This is obviously wrong but as long as your son clings to the ideas of the Faith while reading and does not let all this stick he'll be fine. She was strongly opposed to organized religion. Despite all this, we have read far far worse than Rand in class.


pax

[Herr_Mannelig]

should I be concerned about my 18 year old readin Ayn Rand?
I agree with Rand on many things but my understanding is that its athiestic in nature?

When in doubt, as I say, don't do it. So, Ayn Rand is not Catholic, therefore, if there is a danger, it should not be read. However, if your son is Catholic and knowledgeable (he is likely of some intelligence if he chose to read that), he may find the reading to be edifying. I have been given cause to learn more from things that were false, than were true.

For this, if you can't easily control it, which is possible due to the age, it may be a good time for discussion. All open ended. I know some people who have left the Church, and actively read what I'd consider harmful works (atheistic, sometimes militantly), I can discuss those things with interest with them, and probably get more influence due to a rational discussion.

If you don't think discussion will easily come, then you may try to introduce other works which this reading would lead to. Reading Plato's Republic, for instance, would be very interesting I hope to someone reading Rand's works. Likewise with other works, Catholic or not.

[BrevisVir55]

should I be concerned about my 18 year old readin Ayn Rand?
I agree with Rand on many things but my understanding is that its athiestic in nature?

When in doubt, as I say, don't do it. So, Ayn Rand is not Catholic, therefore, if there is a danger, it should not be read. However, if your son is Catholic and knowledgeable (he is likely of some intelligence if he chose to read that), he may find the reading to be edifying. I have been given cause to learn more from things that were false, than were true.

For this, if you can't easily control it, which is possible due to the age, it may be a good time for discussion. All open ended. I know some people who have left the Church, and actively read what I'd consider harmful works (atheistic, sometimes militantly), I can discuss those things with interest with them, and probably get more influence due to a rational discussion.

If you don't think discussion will easily come, then you may try to introduce other works which this reading would lead to. Reading Plato's Republic, for instance, would be very interesting I hope to someone reading Rand's works. Likewise with other works, Catholic or not.

I did assume it was for school, if your son is choosing Rand for recreational reading then I would definitely point him toward better literature. Give him Anna Karenina, that should keep him occupied for a while.    I can read very fast and it took me ages to finish it and it holds up the idea of traditional marriage as a sacrament and finding happiness in religion. Bonus!

[voxpopulisuxx]

should I be concerned about my 18 year old readin Ayn Rand?
I agree with Rand on many things but my understanding is that its athiestic in nature?

When in doubt, as I say, don't do it. So, Ayn Rand is not Catholic, therefore, if there is a danger, it should not be read. However, if your son is Catholic and knowledgeable (he is likely of some intelligence if he chose to read that), he may find the reading to be edifying. I have been given cause to learn more from things that were false, than were true.

For this, if you can't easily control it, which is possible due to the age, it may be a good time for discussion. All open ended. I know some people who have left the Church, and actively read what I'd consider harmful works (atheistic, sometimes militantly), I can discuss those things with interest with them, and probably get more influence due to a rational discussion.

If you don't think discussion will easily come, then you may try to introduce other works which this reading would lead to. Reading Plato's Republic, for instance, would be very interesting I hope to someone reading Rand's works. Likewise with other works, Catholic or not.

well as you know Rosarium my Son is a bit aspy and my concern is that he will go on a crusade as he is prone to do when he gets INTO a new thing, politically Rand is right up there with me    , but I worry he will use it as a cudgle against me to deny the faith...but then again I might be undersetimating him due to the aspieism....not much I can do anyway hes 18...thoughts?

[Credo]

It's nothing to be worried about. There are many worse things one can read. I studied some of Rand's work in high school. In those days I chuckled at her ever-present paranoia of America becoming a fascist state. I'm not laughing now...

[Herr_Mannelig]

well as you know Rosarium my Son is a bit aspy and my concern is that he will go on a crusade as he is prone to do when he gets INTO a new thing, politically Rand is right up there with me    , but I worry he will use it as a cudgle against me to deny the faith...but then again I might be undersetimating him due to the aspieism....not much I can do anyway hes 18...thoughts?

I doubt his personality will have much to do with this. It will matter for communicating with him (whoever initiates it).

You may find it easier to give him an opening to speak, so you can listen more. You may want to wait until he has gotten into it, and then ask him what he thinks, and let him talk about it.

If he does jump into it with enthusiasm then you would probably be best off not being confrontational, and perhaps pointing out almost every philosophy is compelling when read (except, the Church of Satan. I found the Satanic Bible to be poorly written). I have had read many works of philosophy, and I respect most of them. However, I do recognise they are one sided and compelling by nature and that doesn't make them true. It is more logical to be critical of them and think about them, rather than let them do one's thinking.

This advice is not specific, except for the communication bit, to any personality.

[BrevisVir55]

double post

[BrevisVir55]

well as you know Rosarium my Son is a bit aspy and my concern is that he will go on a crusade as he is prone to do when he gets INTO a new thing, politically Rand is right up there with me    , but I worry he will use it as a cudgle against me to deny the faith...but then again I might be undersetimating him due to the aspieism....not much I can do anyway hes 18...thoughts?

I would allow your son to read it, but perhaps really encourage Catholic books as well. Whenever I have to read some of the absolute pornographic or anti-Catholic garbage for school I always read the Catechism of the Council of Trent or the Imitation of Christ, etc. Something that I could read just a few passages of if the required book gets to be too bad. Just to keep myself grounded and not be caught up in whatever trash the book is promulgating.

[Baskerville]

I really like Ayn Rand's stuff she is right there with me politically. But I would just encourage your son to read something spiritual along with it as has already been suggested.

[artificial person]

Anton Levay, formaer heaed of the church of satan and writer of the satanic bible, said that Ayn Rand and someone else were the two largest influences on him.

[Herr_Mannelig]

Anton Levay, formaer heaed of the church of satan and writer of the satanic bible, said that Ayn Rand and someone else were the two largest influences on him.

That means little. After all, The Bible was a big influence on Muhammad

[DarkKnight]

"Aspy" is not a personality type. It's a medical condition.

My son is an Aspy. They have a tendency to fixate on an idea, item, etc. and loose any sense of balance in their lives.

[Stephanos]

Instead of slogging through Atlas Shrugged or whatever else, he could get the same basic ideas by simply playing the video game Bioshock.   

[Herr_Mannelig]

"Aspy" is not a personality type. It's a medical condition.

Asperger's Syndrome is a collection of external observations about individuals.

And yes, I am, like many others, convinced that it is just a severe difference in personality which leads to issues which are usually unavoidable. By itself, it is not a problem.

My son is an Aspy.

And as a parent with a child with Asperger's Syndrome, you most likely know very little about it. I have not yet seen a parent who knows their own child if their child has Asperger's Syndrome. This is because the differences in personality make communication extremely difficult and among other things, severely interferes with the Neurotypical expectations of communication. This leads to very poor instruction for the child, which compounds the problems. The child does not know what he does not know and does not know how to communicate with Neurotypicals, and the parent does not know how to teach or communicate.

They have a tendency to fixate on an idea, item, etc. and loose any sense of balance in their lives.

And Neurotypicals have a tendency to make blanket assumptions about others they do not understand. People with Asperger's Syndrome also have higher rates of anxiety, depression and often develop bad habits in reaction to problems they experience in interactions in the world. A Neurotypical under such stress also will develop such tendencies in some way.

It is common for any person who is over stressed to not be able to function optimally. This disordered behavior, if correctly interpreted, can be a reaction to a problem. If that problem is addressed, they do not have these reactions and can function much more effectively.