Novelist Anne Rice says she's leaving Christianity

[catlover79]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100730/ap_on_en_ot/us_books_anne_rice

NEW YORK (AP) – Anne Rice has had a religious conversion: She's no longer a Christian.

"In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control," the author wrote Wednesday on her Facebook page. "In the name of ... Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

Rice, 68, is best known for "Interview With a Vampire" and other gothic novels. Raised as a Catholic, she had rejected the church early in her life but renewed her faith in recent years and in 2008 released the memoir "Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession."

In a telephone interview Thursday, Rice said she had been having doubts for the past two to three years. She was troubled by the child abuse scandals in the church, and the church's defensive reaction, and by the ex-communication of Sister Margaret McBride, a nun and hospital administrator who had approved an abortion for a woman whose life was in danger.

"I believed for a long time that the differences, the quarrels among Christians didn't matter a lot for the individual, that you live your life and stay out of it. But then I began to realize that it wasn't an easy thing to do," said Rice, speaking from her home near Palm Springs, Calif. "I came to the conclusion that if I didn't make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind."

Rice said she is a Democrat who supports the health care legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama and believes gay marriage inevitably will be permitted throughout the country. Although no longer part of any denomination, she remains a believer and continues to read theology and post Biblical passages on her Facebook page. She has no immediate plans to write about her leaving the church and will continue with her metaphysical fiction series, "Songs of the Seraphim."

Rice will not be taking up vampires again, but she said she is a big fan of the HBO series "True Blood," enjoyed the first two "Twilight" movies (she has yet to read any of the Stephenie Meyer novels) and is interested in seeing her most famous character, the vampire Lestat de Lioncourt, return to the screen.

"We're in talks about it," she said. "But then we've always been in talks about it. Hope springs eternal in California."

[MickeyMac]

I suspect she was never really a true Christian to begin with. I could say more about this, but I wont here. If anyone is interested in hearing more please feel free to email me. :)

[catlover79]

^ I have to admit the same thought ran through my head.

[Janice]

"I came to the conclusion that if I didn't make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind."
I wonder what's up with the public declaration. Great Anne, hope you feel better getting that off your chest. What ever.

[cyberalias81]

How dare her say anything bad about any branch of Christianity.

[Lee]

It sounds like she may have a few screws loose

[Furienna]

Excommunicating someone for approving of an emergency abortion sounds very extreme, but even though I'm not a Catholic (although I've considered converting), I agree with the Catholic Church, that life is sacred from conception, so abortions should never be elective. I'm also a bit iffy about birth control, but hey, especially condoms are better than abortions. And I'm hardly a "gay rights" advocate either. But unfortunately, I live in Sweden, where conservatives now are a small minority. About the child abuse scandal, it's really terrible, and some leaders haven't punished the offenders enough, but I think it's wrong to bash the entire Catholic Church for it.

Over all, it sounds like Anne Rice and I have very little in common. If I had been American, I would have been a Republican, not a Democrat, and I so prefer Bush over Obama. So she would probably see me as very "anti-gay" and "anti-feminist". It's also funny how she quit being Christian for political reasons, as she's still a believer. Because there are many liberal Catholics, and several Protestant denominations have moved towards the left side on the political scale. (Indeed, I left the Swedish Lutheran church because they were too liberal for me.) So there's really no reason for her to stop being Christian, or even Catholic.

[Cursiorandcursior]

Obviously she has some issues that she can't resolve. As an aside Einstein never said he was an atheist to my knowledge but said he didn't believe in a "personal God" but he also said (correct me if I am wrong) that he didn't believe God played dice with the universe.

I have no idea why she felt the need to publicize her beliefs. Sometime I believe people say these things outwardly in order to convince themselves of what they want to believe. I still believe she is ambivalent about what she truly believes. It is a mistake to wrap this with politics. Politics and religion are like oil and vinegar. They don't mix very well. My late father always said that he didn't want to talk religion or politics because it would inevitably lead to animosity. And I've certainly found that true in my own life. Rice is just creating a problem for herself by making a public declaration like this. What is her intention? To change the Catholic Church? That's not likely.

