Anne Rice: 'Today, I Quit Being A Christian'

[Canuckistanian]

Anne Rice, the bestselling novelist most popularly known for "Interview with the Vampire" and her other creepy vampire novels, announced on Wednesday via Facebook that she has officially renounced Christianity. It's a bold move for the author who has become well-known for her vehement religiosity; the majority of her frequent tweets are related to religion in some way. The author has also recently launched a new series of novels about angels, which debuted in October 2009 with "Angel Time."

Rice declared on her Facebook account that she is "an outsider" in the Christian community:

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life.

Rice affirmed that though she has decided to leave the Christian institution, she "remain(s) committed to Christ as always."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/29/anne-rice-i-quit-being-a_n_663915.html

[seabeyond]

1. i started saying that in 2003. that is what christians need to say... good for her. nt

[Blue_Tires]

104. it was about that same time for me as well

once I saw with my own eyes christian leaders getting orgasmic over the iraq invasion....

i went buddhist and never looked back...

[Geoff R. Casavant]

2. Reminds me of Lenny Bruce's saying:

So many people are leaving the church and going back to God.

[BrklynLiberal]

75. A true genius...he was.

[laughingliberal]

3. K & R nt

[Mz Pip]

4. Christ never said anything

about gays, birth control, science or Democrats from what I remember. Don't know what "Christian" church she was involved with but there are churches out there that aren't filled with raving right wing sociopaths.

[seabeyond]

6. hm.... maybe you dont live in a fundamentalist area. maybe you hear on tv, those christians

speaking otu for christ. i dont.

i think it is important for people to say this outloud

[Control-Z]

7. Hmm...?

I've never been to one of those.

[Mz Pip]

10. There are a number of liberal

churches where I live. They would have no parishioners if they weren't.

[Tempest]

25. I envy you

I live in the most conservative part of California and there are no liberal churches around me.

The best I can do is a couple of moderate ones, but I disagree with some of the things they support so I don't go.

[pnwmom]

17. Why have you been to the others? There are plenty of progressive Christian churches,

if you actually looked.

[Control-Z]

49. It's worked out best for

me to stay as far away from any church as possible.

[JuniperLea]

12. I have a cousin who is a Christian Missionary...

And even she says modern Christianity is a bastardization of Christ's teachings. Don't even get her started on televangelists, prosperity gospel, etc.

Whatsoever you do for these the lesser of my brothers, you do for me. ~ Jesus Christ

That's all you really need to know... that Jesus reached out to the social outcasts of his time, that he acted in faith to feed them, that he asked his followers to give all they have away knowing His Father would provide what's needed.

I was raised in a Fundy church... I'm agnostic, but I believe that most of Christ's teachings are good solid humanitarian acts of kindness... and socialism.

[RagAss]

35. Agreed...and don't forget this one....

"the Kingdom of Heaven is alive in you"

So why the hell do they need to sit next to others in a pew every Sunday??????

[shireen]

46. +1

[phasma ex machina]

53. I think of Jesus as a spiritual socialist who embodies love.

"Love covers all sins."

[liberalhistorian]

74. Oh, Lord, "prosperity gospel", NOTHING could be further

from Christ's teachings, the gospels, and the will of God. NOTHING. That is one of the worst bastardizations of true Christianity by the right.

[dogday]

101. It is a shame that so many can be so lost in life.

Hi June :hug:

[Tempest]

24. There are churches that are truly Christ like

But they're small and don't have the power in numbers and money that the conservative mega-churches have, and their message gets lost in the widely-spread manufactured outrage coming from conservative churches.

[YOY]

67. Yup. There is an old lutheran church in DC like that.

Rainbow crowd, yound and old, straight and gay. Poor and rich. Genuinely kind folks there.

Almost makes me wish I had faith.

[seabeyond]

34. well, sheeeit, you are in calif. the bay area at that. try texas

or any number of places that are not calif. geeez. lol. i grew up in calif. didnt know what a fundamentalist was until i moved to texas.

bah hahhahaha

ya, tell me about these liberal churches.

