Idaho, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ Not Good Fit

State Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d’Alene, who has sponsored legislation that would require all Idaho students to read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged,” is shown at a Memorial Day observance at Hayden City Hall. (Duane Rasmussen photo special to Huckleberries Online)

Keith Wagstaff of Yahoo! News gives a good reason why “Atlas Shrugged” won’t be required reading in Idaho schools any time soon:

Rand was an ardent atheist — not exactly an endearing trait among today’s conservatives. “Faith is a short-circuit destroying the mind” is probably not a motto Goedde’s going to put on his bumper stickers next time he runs for re-election. But if you know any God-fearing conservative folk in Coeur d’Alene, be sure to share with them the news their senator thinks that’s an important lesson for their kids. [ Washington Monthly ] Another potential issue: Many social conservatives would surely object to having high schoolers read and discuss the book’s frank and often controversial depictions of sex, which, as Amanda Hess pointed out a few years ago in the Washington City Paper , see heroine Dagny Taggart submit to several “violent sexual conquests.” More here.

Question: You don’t suppose Sen. Goedde inadvertently is trying to push Rand’s atheism on the impressionable minds of Idaho’s youth, do you?