So, many people are shocked that author Anne Rice announced that she is no longer a Christian - which comes on the heels of her decision a few years ago to no longer write anything Vampire and instead write about Jesus.
There's shock and horror - how could she repudiate her faith! And then there's the accusations - she never really, really, really got it (like I do). Or the shrugs - she made all this vampire stuff popular, let the tramp burn!
Here is what she wrote:
"I quit being a Christian. 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."
This really has nothing to do with being "Christian" -- it has to do with the idea that being a Christian means you are supposed to be socially conservative.
But, but, but - aren't the Scriptures opposed to homosexuality? Yep. If she wants to defend homosexuality as a life-style, she is wrong and in error. It happens.
But also note what else is there -- anti-feminist. Anti-artificial birth control. Anti-Democrat. Anti-secular humanism. Anti-science.
In other words - she doesn't want to be conservative. That's all. Simple as that. And you know what -- um... can one be a democrat and still be a Christian? Sure. Can one think that women should get equal pay for equal work. . . or even think that women should be able to work and still be a Christian? Sure.
(A note on women working - yes, yes, yes, you will say the woman's place is in the home. Now go read Proverbs 31 and then tell me if your idea of a housewife includes purchasing and managing the property, producing goods, and selling the produce of the house)
Here's the hint. Anne Rice is/was a member of Rome. Rome says that they are Christian. . . so she's repudiating Rome. She still wants to confess Christ (with what errors, I don't know, everyone has personal heresies of a sort) but can't stand the things Rome is forcing her to believe. So she says that she won't.
Now, I can sympathize with that. If she had said, "I refuse to hold to the enforced celibacy of priests, I refuse to be forced to do good works to merit the salvation Christ has already won for me, I refuse to bind myself to Aristotelian ideas about the Supper - I simply want Justification to be the focus" - then we would have said, "A-ha! She has become a Confessional Lutheran!"
Rice is rejecting Rome -- and what has she become? Well, pro-gay, feminist, pro-birth control, Democrat who likes science. Let's assume that she still likes things liturgical and the like. Well, isn't that sort of a liberal Episcopalian? Eh, she'll end up there or some other such place. Hopefully she get enough of the Gospel is bits and spurts that her faith is not washed away completely. Who knows.
But it's not that big of a deal. Now, if she were going to write more Vampire Novels - maybe some more good Vampire Mythology stuff like "Queen of the Damned" - now that would be a big deal.
1 comment:
Yeah, it should come as no big surprise that a member of the celebrity culture (or about as famous as a writer can be) turns out to think and act like most of that culture. I hope she doesn't make the mistake of thinking she can stay with Christ while not having a church. That's a dangerous path to tread.
What I find/found odd was the way in which Christians held her up as an apologetic icon -- "See, we're not crazy, Anne Rice believes the same stuff we do." This will naturally be replaced by someone else when another of the glitterati (and preferably with some intellectual cache) speaks out about his or her Christianity.
Post a Comment