anne rice on quiting christianity

[catholictiger]

im not sure if this is the best place to put this but she kinda attacks multiple religions in this article

Im bolding my ephisis and things in parentheses are my comments and in red

have to remove alot to fit it under 6000 limit

articles.latimes.com/print/2010/aug/07/local/la-me-beliefs-anne-rice-20100807

The author Anne Rice, best known for her vampire novels, made waves last week when she declared on her Facebook page that she had “quit being a Christian.” Twelve years after her return to Catholicism, Rice said she still believed in God, but that, "In the name of Christ,** I refuse to be anti-gay. ** (understandable but we really aren’t anti gay we are just anti sinful actions by all)I refuse to be anti-feminist (understandable but if she just look into the bible she find she how wrong she is). I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control.(again understandable) I refuse to be anti-Democrat. (i never knew the church rejected the democrats even though the church rejects pro choice politicians which the majority are dems)** I refuse to be anti-secular humanism.** (don’t know what to think about this)**I refuse to be anti-science. ** (we are anti-science, i have heard this before though)I refuse to be anti-life." (we are anti life?)
Rice spoke to The Times by phone this week from her home in Rancho Mirage.

Q) You were raised Catholic, became an atheist, then returned to Catholicism in 1998. Why are you quitting now? It’s not as if the church has suddenly changed.

A) Well, I’ve been living with this now for 12 years, and I’ve come to the conclusion from my experience with organized religion that I have to leave, that I have to, in the name of Christ, step away from this. It’s a matter of rejecting what I’ve discovered about the persecution of gays,(we don’t) the persecution and oppression of women (we don’t)and the actions of the churches on many different levels**. I’ve also found that I can’t find a basis in Scripture for a lot of the positions that churches and denominations take today** (if you just look atille further i bet you find it ), and I can’t find any basis at all for an anointed, hierarchical priesthood. So all of this finally created a pressure in me, a kind of confusion, a toxic anger at times, and I felt I had to step aside. And that’s what I’ve done.

Q) The United Church of Christ even started a Facebook campaign to get you to join. How can you say no to that?

A) I respect completely people who want to find a church that’s more in accord with what they can morally accept. But for me, walking away is the thing right now. In the name of Christ, in the name of God.

Q) I wanted to ask you about that, because you have said that you quit Christianity “in the name of Christ.” From a practical standpoint, what does that mean, how do you follow Christ without a church? Are there rituals that you intend to maintain?

A) I think the basic ritual is simply prayer. It’s talking to God, putting things in the hands of God, trusting that you’re living in God’s world and praying for God’s guidance. And being absolutely faithful to the core principles of Jesus’ teachings. (i agree and if she truly does this she will find her way back to the church)

Q) You’ve said that there are rituals of the Catholic Church that you’ll miss.

A) Well, I will. I’ll very much miss going to Mass, and I’ll very much miss Holy Communion, the Eucharist. But it’s a communal meal…and I don’t feel that I’m part of the community anymore, and I don’t feel that I can go to a Catholic church and partake. your missing of these two things will bring you back watch

Q) You’ve written before about your love of churches, even during the time you were an atheist. Do you see yourself going back in a church?

A) Oh yeah,** I would certainly go to a church to pray in private** (this is risky for someone who doesn’t want to be catholic if she isn’t careful she will want to join again) as long as nobody there is offended by my presence. You know, when you’re brought up the way I was brought up in the Catholic Church, you really remain culturally a Catholic all your life. Your whole approach to art, your whole approach to music, to architecture, to literature, all of this has been shaped by Catholic thinking and the Catholic tradition. So that’s not something that you can put aside. I mean, my novels were Catholic novels when I was calling myself an atheist.

Q) Was there any single moment that led you to say, “I’m done?”

A) There was. There was a last straw. But it’s very important to emphasize that it was the sum total of a lot of things. There were some last straws that had to do with papal pronouncements, the pope going to Africa and declaring that condoms were not a good idea and would not help in the AIDS epidemic; the pope standing up in Portugal and saying that one of the most insidious evils faced by the world today is same-sex marriage. You know, we live in a world where genocide and human slavery are realities, and the pope chose to focus on same-sex marriage. That was a moment of, “What in the world am I doing connected to this religion?” But the real last straw, the very last straw, was the bishop of Phoenix, Ariz., Thomas Olmsted, coming out and publicly condemning a nun named Sister Margaret McBride for authorizing a life-saving abortion for a dying mother in a Phoenix hospital. What he said in essence was that she had excommunicated herself by authorizing the abortion, and I could write a book on why I think that was a ruthless and immoral decision.

