Furthermore, since Rand had an absolute and complete line on every conceivable question of ideology and each day life, all features of such life needed to be searched – by oneself and by others – for suspicious heresies and deviations. If non-Randian family and mates persisted of their heresies even after being hectored at some size by the young neophyte, they have been then thought of to be irrational and a part of the Enemy and had to be abandoned. Thus, the “line” on such individuals as Johnny Carson or Mike Wallace (outstanding Tv personalities) modified quickly – largely because of Rands discovering numerous heresies and alleged betrayals on their part. Thus, food was not to be savored, however solely eaten joylessly as a essential technique of ones survival; sex was not to be loved for its own sake, however only to be engaged in grimly as a mirrored image and reaffirmation of ones “highest values”; painting or movies only to be enjoyed if one could discover “rational values” in doing so. There was the concern of creating an unbiased judgment, for suppose that the member was to make an announcement on some subject on which he didn’t know Rands place, and then had been to find out that Rand disagreed.

So it was far more prudent to keep silent after which verify with headquarters for the precisely right line. Every night time one among the top Randians lectured to different members expounding varied points of the “party line”: on basics, on psychology, fiction, intercourse, considering, art, economics, or philosophy. Stricken by this dire data and after spending a sleepless night time, the woman rushed to tell the top leadership of this terrible transgression. The management instructed the lady that if she persisted in her need to marry the man, she can be immediately excommunicated. He was deathly afraid to ask the question, it being so fundamental that he knew he would be excommunicated on the spot for merely raising the point; but he had full religion that if Rand should be asked the question, she would reply it satisfactorily and resolve his doubts. And so he waited, year after yr, hoping against hope that somebody would ask the question, be expelled, but that his own doubts would then be resolved in the process.

One prime young Randian, a veteran of the movement in New York City, admitted privately at some point that he had grave doubts on a key Randian philosophic tenet: I consider it was the actual fact of his own existence. The Biblical nature of Atlas for many Randians is illustrated by the marriage of a Randian couple that befell in New York. As considered one of them asserted one day: “I do know all the rational young men and women in New York and that i can match them up.” But suppose that Mr. A was matched with Miss B and one in all them didnt like the opposite? The philosophical rationale was that humor demonstrates that one “is not critical about ones values.” The precise purpose, of course, is that no cult can withstand the piercing and sobering impact, the sane perspective, provided by humor. You’ll be able to stop that impact with self-self-discipline, however you can’t cease them from tracking you. In the identify of “precision of language,” in short, nuance and even synonyms were in impact prohibited. In apply, nonetheless, the dominant subjective emotions of the Randian cultist were worry and even terror: concern of displeasing Rand or her leading disciples; worry of using an incorrect word or nuance that will get the member into hassle; worry of being discovered within the “irrationality” of some ideological or personal deviation; concern, even, of smiling at an unworthy (i.e., non-Randian) individual.

The rereading of Atlas was additionally necessary to the cult because the picket, posturing, and one-dimensional heroes and heroines have been explicitly purported to serve as position models for every Randian. Shortly after Atlas was published, one high-ranking cult chief chided me for only having read Atlas as soon as. Another methodology was to maintain the members, as far as possible, in a state of fevered emotion through continual re-readings of Atlas. As within the case of all cults and sects, a very very important method for moulding the members and conserving them in line was sustaining their constant and unrelenting exercise inside the movement. The elemental line change on Branden is a obtrusive instance, as well as the line change on other previously excessive-ranking Randians who have been expelled from the movement. Ergo, you have to be desperate to spend all of your time with fellow Randians and a fortiori with Rand and her top disciples if possible. In practice, as shall be seen additional beneath, the one protected aesthetic or romantic “values” or objects for the member have been those explicitly sanctioned by Ayn Rand or different top disciples.