[Mz Pip]

42. Here's an article

about a local parish priest who died a few years ago. I seem to remember he'd been arrested over 100 times at various protests.


http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1209-04.htm

[seabeyond]

43. you dont have to convince me. i lived in calif. how i saw religion was totally different

than what i found when i moved to texas. all my friends were catholic in calif. the few friends here are catholic and it is a totally different mentality.

i know what christianity is about. i know these people yelling loudest are not representitive of the majority of christians. i feel it is important for the majority to be heard. people are angry at christians. i understand why people are angry at christians.

[femrap]

62. I believe she is Catholic...

I remember a few years back she made a big to-do about going back to her religion. I thought she was nuts. I guess she learned what most Christians are like today. Hypocrites. And hateful. Nothing like Christ.

[earth mom]

66. I remember that too. Good for her for waking up to the truth. nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

78. Wrong. Christ allegedly said a lot of hateful things.

Just a small sample. Christians tend to ignore the hateful stuff recorded as being said by Jesus and insist he was all good.

Matthew

# Those who bear bad fruit will be cut down and burned "with unquenchable fire." 3:10, 12

# Jesus strongly approves of the law and the prophets. He hasn't the slightest objection to the cruelties of the Old Testament. 5:17

# Jesus recommends that to avoid sin we cut off our hands and pluck out our eyes. This advice is given immediately after he says that anyone who looks with lust at any women commits adultery. 5:29-30

# Jesus says that most people will go to hell. 7:13-14

# Those who fail to bear "good fruit" will be "hewn down, and cast into the fire." 7:19

# "The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 8:12

# Jesus tells a man who had just lost his father: "Let the dead bury the dead." 8:21

# Jesus sends some devils into a herd of pigs, causing them to run off a cliff and drown in the waters below. 8:32

# Cities that neither "receive" the disciples nor "hear" their words will be destroyed by God. It will be worse for them than for Sodom and Gomorrah. And you know what God supposedly did to those poor folks (see Gen.19:24). 10:14-15

# Families will be torn apart because of Jesus (this is one of the few "prophecies" in the Bible that has actually come true). "Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death." 10:21

# Jesus says that we should fear God who is willing and "able to destroy both soul and body in hell." 10:28

# Jesus says that he has come to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He has "come not to send peace, but a sword." 10:34-36

# Jesus condemns entire cities to dreadful deaths and to the eternal torment of hell because they didn't care for his preaching. 11:20-24

=-----

There's a lot more in the other gospels too.

[mitchum]

82. Thank you! Even sweet Jesus was a bit of a megalomaniacal jerk, wasn't he?

Like father, like son

[JerseygirlCT]

89. Yup! nt

[stanwyck]

106. You're correct, of course. However, the Palinocracy has taken

over the Christian designation much the way the 9-11 terrorists have defined Muslims. They alone define who Christians are. And they are NOT Democrats. Ever. Or gay people. Or anyone who believes in global warming, abortion rights, or Darwin. Until other Christians fight back, the Palinocracy definition holds.

[joeybee12]

5. Good for her...n/t

[kestrel91316]

8. Glad to hear this. I never could figure out why she went all church-y.

[Mimosa]

9. Years ago, I predicted this would happen

Most likely disappointed by the dismal sales of her 'post-conversion' Jesus and 'angels' novels, author Anne Rice has announced she is leaving the Cathlolic Church she had re-embraced 10 years ago.

http://www.examiner.com/x...Rice-leaves-Christianity

I predicted this would happen when A.R. first announced her return to the Church. I now augur that Rice is terribly envious of the current success of Charlaine Harris and her 'TrueBlood' novels and HBO series. Look for another Anne Rice vampire book to be announced soon.

A real catholic just gracefully drifts away and may possibly desire an absolution on his or her death bed.;)

I think Anne has gone a bit batty. 10 years ago the church was not substantially different from what it is today. I think Anne is guilty of steretyping people of faith. Her posts on her Facebook page are increasingly silly.

[REP]

14. I think we have a winner!

Yeah. I don't see Catholics for Choice (formerly Catholics for a Free Choice) leaving the church, even though they're pro-choice, pro-birth control, pro-gay and generally pretty decent ... but without crappy books to flog.

