Anne Rice Quits Being a Christian
Novelist Anne Rice is often mentioned as a devout Christian who is well regarded by the public, having returned to the church in 1998. Yesterday she posted two statements on her Facebook page.
The first said:
She followed that with this statement:
Unfortunately, the Christian church has identified itself as anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-artificial birth control, anti-Democrat, anti-secular humanism, anti-science, and worst of all, anti-life. Anne Rice appears to be someone who believes in Jesus and his message but cannot tolerate the ignorance that has become the churches' banner.
What is a believer supposed to do, when they cannot accept the authority of their religious leaders?
The first said:
Anne Rice: 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. Anne Rice Facebook Fan Page
She followed that with this statement:
Anne Rice: 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.
Unfortunately, the Christian church has identified itself as anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-artificial birth control, anti-Democrat, anti-secular humanism, anti-science, and worst of all, anti-life. Anne Rice appears to be someone who believes in Jesus and his message but cannot tolerate the ignorance that has become the churches' banner.
What is a believer supposed to do, when they cannot accept the authority of their religious leaders?
posted by JimK at 12:01 PM
32 Comments:
you could try the Christian way, which is to look to Christ rather than teachers or institutions
Martin Luther did this
no need to forsake fellowship or assembling of unbelievers
Jesus himself had this trouble with the religious leaders of his day
he didn't stop participating, he stuck to the truth
if one is "committed to Christ", that would seem the way to go
Barry, on Babwa's show this morning, admitted he wasn't even invited to Chelsea's wedding
look for Hillary to quit after November to run against him for the privilege of being defeated by...wait for it....Jeb Bush
I am disappointed in Ann Rice for buying into the canard pressed by the Religious Right that one can only be a Christian if one is anti-gay, anti-feminist, etc.
The United Church of Christ and the Episcopal Church are Christian. No Christian should be driven out of his or her faith because of extremists.
I am Jewish, and I refuse to be driven from my faith by ultra-Orthodox Jews whose views of scripture and God mirror those of Pat Robertson when it comes to gays and feminists.
Ms. Rice, please reconsider. Better to stand and fight than be driven out. And don't give aid and comfort to those who telling people that there is only one way to be Christian: Their way.
long time no hear from you, David
David is right
follow God from your own conscience and engage the church
don't run
as long as you seek God with all your mind, heart and soul, nothing else matters
GOD HATES HATE
Nevada's record high unemployment has jumped to 14.2 percent, while it was 4.4 percent when Reid became Senate majority leader five years ago.
That about says it all.
Wonder who will be majority leader next fall.
"Anonymous"
What, pray tell, do your ridiculous rants about Hilary Clinton, "Babwa", Jeb Bush (eek!) and Harry Reid have to do with the discussion of Christianity and the failures of some of its adherents that are the topic of this Commentary?
Pray for some guidance from the Lord about your inability to stick to the subject!
are you the blog administrator?
Barack Obama's failures, having had such a large impact, overarch all other issues
So, Anon, politics is more important than spreading Christ's word?
why do you say that?
if you guys want I could start posting an excerpt from Christ's words every day
"Nevada's record high unemployment has jumped to 14.2 percent, while it was 4.4 percent when Reid became Senate majority leader five years ago."
Sharron Angle on job creation: "As your US Senator, I'm not in the business of creating jobs for you. People ask me, "What are you going to do to create jobs in your state?" Well I say, "That's not my job as a US Senator, to bring industry to this state. That's the Lieutenant Governor's job, that's your State Senator's and Assemblymen's job, that's your Secretary of State's job to make a climate here in the state that says "Y'all come." "
something tells me that Nevadans will blame Reid for it
Sharron Angel is going to be a barrel of monkeys on Capitol Hill
can't wait for the fun to begin
right now, polls show the Repubs will have 47 Senate seats in January and that's without Nevada and Florida
historically, toss-ups tend to go the Repub way on election day and that tendency should be pronounced this year
odd how short the 21st century socialist era in America was
Christ's words each day would be OK by me.
