How might Ayn Rand respond to Proverbs 14:31?
Ayn Rand would likely respond to Proverbs 14:31 with sharp philosophical resistance, not because she endorsed cruelty, but because she rejected the moral framework implied by the verse. Here’s how she might approach it:
1. On the Moral Premise Rand would argue that the proverb assumes a duty to others based on divine command, not rational choice. To her, morality should be derived from reason and individual rights, not obedience to a supernatural authority. She would say something like:
“No man owes his life or his effort to another merely because the other needs it. To equate virtue with sacrifice is to make need a moral claim on ability, and that is the morality of death.”
2. On “Oppressing the Poor” Rand despised coercion in any form, by rich or poor, by church or state. She’d agree that oppression is evil, but not because it offends God; rather because it violates individual rights. Her language might be:
“To oppress the poor is evil not because God forbids it, but because it is the initiation of force — and force is the destroyer of all rights and values.”
3. On “Being Kind to the Needy” Rand did not oppose voluntary kindness or charity, she opposed altruism as a moral obligation. She would distinguish between helping someone you value and helping out of guilt or duty:
“To be kind to the needy can be noble, if it is an expression of one’s own values, not a sacrifice demanded by another. The good is not measured by need, but by life-promoting reason.”
4. On “Honoring God” Rand’s atheism would make this line the most objectionable. She would reject the notion that moral worth depends on divine recognition:
“One does not honor a Creator by denying man’s mind or freedom. The highest honor to existence is not prayer but production, not pity, but pride.”
Summary (Rand’s Core View) She’d interpret Proverbs 14:31 as an example of mystical altruism, a morality that equates virtue with submission and pity. In her words, this verse upholds a “morality of death” because it subordinates the individual to an external authority and exalts need over achievement.
Her answer in one line might be:
“Kindness is not a virtue when demanded by guilt or God, only when chosen by reason and love of life.”
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