[Withywindle]

47. My feelings exactly. I mean, I support her choice, but she's increasingly whacked out.

Don't forget her infamous meltdown over a negative Amazon review. And her violent reaction to the very possibility of working with...*gasp*...an editor!

Her Jesus fanfiction was not well received. I think she's more unstable than cynical, but I also didn't expect the conversion to last in the first place.

[mitchum]

84. I am in complete agreement with you about Rice's motivation...

but, of course, that make us dreaded...cynics.
Apparently, in many people's minds, only observations, not actions, can be cynical.
They are wrong.

[stray cat]

11. I didn't know she considered herself a absolutely conservative fundamentalist

I thought she was a christian

[proud patriot]

13. I'm a fan of hers on facebook

she has been questioning things for awhile . While there are those who will be saddened by this,
This doesn't mean she loves Jesus any less IMO.

[pnwmom]

15. She has a very narrow view of Christianity. It isn't defined by any of the things she listed.

What she is basically describing is right-wing fundamentalist Christianity.

[JuniperLea]

18. Yes, if you are speaking of true Christianity...

Meaning living a life that is Christ-like. What we see most is a bastardization of Christianity. Jesus would never ask for an insurance card, a green card... we are all God's children... gay, straight, homeless, all colors, etc.

[raouldukelives]

26. + 10000

[shireen]

48. he sounds like a "socialist!"

Imagine this ... describe JC to a fundamentalist RW nutjob without disclosing his name! :rofl:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

79. Please see my post #78 above. Jesus said most people are going to Hell.

Jesus was not all sweetness and light, for your information.

And please don't use the NO TRUE SCOTSMAN fallacy to diss bad people who self-identify as Christians.

Christians are self identified. If you say you are a Christian, you are one regardless of whether your actions are bad or good. So please do not apply the NO TRUE SCOTSMAN fallacy.

[AnArmyVeteran]

83. That's why I've long said No One can be a practicing Christian & a conservative at the same time.

A conservative extremist is the exact opposite of a practicing Christian.

[Mimosa]

20. ITA

And I know how disappointed she was that the Jesus and Angel books (even worse than her Vampire and witches books) weren't popular.

I don't think she genuinely understands Christianity as a philosophy or even a belief system. If she did she wouldn't have used it on 2 occasions, 10 years apart, for her personal publicity. I also predict a forthcoming vampire book or two will soon be announced.. ;)

I always wondered at how un-edited her novels are. Atrocious!

[femrap]

63. She was/is a Catholic

I remember a few years back she made a big to-do about going back to her religion. I thought she was nuts. I guess she learned what most Christians are like today. Hypocrites. And hateful. Nothing like Christ.

And Catholicism is just as nutty as the Fundies. C'mon look at the pope in his pretty dresses hating gays, hating BC, hating women.

[cbdo2007]

70. that's the thing - "most christians" are not like that. Just the loudest ones.

[MajorChode]

72. That hasn't been my observation, but YMMV

Of all the major Christian denominations I can name, I can't think of a single one that doesn't at least lean towards the right-wing fundie, batshit crazy interpretation. Certainly within those denominations you have notable groups that believe in social justice as a tenant of Christianity, but I see them as the exception, rather than the rule.

[femrap]

86. I don't know about that.....

a whole hell of a lot of Christians voted for Bush....he wanted wars, enriching the rich even more, spitting on the poor.

I don't see how anyone can call themselves Christian and voted for W twice. Sorry, it just doesn't compute to anything except willful ignorance and hypocrisy.

I've run into a ton of Christians who are selfish and don't want to help the poor. And I'm sick of hearing about the 'intact' families as well.

I see very few Christians. Just as Gandhi said....

[Tommy_Carcetti]

105. I'm a Catholic.

Am I nutty?

[JerseygirlCT]

90. I agree. nt

[AspenRose]

97. Exactly.

Sounds like she attempted to align herself with right-wing fundamentalism, thinking THAT was all there was to Christianity.

Since she says she still wants to consider herself a follower of Christ, she should find a progressive church.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. It must get hard to look at outstanding people and say

"Well, I agree with Palin and Dobson about you" without tasting a bit of bile, and feeling the brain cells die. To be able to say David Vitter is Sanctified by God and spit at good same sex couples is an act that to me betrays a stupidity beyond measure, and in fact, a piss poor opinion of God.

