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THE REAL ROOT OF EVIL 129
had struck at a foundational difference between the two. Rand, not usually
one to avoid an argument, did not press the point because Paterson
was one of her most valued friends. In New York the two reached some
sort of truce. As Rand described it to a fan, she had “an understanding
. . . with all [her] friends” that she would not respond to letters when
in an intense period of writing. 78 For two years she and Paterson stayed
in touch over the telephone instead, until meeting again in person when
Rand came east another time.
When their correspondence resumed in early 1948 it was marked by
the same personal warmth and the same intellectual antagonism over
religion. Rand still considered Paterson a valuable teacher, heeding
her advice about deleting adjectives from her writing. She was writing
steadily now and generously identifi ed Paterson as part of the inspiration
for her latest burst of creativity. Paterson responded with more New
York gossip, including a tidbit about Don Levine’s bizarre new concept
of competing government agencies. It was the fi rst glimmer of anarcho-capitalism,
Rand’s bête noire in the years ahead. But now Levine’s
strange views simply signaled to both Rand and Paterson that his newest
venture was not worth supporting.
After more chitchat about current events Rand made a fatal slip, asking
Paterson what she thought of the latest Fulton Sheen book. Sheen,
soon to be ordained bishop of New York, was a prolifi c Catholic author.
His latest book, the anti-Communist volume Communism and the
Conscience of the West, had been sent to Rand from their shared publisher.
Paterson brushed off Sheen as “not worth your time,” but Rand
pursued the point in a second letter, telling Paterson, “something awful
seems to be happening to the Catholic thinkers.” What concerned
her was that Catholic thinkers like Sheen, long known for their anti-
Communism, now appeared to be “turning quite deliberately toward
Statism.” 79 This drew forth a longer response from Paterson, in which
she attempted to explain why Catholicism supported state action. Rand
responded with outrage—not at Paterson, but at Catholic theology. And
the battle was joined.
Although Paterson was not Catholic, she couldn’t stand Rand’s dismissive
attitude toward religion. Suffi ciently angered, she became cutting
toward Rand’s intellectual abilities. “You ought to get your creeds
straight,” she wrote, telling Rand she misunderstood the concepts of
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