"Anonymous"
No...I am not the Blog administrator. But as a reader of this Blog on a fairly consistent basis, I find I must point out your rudeness and egocentric desire to take over this Blog site. Many others who are followers of this site agree with that. Shall we point out that you are not the Blog administrator either?!
It really is a simple rule: stick to the subject that the Blog administrator has commented on. Your inability to play by the rules and total disregard for the fair play required to open this blog for pertinent and cogent responses TO THE SUBJECT AT HAND clearly illustrate your distorted view of your own importance.
In your own words: "if you guys want I could start posting an excerpt from Christ's words every day". We do not come here to be insulted and preached to by the likes of you. Perhaps we would have more charity toward you if you began to exemplify the teachings of your Christ.
"But as a reader of this Blog on a fairly consistent basis, I find I must point out your rudeness and egocentric desire to take over this Blog site."
you must have fairly consistently observed a free-wheeling conversation here
there are other blogs where the conversation is more tightly controlled
you could go there and pretend no one disagrees with you about anything
"Shall we point out that you are not the Blog administrator either?!"
you could, but it would be irrelevant
I haven't tried to tell everyone else what to say, like you have
isn't there some type of psychological term for people like you
"It really is a simple rule: stick to the subject that the Blog administrator has commented on. Your inability to play by the rules and total disregard for the fair play required to open this blog for pertinent and cogent responses TO THE SUBJECT AT HAND clearly illustrate your distorted view of your own importance."
you need to talk to your therapist about your need to control what others say
"In your own words: "if you guys want I could start posting an excerpt from Christ's words every day". We do not come here to be insulted and preached to by the likes of you. Perhaps we would have more charity toward you if you began to exemplify the teachings of your Christ."
I said that in response to one of you
Robert said he'd like to hear some red letter scripture daily, so here's today's, from Matthew chapter 10, verse 34:
"Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."
"let me quote from the Quran itself: "In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil, for that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule."
The face of terrorist is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace."
George W. Bush
Sept. 17, 2001
Islamic Center of Washington DC
won't be giving the blog any attention tonight, so here's today selection of words of Christ, from Revelation chapter 1, verses 17 and 18, from King James:
"Fear not; I am the first and the last:
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death."
I guess there is no limit to your offensiveness---proselytizing for your particular faith on this blog, as if it belonged to you, is beyond the pale. But, being the "Cafeteria Christian" that you apparently are, I am sure you will be able to come up with some lame excuse, on the grounds of "freedom of speech" and the fact that you are "forgiven" to offend as many people as you possibly can.
"Free-wheeling conversation" is hardly an apt description for your approach to dialogue; you remind me of Barney Frank's "dining room table" remark to the intellectually-disabled Tea Bagger.
"isn't there some type of psychological term for people like you...you need to talk to your therapist about your need to control what others say." Pot calling the kettle black again!
What a major disappointment for readers here: "won't be giving the blog any attention tonight, so here's today selection of words of Christ, from Revelation chapter 1, verses 17 and 18, from King James"
How precious of you and how loving.
tonight's selection, excerpts of Christ's words from Psalm 22:
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him." I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted away within me. Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them
and cast lots for my clothing."
a lot of Dems think Obamacare is a done that can't be repealed until Barry leaves office
Sharron Angle has other ideas:
"Republicans may not be able to repeal the Democrats’ health care reform law next year, but they’re eyeing the next best thing: Deny the Obama administration the money it needs to implement the law.
GOP candidates across the country are running on a promise to repeal the law. But simply winning the House and the Senate wouldn’t get them there; they’d need to corral two-thirds majorities to overcome what would be an almost certain veto from President Barack Obama.
Resigned to that fact, Republicans are now readying a campaign trail message that voters should grant them the power of Congress’s purse strings so that they can choke off funding for the law.
