As you’ve likely heard, renowned author of novels about vampires Anne Rice has boldly declared that she is no longer a Christian. On her Facebook page yesterday she wrote,
Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. 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. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else. … I’m out. 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. 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. In the name of …Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.
So … let’s ignore the unfortunately clarion pretentiousness of her “I’m an outsider,” “My conscience will allow nothing else,” and that awful “Amen.”
Let’s also ignore that “I’ve quit being a Christian, because I’m too committed to Christ” is a waffle so huge it’d give Mrs. Butterworth a coronary.
And let’s definitely ignore that her entire statement is based on the assumption that being a Christian and being anti-gay, anti-women, anti-science, etc., are virtually inseparable. It’s like saying, “I renounce my American citizenship, because every American is an insufferable jerk!” Well, sure, some are. But what about those who aren’t?
Finally, let’s ignore that this statement couldn’t be more perfectly timed to coincide with a novel Ms. Rice has coming out in November, “Of Love and Evil,” the second in her “Songs of the Seraphim” series. It’s too cynical to wonder if she chose this moment to publicly renounce Christianity because she knew perfectly well it would bring her exactly the kind of media attention it has.
So. If we remove from Rice’s statement its pretentiousness, prevarication, illogicalness, and (possibly!) shameless opportunism, is there anything left worthy of our attention?
There is for me; and it’s that I, too, have grown wary, and weary, of calling myself a Christian. The word simply connotes too much that doesn’t describe me or what I believe. In a lot of ways, calling myself a Christian makes me feel like a Jew who’s gone into some crazy universe where he has to identify himself as a Nazi. Right after the last time I wrote in one of my blog posts the simple sentence, “I am a Christian,” my fingers hovered still over the keyboard for a long time. I thought of how to modify that articulation, how to change it, work around it. I thought of deleting it.
But in the end I left it. Because … well, fuck ‘em. (Those of you who read my recent “Just Married” will recognize the official Shore family motto.) From the moment of my conversion, I have written and said, “I’m a Christian,” because I refuse to cede that term to those whom I feel are perverting and ruining it. I’m too ornery not to call myself a Christian.
My conscience (whaddaya know!) will allow nothing else.
![John Shore on The Huffington Post](http://johnshore.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/huffpost.jpg?w=120 "John Shore on The Huffington Post\")
{ 127 comments… read them below or add one }
« 1 2
Just seen the link to this from the thruway christians facebook group and that last paragraph… phenomenal! If there was ever a paragraph of writing to summarise the whole of TC then i think that’s it
.
If I could meet her in person, I would
love to say “Thank you Anne Rice –
for so very articulately stating what
I have felt in my heart for years” !!!!
One’s ‘Faith-in-Christ’ should IN NO WAY
be tied into the man-controlled ‘Religion’
that so many refer to as “Christianity”
(especially that apostate, psuedo-religious
political-movement called ‘evangelicalism’)
It took me forever to realize that my
relationship with God (as established
through Christ Jesus, God The Son) was
IN NO WAY dependent on the apostate
psuedo-religious movement sweeping
America in the name of the “church”.
If Christ were walking the earth today,
a lot of these same “religious” types
would be the first to demand that He
be ‘crucified’ — and based merely on
who He chose as FRIENDS (women,
gays, foreigners, immigrants, the poor,
the rejected, the downtrodden, the rich,
men, old, young, happy, sad, and so on).
The “evangelicals” (not to be mistaken
for TRUE FOLLOWERS of Christ) and
other “church” types have essentially
hijacked the Christian ‘Faith’ in order to
turn it into a mammon-worshipping,
power-mongering, “Religion” of hate.
These people are more akin to a system of
ANTI-CHRIST (i.e. “against”-Christ) than
to anything tied into WHO CHRIST IS.
Their evil has reached such profound levels
that even people who know and love Christ
are turned off from them and their words
(again proving these “church” types are
really nothing more than anti-Christ,
self-righteous Pharisees and are not
even remotely related to Jesus Christ).