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

I like your parts in bold. She seemed to be the classic example of, “I don’t reject God’s existence, I reject who God is.”

In one retrospect, this is perhaps why we shouldn’t cling after celebrity converts. There’s a bad habit when a famous person converts to kind of parade them around like a captured lion. Wait in time, and see if the soil bears “a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated,” or “thorns and thistles…worthless and near to being cursed” (Heb 6:7-8). Then we will know if it’s a conversion worth celebrating about.

Plus, I had heard about some of her Jesus books. Some of them sounded…kinda…weird.

 

[faithfully]

How sad for her. That her Crisis of Faith is made so public, and that anyone judges…She is to blame for her publicity I’m sure… It is facinating to read her quotes… assuming none are taken out of context.

I’ve read the first part of Christ the Lord, Out of Egypt. As far as I remember, the Church did not find anything morally wrong with the books she wrote.

We don’t know what happened to Jesus in his younger years. The book starts out with what he might have been through as a child, learning and understanding who he is. What his capabilities are. I’d have to finish them before I would declare them weird in my opinion…

 

[Todd520]

In one retrospect, this is perhaps why we shouldn’t cling after celebrity converts. There’s a bad habit when a famous person converts to kind of parade them around like a captured lion. Wait in time, and see if the soil bears “a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated,” or “thorns and thistles…worthless and near to being cursed” (Heb 6:7-8). Then we will know if it’s a conversion worth celebrating about.

Yea, I just saw a YouTube clip of a Catholic bishop (?) interview Anne, talking about how she had switched over to writing exclusively about faith issues.

 

[mark_a]

im not sure if this is the best place to put this but she kinda attacks multiple religions in this article

Im bolding my ephisis and things in parentheses are my comments and in red

have to remove alot to fit it under 6000 limit

articles.latimes.com/print/2010/aug/07/local/la-me-beliefs-anne-rice-20100807

I just wish that this lady’s thoughts about the Catholic Church were better publicized. Her reasons for rejecting the Church are the best PR we could possibly have.

 

[stormy99]

A good question might be…Why in the world do we care about Anne Rice and her religion…I read her books…but could care less what she does in her private life…and really wish it wasn’t public, so we wouldn’t have to exposed to it.

stormy

 

[Zenas]

It’s very sad when someone leaves the Church in such a public way. I had been a fan of Anne Rice before she came back to the Church several years ago. He books are written with such meticulous attention to the details of the time and place she puts her characters. So when I heard she had written a book called Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt, I was eager to read it. It was vintage Anne Rice, accurate down to the last detail of life in 1st Century Palestine. This book also had a postlogue in which Anne described her journey back to the faith. It is the best Christian testimony I have ever read. Her second “Jesus” book, The Road to Cana was just as well done. I know she has been working on the third, and perhaps last, book of the series. However, I don’t see how she can complete the book in a manner true to the Gospels without including the founding of the Church of Christ. Having left the Church, she may be unwilling to do that. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Having lived a life in the midst of a completely secular and humanistic society, I suppose it is difficult to accept some of the Church’s teachings because they are at odds with the world and for that matter with conventional wisdom. I understand Anne’s son is a flaming homosexual and that probably had a lot to do with her opposition to the Church’s stance on homosexuality. I understand Anne’s politics are on the far left fringe so that probably influences her opposition to the Church’s strong pro life stance.

I pray that this person will come to realize that you can’t really be a follower of Christ unless you also embrace His church.

 

[Mark77]

"I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control."(again understandable) (YOUR WORDS!)

**How is being for artificial birth control, ie, preventing God’s babies from being born because we are too busy?, too selfish?..(insert your own pitiful excuse here) UNDERSTANDABLE???

By your & Ms. Rice’s logic, you & i should have been aborted because we were inconvenient for our mothers???**

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[Chopstick]

How sad for her. That her Crisis of Faith is made so public, and that anyone judges…She is to blame for her publicity I’m sure… It is facinating to read her quotes… assuming none are taken out of context.

Don’t go feeling too bad for her- she put her ‘crisis of faith’ up on Facebook for the world to see. I’m pretty sure she wants everyone talking about it; you know, any publicity is good publicity…

 

[The_GreyPilgrim]

I have a problem caring much for Anne Rice’s de-conversion.

