These days, to even suggest the possibility that a fiscally conservative economic outlook is compatible with faith is a matter of hypocrisy.

“I am afraid that (Rep. Paul) Ryan’s budget reflects the values of his favorite philosopher, Ayn Rand, rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ,” the Rev. Thomas Reese of Georgetown University told The Huffington Post in April 2012. “Survival of the fittest may be OK for social Darwinists, but not for followers of the gospel of compassion and love.”