The Pope's Deeply Christian Attack on Individual Freedom

In this episode of New Ideal Live, Ben Bayer and Keith Lockitch discuss the newly released encyclical by Pope Francis, “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brothers All”). They argue that this document is an attack on freedom and capitalism — but is consistent with the Christian worldview.

Among the topics covered:

The main concern raised by the Pope: political and social division, and what he thinks is the cause of the problem (individualism);
His proposed solution: charity and “solidarity,” both private and governmental;
A question that the Pope doesn’t ask but should: what is the source of wealth?
How Marxism stole the deeply Christian idea that property rights are dispensable and that we have a duty to share wealth with the poor;
Ayn Rand’s comments on a previous encyclical, “Populorum Progressio”(1967), where she critiqued many of the same ideas in Pope Francis’s document today.

Mentioned in the discussion are the pope’s latest encyclical, Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged, her essays “Requiem for Man” in Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal and “Of Living Death” in The Voice of Reason, the Ayn Rand Lexicon entry on “religion,” and Onkar Ghate’s article “Finding Happiness and Morality Without God.”

This podcast was recorded on October 14, 2020. Watch or listen to the discussion below. Listen and subscribe from your mobile device on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or Stitcher. Watch archived podcasts here.