Anne Rice Leaves Christianity

Anne Rice Leaves Christianity

Anne Rice wrote on her FaceBook page on Wednesday (July 28th) that she had decided she no longer considered herself a Christian.

The writer of the classic Vampire Chronicles including Interview With the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat and Queen of the Damned had this to say:

For those who care, and I understand if you don't: 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.

As I said below, 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.

My faith in Christ is central to my 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. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.

Rice has stated on her FaceBook page that she has been troubled by the Catholic church's stance on such topics as gay marriage, the sex abuse scandals and the ex-communication of Sister Margaret McBride, the hospital administrator of a Catholic hospital who approved the abortion that saved the life of a 27-year-old pregnant woman.

During a telephone interview on Thursday, Rice commented:

"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. I came to the conclusion that if I didn't make this declaration, I was going to lose my mind."

Rice has no plans to write about her vampires again but still plans to continue her angel series Songs of the Seraphim, which started with the novel Angel Time, the story of assassin Toby O'Dare and his encounters with the angel Malchiah.

-Chris

About the Author

Cult Hero is a vampire junkie whose obsession has gone so far as to cause the writing of Chris's first novel the as yet unpublished Servants of the Night. Aside from writing for Vampires.Com and Werewolves.Com Chris also showcases personal works of poetry, prose and photography on the website http://bleakestnights.com and can be found lurking around Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/CultHero.

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