“Our goal remains to repeal the bill and replace it, but, clearly, with the president’s veto pen, we’re going to have to take interim steps,” said Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top House Republican on the Joint Economic Committee.
Republicans have proposed a bill to deny funding to any part of the law. But a more likely scenario is to choke off funding for pieces of the legislation that they find particularly troublesome, such as the requirement to buy insurance, changes to Medicare and the one most cited by House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio): the “army of new IRS agents” to implement new requirements for business.
“Hopefully, we will have an election cycle where we will have a strong wave coming in that is opposed to this and can oppose the funding and the implementation of this,” said Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican who is running for governor of Kansas this fall. The law “has to be funded to be implemented.”
About 120 House and Senate candidates have signed on to a pledge, posted at DefundIt.org, to support defunding the overhaul. They include GOP Senate candidates Sharron Angle of Nevada and Jane Norton of Colorado and House candidates Tim Scott of South Carolina and Dennis Ross of Florida."
as if things weren't bad enough for Dems, with record deficits and unrelenting unemployment and the incompetent response to the oil spill and rising healthcare costs to go with the newly appointed health rationer at the Center for Medicare Services, now there are scandals and trials coming for a couple of their major players, Charlie "Slick" Rangel and Maxine "Sleazy" Waters
we're having a Tea Party this fall!!
btw, on RealClearPolitics, the generic Congressional poll has Repubs clearly in the lead and Obama's approval ratings is five points lower than his disapproval
Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.
a lot of Dems think Obamacare is a done that can't be repealed until Barry leaves office
What makes you say that, your imagination? The fact is that the latest Kaiser Poll shows opposition to health care overhaul declining. As the months pass and more provisions that protect consumers become law, more consumers come to appreciate what Obama and the Democrats did for everyone by reforming the American health care system. And even though "The poll found that misconceptions about the legislation persist, including the "death panel" falsehood propagated by opponents of the legislation," support for health care reform is still growing.
Republicans are now readying a campaign trail message that voters should grant them the power of Congress’s purse strings so that they can choke off funding for the law.
The American public already knows how good Republicans are at choking off funds to pay for government. They remember too well what the Bush years did to the Clinton surplus and the huge sinking mess Bush left for Obama to clean up. The only people buying this line from the GOapologizetoBP are those who already drank the kool-aid.
Here are some of Christ's words to consider:
Matthew 25:41-45
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least among you, you did not do for me.'"
good verse, Bea
tell you what: I'll take the evening devotions and you do the mornings
it would be interesting
btw, the states attempt to have Obamacare declared unconstitutional is advancing:
"Federal District Judge Henry Hudson's decided to let Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's lawsuit against Obamacare go forward. The issue at the heart of the matter is hotly debated by constitutional scholars, and is generally expected to receive final adjudication in the Supreme Court. In short, it's hardly a frivolous suit.
The question is whether the federal government has the power to compel individuals to purchase a particular consumer good -- not as a prerequisite to some other privilege, such as driving, but merely because they live and breathe. Advocates of Obamacare say it does. If they are correct, then there is pretty much nothing the federal government cannot do, and the notion enshrined in the Constitution that government is a limited entity confined to certain enumerated powers no longer obtains.
If the courts don't stop Obamacare, it would leave all Americans at the mercy of congressional whim; the only thing standing between you and an individual mandate to buy a car, a handgun, or Glenn Beck's latest book would be the contingent forbearance of Congress. And Congress is not famous for its forbearance.
The courts, therefore, must supply it with some. And the suit brought by Cuccinelli is the vehicle with which to do so."
Tea Party, this November!
Obamacare is bad news for senior citizens since the reduced subsidy for Medicare Advantage will mean benefits they now enjoy, such as dental and eye care will be dropped.
And to add insult to injury, Obamacare makes it illegal to switch to another Medicare Advantage plan. So, if your provider makes changes like this, you can't switch to another Medicare Advantage plan. Your only choice is to go back to regular Medicare.
