CM,
I think Rand is disparaged by conservatives because she was so militantly atheistic.
Very true. She knew that to present a consistent, cohesive moral defense of capitalism, it had to be based on reason, not faith. She viewed the philosophical basis of religious conservatives to be rife with contradictions. Her most fervent detractors tend to come from that camp.
Her main value is to wean liberals away from leftism. One can travel only so far with her.
I think her main value is to get people to think "outside the box", rationally and logically. In redefining the conventional political spectrum, she stepped on a lot of toes, thus incurring the wrath of both traditional liberals and conservatives.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Fountainhead, though. I think her power as a writer gradually declined after that book came out.
Must respectively disagree. I enjoyed all of her novels, but Atlas Shrugged, despite its flaws, is her crowning achievement. When I first discovered that book, at age 24, it literally changed my life. I owe her a huge philosophical and personal debt of gratitude for what she accomplished.
Regards, JB
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