I never did get enthused about Anne Rice's vampire books, but this I understand. The problem for Christianity is the (so-called) Christians.
Anne Rice, famous for her vampire books and then her re-adoption of her childhood Roman Catholic faith and for her gay son, has renounced the Christians. Rather, the so-called Christians, because it has become increasingly apparent nearly 2 millennia after Christ's death that anyone calling himself/herself a Christian probably is not.
The author Anne Rice, who in 2008 announced that she had returned to the Catholic faith in which she was raised, says she is no longer a Christian but remains “committed to Christ.”
“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,” she wrote on her Facebook page on Wednesday.
She said it was “simply impossible” for her to belong to “this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group.” She said she had “tried” and “failed,” describing herself as an outsider. “In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay,” continued Rice, whose son Christopher is a homosexual who writes for The Advocate, an “LGBT” monthly.“I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat,” she continued, also characterizing Christianity as “anti-science” and “anti-life.” However, she still described her faith in Christ as “central” to her life. “My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me.”
However, she said following Christ does not mean “following His followers.” She described Christ as “infinitely more important than Christianity.”
link: Author Anne Rice repudiates Christianity ‘in the name of Christ’ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
I recall a quote i read decades ago; I think it was from Albert Schweitzer, when asked if he was a Christian (because often his missions in Africa were outside the parameters of organized Christianity) replied "most days I try to be"1 . That in fact is the only correct answer to the question any mortal can give. Take note, Stephen Harper and Stockwell Day.
Rice's statement will have zero resonance with the right-wing "Christian" movement in North America, other than perhaps denunciation as what could be expected of someone who raised and embraced a gay son, but it encourages me to hear someone of her fame say it so loudly, so proudly.
- Schweitzer, 1875-1965, was perhaps the only internationally known missionary in Africa in my youth whose good works would have inspired us in difficult situations to ask, "what would Albert Schweitzer do?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Schweitzer↩
