Paul Ryan has been trying to distance himself from Ayn Rand. He can't. There's no daylight between Ms. Rand and Congressman Ryan's objectivist, individualistic "every man for himself" philosophy. He said it himself:
Why is this important, you might ask? You can worship Jesus, or worship Ayn Rand, but not both. It's more than just the fact that Rand was an athiest. Objectivisim is about self interest above everything else. Jesus Christ taught that the sum of our individual parts is greater than the individual - in other words, collectivism.
For Pete's sake, the business model of every major organized religion is based on collectivism. No organized religion could survive if objectivism was a central dogma of the faith. Objectivism and collectivism can not co-exist in the same spiritual space. It's like matter and anti-matter.
In the video above, Paul Ryan trashes collectivism repeatedly, and expresses deep admiration for Ms. Rand's philosophy and her body of work. I simply do not know how Ryan squares that circle with his own professed faith.
Maybe that's why Paul Ryan has sprinted away from his public embracing of Ayn Rand. It would be much more difficult to fleece the true believers if you couldn't morally justify passing the collection plate at the end of the sermon.