AP: Novelist Anne Rice says she's leaving Christianity

[Aloysius J. Gleek]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jaR7TaVx0l6KHJ6xerMe1gl0xYqQD9H92BTG0


Novelist Anne Rice says she's leaving Christianity
By HILLEL ITALIE (AP) – 4 days ago



NEW YORK — 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. ["I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being 'Christian' or to being part of Christianity. It's simply impossible for me to 'belong' to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. 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-llife.] 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."

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[delalluvia]

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control

Where has Anne Rice been?  The Catholic Church has been this way for sometime.  Like centuries.  Yet she rejoined a few years back, knowing this full well.

Did she forget?

 

[louisev]

very good question, Del.  It was certainly like that long before she was born and hasn't changed.  Maybe she thought she had done Catholicism a huge favor by returning to it and they would all change FOR HER. She started in writing her own "life of Christ" epic, so something tells me it was less her going back to the church than her making it her topic du jour.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control

Where has Anne Rice been?  The Catholic Church has been this way for sometime.  Like centuries.  Yet she rejoined a few years back, knowing this full well.

Did she forget?

 

Perhaps it was selective--or opportunistic--amnesia.

Oh, and by the way, note to whomever: Don't think I haven't noticed that my comments from this morning--and Louise's too--have mysteriously disappeared. While I suspect the reason that would be given was irrelevance to Anne Rice, I'm sure the real reason is anti-Christian bias that can't abide to hear anything good about any branches of Christianity.

Del, I'm actually not talking to you this time.

[delalluvia]

Just seems weird.  I've heard others say it's calculated - something about her book sales.

But didn't she first leave the Catholic Church because her child died, and then for all practical purposes, rejoined when her husband died?

[pnwDUDE]

While I have enjoyed most of her books and a few by her son, I have come to the conclusion she is nothing but an attention hog. Who really cares about her religion?

Brad

[Monika]

why would anyone want to criticise Rice for leaving an organisation that she perceives as being against gay rights?

[Front-Ranger]

Your posts and Louise's didn't disappear friend. They are just where you put them over on David's blog.

[serious crayons]

Oh, and by the way, note to whomever: Don't think I haven't noticed that my comments from this morning--and Louise's too--have mysteriously disappeared. While I suspect the reason that would be given was irrelevance to Anne Rice, I'm sure the real reason is anti-Christian bias that can't abide to hear anything good about any branches of Christianity.

This it?

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,36047.msg581899.html#msg581899

Your posts and Louise's didn't disappear friend. They are just where you put them over on David's blog.

Thanks, FRiend.

[serious crayons]

While I have enjoyed most of her books and a few by her son, I have come to the conclusion she is nothing but an attention hog. Who really cares about her religion?

As someone who shared a city with her for a while, I totally agree -- except the part about enjoying her and her son's books.