Never again will I waste my time stepping
into the psuedo-religious social-club that
is known as “church” or associate myself
with the political-clique that is known as
‘christianity’ — because FROM NOW ON
– I realize that I do NOT “need” either
in order to have a relationship with MY
LORD JESUS CHRIST (in fact, those
two entities were actually ‘interfering’
with my relationship with God)
THROUGH CHRIST — GOD HAS OPENLY
EXPRESSED HIS LOVE TO ‘EVERYONE’
(no matter if rich, poor, gay, straight, male,
female, sickly, healthy and so on) — AND
CHRIST (not the so-called”church”) IS
‘THE DOOR’ and ‘WAY’ TO GOD!!
ALL ARE WELCOME TO APPROACH AND
TO ENTER THROUGH ‘THE DOOR’ TO GOD!!
NO ONE IS REJECTED BY CHRIST !!!
JESUS LOVED AND LOVES EVERYONE !!!
LET’S ALL TRY TO REMEMBER
THE BIBLE VERSE OF ‘JOHN 3:17’:
“For God did NOT send His Son
into the world – to condemn
the world, BUT that the world,
THROUGH HIM, might be SAVED !!!!”
JESUS CHIST – and *not* the institution known
as “the church” or the religion called “christianity”
— IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!!!
LIKE MANY OTHER PEOPLE – I AM DONE
WITH THE CHURCH & WITH CHRISTIANITY
– AND FROM HERE ON OUT – MY FOCUS IS
ON (AND FAITH IN GOD RELYS IN) JESUS
CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ALONE !!!
.
My first response was and… I guess it will keep her name noticed. I mean after all, her books have become rather dull.
Leonard Pitts' most recent column says it better than I could: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/04/1760058/kee…
How and when did we let the political right decide what it means to be a "Christian?" They have taken over the definition so completely that anyone who introduces themselves as Christian is automatically assumed to be anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, anti-feminist, anti-evolution and Republican. It's enough to scare any thinking person away from Christianity.
"It’s enough to scare any thinking person away from Christianity."
Yes it is, but that's all the more reason for us "ornery" thinking Christians to stick with it.
thanks for this diane, i reposted on my facebook.
And I say "I am an atheist" because I refuse to cede the term to those who have foisted meaning upon it where none should exist. I am a-theistic…I merely lack theistic belief and it says nothing about what I am…only what I am not. It says nothing of my worldview. It says nothing about my ethical framework. It says nothing about my values. It says nothing about my politics. Bald is not a hair color. I'm too ornery not to call myself an atheist.
"She may be sincere all the way through her journey, but I also have no doubt that her conversion to Christianity, and her later renunciation of it, both served to increase her visibility and her book sales.
I’d like to see her make a public claim that costs her something. That’s be mighty… Christian, of her."
I think she DID do this when she publicly announced that her Vampire series of books was over because she had decided to "write for Christ" I believe she plans on continuing her Christ centered series of books: "the songs of the Seraphim"
I've read some of the more gracious blog posts on this (and there are A LOT of blog posts on this!) and I've come to the conclusion Anne Rice is extremely shrewd. Or she has a very good agent (who maybe told her to hold off until just now). So I think you nailed it, John. Besides railing against a group because some vocal minority routinely rails against group? Really? I think there is more to it than that.
John:
I agree with you on two fronts.
One: I do believe the timing of this could very well have something to do with the release of her next book and I think she still trying to recoup some of the readers she may have lost during her "Christian" writing period (re: Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt et al).
Two: I think her statement is more metaphorical in nature…that she is putting a face on the same frustration many of us feel (including myself) toward the corporate form of our chosen religion.
I too do not agree with much of the religious-politics that TV/Radio Christian talking heads say "I must believe" IF I'm a Christian. I too have felt like an outsider since I began to publish my Eye Witness graphic novel series (www.headpress.info) and being rebuffed by many corporate Christians for any number of reasons. Like Rice, I've had to defend and justify an unorthodox presentation, because it doesn't fit others view on what is the proper way or style or format to share the word.
