• • • How to Tell Paul Ryan Wants to Be Veep: He’s Rejected His Former Idol Ayn Rand 
Elspeth Reeve, AtlanticWire Alan Greenspan  |Atheism  |Atlas Shrugged  |Individualism  |Paul Ryan  | Rep. Paul Ryan, looking to undercut his image as a hard-hearted Objectivist, has told the National Review of one of his favorite authors, Ayn Rand, “I reject her philosophy... It’s an atheist philosophy. It reduces human interactions down to mere contracts and it is antithetical to my worldview.” It’s a surprising statement, given that Ryan said nearly the complete opposite in 2005: “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.” And she didn’t drive him into politics because he couldn’t stand her philosophy, either. Ryan made those comments at a dinner in Washington, D.C. honoring Ayn Rand’s birthday -- hosted by The Atlas Society, a group that takes its name from Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged and is dedicated to promoting her ideas.   Published: 2012-04-26