Senior Fellow, the Ayn Rand Institute. Views expressed are my own, I am not authorized to speak for my employer. (Image credit Quintin Soloviev.)
Austin, TX
Joined January 2013
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“Richard Dawkins has popularized the idea that most people have no trouble denying the existence of gods for which there is no evidence…. He urges them to go ‘just go one god further.’ This book directs a similar challenge to atheists to reject a final baseless posit of religion: the worship of self-sacrifice.”
Ben Bayer retweeted
@BenBayer Breaking Free from Faith-Based Morality argues that the morality of altruism is essentially religious and that a truly scientific ethics must embrace an ethics of rational self-interest. You can pre-order the book through Amazon. Link 👇
Nice promotion of my recent piece from the @center4inquiry
. @BartEhrman is an atheist who credits Christianity with teaching the West to care for strangers. @BenBayer asks whether its demand for self-sacrifice deserves our gratitude.
What do we owe strangers and why?
Read Bayer's case:
secularhumanism.org/2026/09/…
ALT White text on a textured blue background asks, “Does being good require putting yourself last?” The phrase “putting yourself last?” appears in larger type. Free Inquiry’s logo is at the bottom right.
ALT White text on a textured blue background reads: “An atheist gives Christianity credit. In Love Thy Stranger, Bart Ehrman argues that Christianity transformed the West’s sense of obligation to strangers in need. He sees a moral achievement.”
ALT White text on a textured blue background reads: “Another atheist questions the price. Ben Bayer argues that Christianity’s demand for self-sacrifice deserves scrutiny—and rejects the idea that we owe that sacrifice to strangers.” A large, bold italic question asks, “What do we owe each other, and why?” Below is an invitation to read his argument in Free Inquiry at secularhumanism.org, alongside the magazine’s logo.
Ben Bayer retweeted
Rejecting faith without rejecting faith-based morality is only half the battle.
In his new book, "Breaking Free from Faith-Based Morality," @BenBayer challenges atheists and secularists to understand how the dominant morality of altruism is rooted in religion, and shows how to build a secular ethics free from its grips.
Read the preface 👇
This was a fun interview to do.
Interview with Ben Bayer on Texas Talks Podcast
Recently, ARI Senior Fellow @BenBayer was interviewed on the Texas Talks podcast, where he discussed Ayn Rand’s unique approach to philosophy as a practical means for living, the life-promoting philosophy she developed as a result, and how her idealist-realist heroes dramatize it. Bayer contrasted Rand’s approach and views with the dominant ones in today's culture, focusing specifically on Stoicism and altruism.
You can now pre-order my book, Breaking Free from Faith-Based Morality: Secular Ethics Unchained from Altruism”:
a.co/d/05SwSoiY
And read the preface here:
newideal.aynrand.org/p/one-g…
Ben Bayer retweeted
If we reject the Bible’s stance on slavery and pigskin, why do we still cling to its doctrine of altruism? In the new @FreeInquiry cover story, @BenBayer breaks down Bart Ehrman’s Love Thy Stranger to unmask the hidden history of altruism and Christian morality.
Read Article Below 👇
Ben Bayer retweeted
Human Values and the Desire to Matter: Discussing “The Mattering Instinct”
On this episode of ARI Bookshelf, @GSalmieri, @BenBayer, @mikemazzareal and Sam Weaver discuss The Mattering Instinct. The episode includes discussions of the merits and limitations of Goldstein’s account of mattering and her emphasis on the idea that life involves resisting entropy. They also comment on the book’s brief mention of Ayn Rand and relate her ideas to Goldstein’s.
“Skeptics and atheists who pride themselves in believing only based on the evidence, who are critical of revelations in primitive religious texts, would do well to read @BartEhrman’s account of the origin of Western altruistic convictions. He shows that it originates not in any factual evidence but in an act of blind faith. He does not intend this history to bolster skepticism of altruistic morality. But it should.”
Also see my interview with Ehrman here:
youtu.be/62w3EFQML58?si=uzcr…
Just received in the mail, a copy of @FreeInquiry with my article on @BartEhrman’s new book on the cover. Coming online soon. Stay tuned.
Now online:
secularhumanism.org/2026/09/…
Ben Bayer retweeted
@DouglasKMurray opens an article by asking: “Can a country allow mass lawbreaking and retain its integrity? For almost any crime you can think of, the answer is no.”
Evidently he can’t think of jaywalking, moderate speeding, or failing to report cash tips to taxation authorities, and he’s never heard of a dead-letter law.
He also seems to have somehow forgotten that gay sex remains illegal in much of the world—or else perhaps he thinks that his country lost its integrity in the years when it had ceased vigorously enforcing the laws against private consensual homosexual acts, but hadn’t yet repealed them.
Some crimes are trivial. And many criminalized human activities are such that criminalizing and prosecuting them is itself a breach of any decent country’s integrity.
As both an ARI employee and an Austinite, I could not be more excited and inspired by the headquarters we are building at the corner of San Gabriel and MLK.
The Ayn Rand Center Groundbreaking
This month, the Ayn Rand Institute celebrated a historic milestone: the groundbreaking of the new Ayn Rand Center in Austin, Texas. @elanjourno and ARI CEO @taltsfany share footage from the ceremony and discuss the vision for this building as a lasting physical home for Rand's ideas.
Just arrived at @TexasTribune's #tribunefest in Austin where I'll be on a panel this Saturday. Any other followers in attendance?
Congrats @windyjosh92!
A federal court has ordered immigration officers in Alabama to stop warrantless raids of private construction sites and to stop detaining workers without individualized suspicion.
The ruling comes after construction worker and U.S. citizen Leo Garcia Venegas was detained 3 times—even though he repeatedly presented a state-issued REAL ID.
🧵