But mainly I think she's voicing what many of us feel (at one time or another) that the faith has drifted back to the very same place that Judism was during the time of Jesus…and thus naming this religion after someone who's very ministry railed against many of it's current foundations it's just to hypocritical to stomach.
Finally I think she saying….she's still a beliver…still a lover of Jesus, but just not the psuedo-politico organization that some of modern Christianity has become.
But then again, that's just my viewpoint.
Jesus promised that those who followed Him and identified themselves as his followers ("Christ ones," which is where the term comes from) would suffer mockery and persecution. So as you say, John, why would we change what we're called just because it's been bastardized by someone else? Are we that weak, that easily influenced? If we changed our identification to "Blartonians" or "Moodheads" or whatever, then eventually those terms would suck and we'd move on to something else.
We're SUPPOSED to be hated. The message of the cross divides. We're just supposed to be hated for the right reasons.
Dallas
"We’re SUPPOSED to be hated. The message of the cross divides. We’re just supposed to be hated for the right reasons. "
Exactly. Which is why some of us "Ornery Christians" insist upon:
1) continuing to claim the name of Christ by calling ourselves Christians, even when other Christians tell us that we're "not real Christians."
2) continuing to claim the name of Christ by calling ourselves Christians even when other Christians (usually, though not always, the same Christians mentioned in "1") embarrass us by behaving in the following Unchristian ways:
a) being hypocritical
b) aggressively shoving Christ down the throats of unwilling others
c) being mean to gay people (other people too, but Christians are specifically perceived as anti-gay, maybe because so many of us [not all!] are anti-gay)
d) trying desperately to turn the clock back to the 1950's (or earlier) while willfully ignoring the fact that the '50's weren't good for everybody and that they probably weren't that good even for those for whom they were good
e) shoving our right-wing, fundamentalist politics down the throats of unwilling others (fact: there are some left-wing Christians. Some of them have even attempted to shove to shove their left-wing politics down the throats of unwilling others. However, that particular wing of Christianity has grown weak since the 1980's
f) harshly judging the sins of others while cheerfully ignoring our own (this is actually a form of "a", but a more specific version and obnoxious enough to deserve its own category.)
3) Sucking it up when as a result of our insistence upon claiming Jesus, we end up getting bashed on all sides.
The reason I get uncomfortable with this kind of thing is because how Christians just *stop* here and blame some of the anger people express towards us as a spiritual reaction to being "hated" due to the reasons you've offered here. And I don't like that because it makes everything about our feelings when we're supposed to be loved enough where we're able to step outside of our self-absorption and see that the issues people are facing as a result of some of the decisions Christians are making on behalf of others who aren't Christian are actually really crappy, and them telling it to us with a little heat isn't a spiritual attack.
I'm being hard on Christians here and in doing so, I'm not acknowledging the millions of great ones out there. I'm focused on the ones who act with recklessness and do so unconsciously but have no desire to move the unconscious to the conscious. A lot of us actually do some really shitty stuff in the name of Jesus and somehow expect our intent to do the talking for us. We don't educate ourselves, we treat people with disrespect, we're invasive, we're insensitive, we're often classist and racist and a lot of the time it's due to some ideology we are subscribing to. That, or we have somehow decided that being 'saved' means we don't have to keep challenging our character, that we get some kind of magic pass from Jesus when we screw up and we make no substantial repair.
So sure, this is true but it's getting old. It really is. I'm tired of hearing how we're so persecuted by the big bad atheists when in fact, we're kind of fu&ing up their country and their lives in a lot of ways and they're telling us directly. That's not a spiritual attack, that's them holding us accountable to living the Loving God we say we have inside of us.
I think what you said is what I was trying to say in my comment–only better. Thanks DR!
Hate to break it to everyone out there… But its not our beliefs that get us into Heaven or Hell. You can be Pro-Choice, Democrat, Pro Homosexual Marriage, Pro Science, Pro Whatever you want to be. You can still get into heaven.