[EFerrari]

19. Tomorrow: Emily Loring Renounces Bodice Ripping.

lol

[femrap]

65. Hope you're right....

about Emily.

I read only one book of Rice's. It was about the Castrata. I don't remember the title. I liked it. I'm not much into vampires...but the dudes w/o balls who sang were interesting. I grew up on a farm and most the male animals were ballless.

After I read that book, I wondered if Michael Jackson's father had him join the Castrata?

[EFerrari]

96. I don't know if I'm just jealous of Rice or what

but am allergic to her. Her stuff seems almost computer generated just like those Emily Loring novels I used to read when I was twelve. Maybe it's just envy. lol :)

[XanaDUer]

21. I thought she was Roman Catholic

You can be a RC and be a liberal.

[whathehell]

56. She was raised Catholic...and after years of atheism, decided to return to the church.

I think she may have some "issues"...but then again, I thought that before she renounced Christianity (again)..when I TRIED to read a couple of her vampire books.

You may know this, but she had a very young daughter who died of cancer or some other awful disease right before she wrote "Interview With a Vampire".

As one critic said about it "I can understand how a mother who has just lost a young child would write this book, but I can't understand how anyone who hasn't could read it!

I felt the same...I could never understand it's popularity...It seemed extraordinarily bleak and depressing...even cruel.

[ixion]

22. Way to come to your senses, Anne

Good for you. :applause:

[InvisibleTouch]

23. Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw today:

"Jesus called. He wants his religion back." :)

[Ignis]

27. Here's one of my favorites:

"God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts."

[Ignis]

28. She (and DUers) should join the Network of Spiritual Progressives:

http://www.spiritualprogressives.org/

[spoony]

39. Cool link, thank you. nt

[Ignis]

40. My pleasure.

They're a great bunch, and they're always on the right side of peace & justice issues.

[Dappleganger]

29. Join the club.

I quit religion but embrace Christ.

[Fearless]

30. K&R!

[missheidi]

31. I guess she realized her vampire books sell better.

Just saying... :hide:

[xchrom]

32. Ms Rice -- the Episcopal Church is calling.

Please pick up the nearest white courtesy phone.

[GoneOffShore]

36. Or the Unitarians are calling.

[xchrom]

41. Unitarians are not liturgical calendar folk.

That high liturgy is part and parcel of the attraction/spirit.

[mitchum]

85. Yeah, but Unitarians don't provide the floor show like the Catholic church

which I imagine was a big attraction to Rice

[JerseygirlCT]

92. Often, the Episcopal church does a bigger "floor show"

than many RC churches now.

You can find some totally open-minded, affirming and welcoming Episcopal churches who do all the smells and bells.

[AspenRose]

98. "Smells and bells" LOL!

:rofl:

Thurgood Marshall was Episcopalian.

[JerseygirlCT]

91. LOL... my thoughts, too.

You just said it much better than I could have!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

33. I guess the whole Christian line of books wasn't working out for her.

Sales wise.

[Hekate]

37. How stupid. There is no "THE Christian institution." There are several liberal denominations...

... which support the issues she's concerned about. There are also unaffiliated independent churches with a liberal/progressive focus.

This is America -- she's allowed to choose, but first she has to look past her own nose.

Hekate

[asdjrocky]

38. Mohandas Gandhi-

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

[L0oniX]

44. K & R

[shireen]

45. Christianity is a diverse religion

there are churches that are supportive of gay rights, feminism, birth control, etc.. Who are these Christians that she's so pissed of at, and why would she post something that paints all Christians with one brush?
:shrug:

BTW, i'm not a Christian, just a puzzled agnostic.

[amborin]

50. K&R

[pleah]

51. K&R!!!!!!!!!! Already put that quote on my fb profile! ;) n/t

[SnakeEyes]

52. What does she mean by "anti-life"?

I'm not sure.

I suspect another Lestat book is on the way instead of her Christian literature and she needs a way to feel OK about that.

[Ramulux]

54. Shes so close

now she just needs to renounce the whole religion thing in general.

[SunsetDreams]

55. K&R, agree with this wholeheartedly

[mr blur]

57. Who cares?

about some hack's delusions or lack of them?

