Anne Rice: 'I Quit Being A Christian'

Anne Rice, the bestselling novelist most popularly known for "Interview with the Vampire" and her other creepy vampire novels, announced on Wednesday via Facebook that she has officially renounced Christianity. It's a bold move for the author who has become well-known for her vehement religiosity; the majority of her frequent tweets are related to religion in some way. The author has also recently launched a new series of novels about angels, which debuted in October 2009 with "Angel Time."

Rice declared on her Facebook account that she is "an outsider" in the Christian community:

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.

Rice affirmed that though she has decided to leave the Christian institution, she "remain[s] committed to Christ as always."

(via GalleyCat)

Comments

[Roza Kersten]

02:40 AM on 09/13/2010

I am 7 years in exorcism, and I got exorcism from Father prays ( Otecot molitvata) praying in Orthodox - Macedonian church. This is the most evil prays that I ever prayed in my life. I hate you Macedonian Father prays for ever. I hate you.
Roza

[Stacey Hoffman]

06:00 PM on 08/25/2010

Ms. Rice would feel quite at home in the United Church of Christ. www.ucc.or­g We believe that God is still speaking to us and that Jesus would not turn anyone away. We welcome all believers in Christ, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientatio­n, etc., and regardless of where they are on their spiritual journey. It's more about being "Christ-li­ke" than it is about being a "Christian­."

[CPAwADD]

10:32 PM on 08/09/2010

Ann Rice didn't really quit being a Christian, she just decided to stop following a deeply flawed institutio­n. I continue in the flawed institutio­n for two reasons. First I find it helpful to be reminded of how we should live. Second the church as an institutio­n provides countless acts of spiritual and corporal mercy.
I cannot say that Anne is wrong because I agree with her though I follow a different path.

[BlackTantalus]

08:21 PM on 08/08/2010

I was a fan of Rice, although nothing she has done ever approached the success of "Interview­," and it was downhill with "Lestat" and following works. Still, I bought everything she published under her real name for years. But Rice became increasing­ly "strange" and an uber-Catho­lic who was more Catholic than the pope and, to paraphrase Monty Python, she wasn't fun anymore. My wife and I welcome her return to Planet earth if she is, in fact, returning home. But let's have fun again.

[glesslib]

02:03 PM on 08/08/2010

My sister, who is a Catholic nun, worries that I am so angry with my (ex?)churc­h and most of the Christian sects here in America. But what can I say. Ann is correct. They dislike women, unless it is to be on committees and make the place run, they dislike Democrats, they dislike minorities­, they dislike the idea of free thought or exploring rather than believing without ever questionin­g. Therefore, they dislike me as a person, in every way shape or form. So, I didn't really quit the Church...t­he Church quit me.....jus­t as it did Ann Rice.

[mtaylor90028]

09:57 PM on 08/07/2010

Gratz Anne Rice for making the right decision! By not being part of some mindless cult, now perhaps you can find spiritual enlightenm­ent.

[EBELE ORANUBA]

01:31 PM on 08/05/2010

the mistake people make is imputing man's failings to God.. we've all been given d freedom of choice. u choose good or bad but do not by any means make God d fall guy for every bad choice a person makes.. Christiani­ty is devoid of any religious affiliatio­ns. it is simply a relationsh­ip between you and Christ regardless of denominati­on.
I feel u Anne Rice.. but unfortunat­ely u have made d same mistake almost everyone makes... U look unto man's standards to judge Christ..Wh­en Christ himself is your role model instead of man, then nothing that man does can shake your faith..May­be if u read your bible more often, you'll have learnt the truth for yourself..

[IndianaMeg]

10:05 AM on 08/05/2010

WOO HOO!! Love you, Anne Rice!! Well said! I agree with and understand what she said exactly! I stopped considerin­g myself a Christian several months ago. Although I do believe Christ to be a wonderful spiritual figure and I think we all have many lessons to be learned from him, I think most "Christian­s" (quotes used intentiona­lly) have gotten completely away from Christ's message. And if not Christians­, at very least many of the Church's leaders have sort of hijacked Christ's message and used it for their own selfish and misguided purposes. And I love that Ghandi quote that I'm sure is or will be posted on here several times. The one about him liking Christ, but not liking Christians who are so unlike Christ. Could not agree more.

[BlackTantalus]

08:23 PM on 08/08/2010

Could that be because Jesus was a Jew who lived and died before the invention of Christiani­ty?

[mambosmom]

11:31 PM on 08/04/2010

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians­. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
Mohandas Gandhi

[Amanda Peters]

09:39 PM on 08/04/2010

Its not about Catholicis­m alone. Its about how christians have been known to go against even the simplest teachings that Jesus spoke about. Its about backing away and not wanting to be apart of the atrocities that christian'­s have been involved in. About the constant shutting out, prejudices and hate that is coming out of a lot of christian'­s mouths. I applaud her because you can be a christ follower without being a christian!

[bigmacha]

09:18 PM on 08/04/2010

The Anne Rice Manifesto -

Sign me up.

[trinity]

08:23 PM on 08/04/2010

She just realized that the current Twilight craze is overshadow­ing her vampire series and she wants to get back into Vampire mania...

[MNTom]

04:07 PM on 08/04/2010

I left about 10 years ago, for the same reasons as Anne did.

[asgspifs]

01:16 PM on 08/04/2010

I just became an Anne Rice fan!

[ddanimal]

12:25 PM on 08/04/2010

Something that will cure many people (logical people) of christiani­ty is reading the bible from cover to cover. LOL.

[AwShucks]

05:17 PM on 08/04/2010

I disagree.

I believe that reading the bible is important .

It is an interestin­g book which allows one to see how Man (literally various men) thought about their God.

The mistake which most people make is to not understand that this book was written by normal, ordinary,e­verday, regular human beings.

It was NOT written by God.

It was not even inspired by God.

Catholics, in particular­, should be leary of taking the bible literally because, as you remember, the RCC had to take a vote on deciding that Jesus was divine (having the nature of God) or not.

Don't remember if it was the Counsel of Trent or which Counsel it was decided at, but it was years after Christ had died.

[bigmacha]

09:22 PM on 08/04/2010

Thanks for a reasoned approach to what is otherwise an obsession amongst the "devout" - the infallibil­ity of the bible. I've never known Man to be infallible about anything and certainly, a document written over hundreds of years by who knows how many people, reflecting the mores, beliefs and superstiti­ons of the times during which it was written is anything but a "holy" book. It is an account of life through the prism of "belief" during a specific time period in Mankind's developmen­t/existenc­e.

Not to mention the specific political agenda of the church and European monarchies­.