Senior citizens, who vote, will let Barack know how much they appreciate this decline in care in November.
Sir B.O., he's got a way with people!
Remember the objections conservatives and many Republicans raised during the debate about government-run health care and the danger of eliminating private health insurance, despite its many flaws?
Recall that Britain's National Health Service was frequently cited as an example of where the U.S. health system might be headed: coverage for all, but with lower quality, long waits for major surgery and denial of care when the government decides the procedure is not "cost effective."
Anyone who believes a U.S. health care system based on the NHS model can somehow fare better than Britain's had better consider this recent headline and story from London's Sunday Telegraph: "Axe Falls on NHS Services; Hip operations, cataract surgery and IVF rationed; Cancer care, maternity, pediatric services at risk."
Rationing? Oh yes, and it is something the unconfirmed, recess-appointed U.S. health care czar, Donald Berwick, strongly favors.
British government leaders had promised to protect frontline services. The Obama administration also made similar promises in order to win enough support from members of Congress, most of whom never read the bill before they voted for it.
Here's what America can look forward to if it follows the NHS model, according to an investigation by the Sunday Telegraph: "Plans to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from budgets for the terminally ill, with dying cancer patients to be told to manage their own symptoms if their condition worsens at evenings or weekends." Never has "take two aspirin and call me in the morning" sounded more callous.
Nursing homes for the elderly would be closed, the number of hospital beds for the mentally ill reduced and general practitioners would be discouraged from sending patients to hospitals. Accident and emergency department services would also be cut.
Thousands of jobs would be lost at NHS hospitals, reports the Telegraph, "including 500 staff to go at a trust where cancer patients recently suffered delays in diagnosis and treatment because of staff shortages." Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association called the cuts "astonishingly brutal."
She expressed particular concern at attempts to ration (that word again) hip and knee operations. "These are not unusual procedures," she said. "This is a really blatant attempt to save money by leaving people in pain."
What do politicians care about that? In Britain, as in America, top officials (including Berwick, who has lifetime health coverage given to him by the Institute for Health Care Improvement) will always have access to the best care, even while they decide the rest of us cannot.
This paragraph in the Telegraph story should send chills down the spine of every American: "Doctors across the country have already been told that their patients can have the operations only if they are given 'prior approval' by the Primary Care Trust, with each authorization made on a 'case by case' basis."
When cost, rather than the value of life, becomes supreme, rationing will inevitably lead to other cost-cutting policies. And yes, despite protestations from those who favored Obamacare that "death panels" would not be part of the equation, you can count on them.
They will, of course, be called something else. We wouldn't want to disturb any remaining moral sensibilities we might have.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Matthew 11:25,26:
I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
hey, you know that Health Care Reform that Aunt Bea thinks the American people like so much?
yesterday, 73% voters in Missouri rejected it
all those people Aunt Bea are talking about must have been building sand castles at the beach
not
did liberals really think we spend so much blood, time and treasure bringing freedom to Iraq only to allow the government to tell us what we have to do here?
our socialist president will be rebuked in November
Ho, hum....sooooo boring!
Like a stuck record...keeps playing on and on and on. Wish someone would pull the plug!
it's called "rope-a-dope"
we lull you to sleep, wear you down and, then, deliver the knock-out punch
it's working very well so far
here's something guaranteed to bore you to tears:
the latest USA Today/Gallup poll puts Obama's approval rating at 41% and disapproval at 57%, among ALL voters, not just the likely ones where he always does poorly
glub-glub, down the drain
we took a chance and elected an unknown who seemed cool and competent
turned out the "competent" was an illusion but the cool is still there and, honestly, we have realized we need someone with passion
someone who actually believes in America
we're having a tea party in November!
y'all come
"Wish someone would pull the plug!"
someone did
that's why the Obama administration is going down the drain
Post a Comment
<< Home