The interview given pretty much bolis down to, " I like God just fine, I just don’t like what He says."

It’s obvious she has set her will against the truth. We should all pray for God to give her the grace of the Spirit so as to be converted again.

 

[catholictiger]

“**I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control.”(again understandable) ** (YOUR WORDS!)

**How is being for artificial birth control, ie, preventing God’s babies from being born because we are too busy?, too selfish?..(insert your own pitiful excuse here) UNDERSTANDABLE???

By your & Ms. Rice’s logic, you & i should have been aborted because we were inconvenient for our mothers???**

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

sorry if that came across as i support birth control and support gay marriage and what ever i was just saying that it was understandable that she left the church for that reason, maybe understandable is the wrong word but i see why she left the church, I hate that she did and all but i makes since.

She is far to the left

her son is gay

along with other things

I see why she would leave the church, i think her reasons are stupid but i see why she did it.

Sorry if it came across as i support birth control and other non catholic things.

The natural way is always the best and of course only in marriage.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

I know people aren’t going to like this. I’ll say it anyway. Who cares about Anne Rice? She writes cheesy vampire novels. We act here like titans of the calibre of Tolkien are leaving their faith? This isn’t Chesterton, Tolkien, Lewis, this is Anne Rice LOL…

We should be more upset about Mel Gibson, who made a bigger contribution to us all with “The Passion” film and his strength in resisting the anti-Christian pressures not to make the film only to turn into an adultering, divorcing, angry cohabitator who impregated a Russian woman only to beat her up, abuse her, and go insane as well as become a hardcore anti-semite. This guy was more a tragedy than vampire lady LOL

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

I hate that she did and all but i makes since.

She is far to the left

her son is gay

along with other things

That’s what I meant by my statement that she didn’t disbelieve God, she didn’t like who God was. When I came to Christ, there were a lot of beliefs I had to change because there was conviction that I had to follow the ways of God. If a person comes to God and thinks they can edit things commanded of them in the Bible however they want, then they have a man-centered gospel in mind.

We should be more upset about Mel Gibson, who made a bigger contribution to us all with “The Passion” film and his strength in resisting the anti-Christian pressures not to make the film only to turn into an adultering, divorcing, angry cohabitator who impregated a Russian woman only to beat her up, abuse her, and go insane as well as become a hardcore anti-semite. This guy was more a tragedy than vampire lady LOL

Nonsense. He’s proof of Augustine’s saying that God can make good happen in the midst of evil.

 

[gurneyhalleck1]

What part is nonsense? The guy was a good Catholic in that he was able to do good things for the faith and present an amazing film that inspired a lot of people. He dumped his mandate and his faith for the diabolical lifestyle he’s in. that’s more of a tragedy than mrs. vampire what’s her name leaving the church? Mel is more the tragedy. For God’s sakes, he was once Mad Max and Riggs!!

Nonsense. He’s proof of Augustine’s saying that God can make good happen in the midst of evil.

 

[Byzantine_Wolf]

What part is nonsense? The guy was a good Catholic in that he was able to do good things for the faith and present an amazing film that inspired a lot of people. He dumped his mandate and his faith for the diabolical lifestyle he’s in. that’s more of a tragedy than mrs. vampire what’s her name leaving the church? Mel is more the tragedy. For God’s sakes, he was once Mad Max and Riggs!!

And William Wallace! Don’t you DARE forget that! I demand 50 “FREEDOM!!” screams for penance.

And the “nonsense” was said tongue-in-cheek And I agree, despite what Mel Gibson has done up to now, it’s a wonderful film and I think he did a great, great job on it. I still own my collector’s copy of it, and I still cry at the scene where the Virgin Mary sees Christ stumble and has the flashback of Him as a child. To this day I still defend the violence, and tell people that “Passion of the Christ” is the “Saving Private Ryan” of crucifixion films. Just as “Saving” showed you what getting hit by a 50-caliber bullet does to the human body, so does “Passion” show you what the gospel writers meant when they said, “And they scourged Him…”

But all that being said, I go back to what I said earlier about celebrity converts. Let this be a lesson folks: for every Stephen Baldwin there’s an Anne Rice, and we shouldn’t be parading them around like captured lions. Let them bear fruit, and then parade them.