Following up on the last post, there’s been some news recently concerning the world-famous novelist Anne Rice, regarded by many as the godmother of the modern vampire genre. In her own words, via Facebook:
“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.”
And later, a second message:
“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.”
To begin, it is of the utmost importance to acknowledge the immorality of casting judgement upon Ms. Rice as a fellow believer. Being that Catholicism is properly understood as a lifelong experience of gradual conversion, God knows it's hard enough just to focus on our own spiritual health. But since Ms. Rice has apparently taken it upon herself to cast that very judgement upon the whole of Christianity, well... it demands some friendly criticism.
What’s fascinating about this revelation by Ms. Rice, held up not long ago as a model convert who broke free of atheism to return to her Christian roots, is that this could just as easily have escaped the mouth of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or any number of other supposed “Christians” who reject the words of Christ himself. Now, to be fair, does it say anywhere in the Bible that “Thou shalt not support progressive statists”? No. For that matter, neither does it say “Thou shalt be anti-science, anti-life, anti-Democrat… etc.”, although this would apparently come as a surprise to the former vampire novelist, whose allegations against her fellow Christians seem little more than gross generalizations and malicious stereotyping.
For all her preaching, there can be little doubt that Ms. Rice, despite her supposedly Christian convictions, has never taken the time to study the basic tenets of her faith. Hers is a devotion born of sheer emotion, and we all know where that leads (See 'There Will Be Blood').
Sadly, Anne Rice seems to have become just another example of the phenomenon that has come to be known as “Christian Relativism”, meaning “Jesus represents whatever you personally believe to be good, because there is no ultimate truth, only people’s individual truths.” To believe this is to reduce Christ to a mere human idea, and in this way it is nothing more than atheism with a religious spin. The truth is true not because we believe it so, but because it IS so. Good and evil are separated by a line drawn by our Creator, with Nature herself standing as the ultimate icon of His will.
To quote Winston Churchill, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” Such is the Catholic view on the Natural Law, against which mankind’s struggles are ultimately futile.
While it would no doubt be intriguing to probe this issue further, it should suffice to revisit Ms. Rice’s original message- with a few links added for educational purposes, of course.
“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.”
Amen indeed, sister, whatever you say...
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