"Rand makes the individual the center, essentially sacred, but this is key: It's a materialistic philosophy, an atheistic philosophy. She does not believe in God. Rand says very explicitly that she's an atheist. This is the crux of Rand, the tension point of why she will never fit easily into conservatism. The atheism piece will always be the one that people pretty much decide to ignore and push aside. But it really was an essential part of the package as she saw it."