[catlover79]

Excommunicating someone for approving of an emergency abortion sounds very extreme, but even though I'm not a Catholic (although I've considered converting), I agree with the Catholic Church, that life is sacred from conception, so abortions should never be elective. I'm also a bit iffy about birth control, but hey, especially condoms are better than abortions. And I'm hardly a "gay rights" advocate either. But unfortunately, I live in Sweden, where conservatives now are a small minority. About the child abuse scandal, it's really terrible, and some leaders haven't punished the offenders enough, but I think it's wrong to bash the entire Catholic Church for it.

Over all, it sounds like Anne Rice and I have very little in common. If I had been American, I would have been a Republican, not a Democrat, and I so prefer Bush over Obama. So she would probably see me as very "anti-gay" and "anti-feminist". It's also funny how she quit being Christian for political reasons, as she's still a believer. Because there are many liberal Catholics, and several Protestant denominations have moved towards the left side on the political scale. (Indeed, I left the Swedish Lutheran church because they were too liberal for me.) So there's really no reason for her to stop being Christian, or even Catholic.
You put that beautifully. I never really understood why the Catholic Church was/is so against contraception - but then again, I'm not Catholic. I agree with you that birth control is better than an unwanted pregnancy.

[Furienna]

I still believe she is ambivalent about what she truly believes.
That's my impression as well.

It is a mistake to wrap this with politics. Politics and religion are like oil and vinegar. They don't mix very well.
I don't know... To many people, religion and politics are very closely linked, and I have no problem with it.

[Furienna]

You put that beautifully. I never really understood why the Catholic Church was/is so against contraception - but then again, I'm not Catholic. I agree with you that birth control is better than an unwanted pregnancy.
I think I can explain that. The Catholic Church believe contraception goes against God's will, that is, if He wants to create a new life, people shouldn't interfer with that.

[ABlairican Pie]

I can understand her frustration with the Christian religion as opposed to her embracing of the person of Christ (the two ARE separate, btw), but when she started jumping on the Barack bandwagon, I started thinking, good luck, sister. Might as well embrace your other savior. :crazy:

[Cursiorandcursior]

That's my impression as well.

I don't know... To many people, religion and politics are very closely linked, and I have no problem with it.

Without a doubt they are and that's probably why there are about 200 or so various Christian denominations. The old saw about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin comes to mind. One could argue that politics and religion are joined at the hip. Better to zip one's lip and avoid the problems. In the end it is our conscience we have to deal with. In Rice's case she has been dealing with this problem and felt some need to go public. Personally, I think this was a mistake. But that's just me. I still believe she is conflicted.

[ABlairican Pie]

Of course it's best to be careful and not jump to conclusions and say, "she's not saved", because that's not our job. It's completely understandable how she can forsake a corporate entity called Christianity and yet remain faithful to Christ. For many of us, Christianity is more about politics, about controlling people, doing the little machinations, the do's and don'ts, this huge hierarchical structure imposing guilt, fear, and ignorance on people--at least in the minds of those outside the church. The person of Christ, preaching love, forgiveness, and understanding, seeing the true spiritual worth inside each of us, is most important--and seems often lost on so many. Not to say that embracing the social product of Christianity isn't important. Our belief in Christ can lead us to embrace a certain political direction reflecting our convictions, but sometimes the problem is that people can focus on the political or ideological side without the side of compassion and justice, or hearing the other side.

It is always best to make sure we make our convictions known while maintaining our Christian character.

[Tweety]

The lady was never a Christian.

This business about being "raised as a Catholic" means absolutely nothing. Being a Christian isn't about what your family does or believes. That's an accident of birth. It's about making a personal commitment to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life.

Being born into a Catholic family doesn't make someone a Christian. Adolf Hitler was born into a Catholic family (which is why Atheists will often cite him as an example of how bad "religion" is).

But you can't quit being something that you never were. She can't quit being a Christian any more than I could quit smoking, since I've never smoked.

[Karen*]

Can't blame her.