Jesus said to follow him and whoever believes in him shall be saved. Nothing in the bible to my knowledge states "You have to be pro choice!". It says in the bible that Homosexuality is a sin. It also says that lying, cheating, stealing is all sins too. God does not discriminate against sins, a sin is a sin.
Even in 1st Corinthians it says multiple people will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. HOWEVER, if they believe in Jesus Christ as their savior their sins are washed away. http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20C…
As for science? Any church that doesn't believe in science is plainly and blatantly stupid. The bible was compiled to be a book to live and lead your life by. There are many writings that were included in the bible that match the bible and explain much more in regards to science. [Which is probably why they aren't in the bible. Surprise Surprise]. You'll find when following these books that they have scientific basis, but then again. What is scientific basis anyways? We just found out that a triceratops dinosaur is actually the same as another dinosaur just a younger version.
Constantly on a daily basis science changes its tune and finds something that contradicts or changes itself. What has remain true? What has remain proven? The bible.
They found that there is numerous parts of the bible that are rules that protect people. An example is when God told the Jewish people not to eat crab fish. Why? Because it was later found that crabfish of that area has to be cooked a specific way otherwise the person eating it would die. Theres some chemicals in it that cause this.
My point in all of this is, Science Changes, People Sin, Shit Happens. Jesus died for our sins and said if he want to goto heaven just believe in him listen to him and follow him. Its not that hard.
Science changing is exactly what makes it so great. When a theory is disproven or changed as new information arises, it is a victory for science, because our knowledge has been expanded. This is not a flaw, but the very thing that makes it relevant.
For instance, we know now that gay people are born that way. So really, being gay cannot be a sin. So that idea needs to change to match the information we have discovered. Things that don't change become irrelevant. If religion was as willing to correct itself as science is, it would have much more to offer.
I'm not sure if I can really know Rice's motivations for her public statement. I'm not how important that is. What is important is the debate we are now all taking part in from the challenge she has thrown out. An earlier post claimed Christians as doing more to turn people off Christianity than Dawkins. Others have suggested people like Dawkins are the new prophets of God challenging outmoded models of reality that do not belong and are not needed by Christianity. The point with all these people are the questions they raise and the way it helps religion to mature.
Good point!
The word that comes to my mind is "reverence". Where is the reverence for Rice's chosen religion and where is her commitment to it? The phrase, "All in", keeps coming to mind as well. She obviously wasn't.
Thank you John! Rice's timing and motivation certainly are suspect. Like many of my generation, I attended church regularly as a child, but gave it a pass for thirty years when I felt that fundamentalism was not something I wanted in my life. I continued to believe that there were so many good messages in Christianity, and when I decided to get married to my partner after 17 years together, I wanted God to be part of that commitment, so I started attending church again. As a gay Christian member of the largest protestant denomination in Canada, I was married in church by the parish minister with full support of the largely suburban and elderly congregation 18 months ago. My congregation is supportive of everyone, regardless of where they are in their faith journey, and I have found the community to be very encouraging to those who have questions or doubts. For me it has been as welcome a place to discuss what I don't believe as what I do. I find it surprising and very sad that the welcome I found by doing a few hours research on the web, Ms. Rice has been unable to find in ten years of searching! I don't know if she is a good writer, but I suspect she is not the sharpest pencil in the box when it comes to research.
@ Derek: 1) " I continued to believe that there were so many good messages in Christianity, and when I decided to get married to my partner after 17 years together, I wanted God to be part of that commitment, so I started attending church again. As a gay Christian member of the largest protestant denomination in Canada, I was married in church by the parish minister with full support of the largely suburban and elderly congregation 18 months ago." Congratulations to you and your partner on your marriage and on finding a good church home. 2) Re: "I don’t know if she is a good writer, but I suspect she is not the sharpest pencil in the box when it comes to research." Or, maybe she's too angry to do research on this subject. She wouldn't be the first person to throw her hands up in the air and walk away from Christianity in disgust. Of course, a lot of us eventually come back, but still….
« 1 2