[IndianaGreen]

58. I am glad she got away from that Jesus freakish shit she recently went through

Bob Dylan went through a similar experience decades ago.

[Naturyl]

59. Anyone who is committed to Christ avoids American Christianity.

Grats to her for catching on.

[AspenRose]

99. Well said!

That's perfect. Thank you. :thumbsup:

[madokie]

60. One of the happiest moments in my life

was when I realized there is no god, no christ, no savior. I'm as a bug that hits my windshield or the opossum that gets run over on the highway. Here today gone tomorrow, no soul, no afterlife, nothing, dead. When I die I die just like all the other critters.

change fo to of

[K8-EEE]

68. Kick from another happy ex-Christian!

Really I didn't ask anybody to "die for me" and find that whole guilt trip to be about people controlling other people....as if one person can be murdered to "wipe clean" sins that we all inherited. Makes no sense whatsoever.

[madokie]

95. The whole Christianity thing makes it too easy on the criminally minded

find jesus and be wiped cleaned of any guilt. I think it sucked and sucks big time.

[Hannah Bell]

61. that was a short-lived trip.

[Prism]

64. Oh lord, please let her stay away from the Vampire Chronicles

She totally destroyed that series with her childish religiosity (it was a touch odd how she lost her editor around the same time she found Jesus).

I think her rediscovery of faith had a lot to do with her husband's death and her near-death experience (she slipped into a diabetic coma). Her ideas on the Christian religion were very interesting, and I kind of liked her depictions of God and the Devil in Memnoch. But then she rediscovered Catholicism, and it wasn't just that she ruined her writing, she committed the greatest writing crime one can - she became inexpressibly dull.

[upi402]

69. Brave woman k/r

I'm by her side for what it's worth!

[cbdo2007]

71. This just sounds like a publicity stunt.

[liberalhistorian]

73. She does NOT have to quit being a Christian, far from it.

There are plenty of liberal/social-justice-oriented Christian churches and groups living out the true meaning of the gospels and what God intended and fighting the co-opting of Christianity by the right. The United Church of Christ would be a good denomination for that. And Sojourner's magazine, the Christian social-justice magazine, has some great articles and resources as well. The latest magazine has a fantastic editorial on how those Christian members in Arizona will NOT comply with the racist hateful immigration law and will go to jail if they have to in order to keep transporting immigrants, illegal or legal, to church or work, or harboring them, etc.

[Initech]

76. Those were all the reasons I quit going.

[Crystal Clarity]

77. If that rw fundie dogma was the brand of christianity she bought into

then she was never a Christian to begin with.

[mitchum]

80. Is this because her Jesus book flopped? Everyone knows that teenage girls like vampires, not zombies

Apparently, Rice forgot how she made her fortune

[Love Bug]

93. Yabbut her vampires don't sparkle!

[Green_Lantern]

102. Jesus isn't a zombie but nice spin....

Anything to insult Christians...

[mmonk]

81. I'm reminded of the Ghandi quote:

"The message of Jesus as I understand it," said Gandhi, "is contained in the Sermon on the Mount unadulterated and taken as a whole... If then I had to face only the Sermon on the Mount and my own interpretation of it, I should not hesitate to say, 'Oh, yes, I am a Christian.' But negatively I can tell you that in my humble opinion, what passes as Christianity is a negation of the Sermon on the Mount... I am speaking of the Christian belief, of Christianity as it is understood in the west."

http://jesusgodgoodetcnjay.blogspot.com/2007/05/gandhi-quotes.html

[upi402]

87. Yes, it's opposite day all day long in many churches n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

88. Not one of the things she mentioned mean she has to

stop being a Christian.

I heartily agree with all of those positions. I'm a Christian.

Perhaps it's more about the definition of the word, as she remains "committed to Christ"...

[AsahinaKimi]

94. Some where...

Lestat de Lioncourt is laughing.

[Lucian]

100. That's good news.

Her novels went downhill once she became a born-again.

[tuckessee]

103. Just a washed up writer desperate for publicity.

First move was to seek headlines by "becoming" a Christian then she gets more headlines for repudiating her Christianity.:eyes: