"Regarding Jennifer Anju Grossman’s “Can You Love God and Ayn Rand?” (Houses of Worship, Nov. 11): Ms. Grossman writes: “It’s possible to read ‘Atlas Shrugged,’ ‘We the Living,’ ‘The Fountainhead’ and ‘Anthem,’ cover-to-cover and have little idea what Rand thought about religion.” It’s possible, if you’re trying to evade the issue.

In “Atlas Shrugged,” those responsible for the destruction of capitalism and civilization are the mystics of spirit and of muscle, which includes religionists of all stripes. The hero argues against their doctrines of original sin and of self-sacrifice for the sake of one’s neighbor or an alleged higher power, challenging the very intelligibility of the concept of God itself. He urges the better people of the world to discard faith and embrace a new philosophy of life and happiness, devoid of appeal to the supernatural."