Thursday, August 05, 2010
Anne Rice's spiritual journey....
This editorial appeared in my local newspaper today. I'm sure there will be dozens of angry letters to the publication as a result....
Keeping Faith, Losing Religion
While I prefer to think that Anne Rice is still Christian but no longer Catholic, I do understand completely where she is coming from. I, too, was raised with organized religion but became an atheist as an adult. I eventually did return to the denomination of my youth, but it is one far less conservative than Catholicism. I still do believe in all the things she lists, and I am not chastised by my church for believing in them.
But know too many people to count who will tell you that they are spiritual rather than religious. By that, they mean they believe in a creator, but not that every word in the Bible is a direct quote from that creator. They may believe in an afterlife, but not that there is only one denomination to belong to or you will go to hell.
I must confess that when I tell people I am a Christian, I preface that with the word "liberal". I want the world to know that there are Christians in America who do not label non-believers as heathens, who learn about other faiths and recognize their validity, who try to follow the examples of Jesus rather than argue about the exact wording of a book that has been translated and edited into something far removed from its origins thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, the liberal Christians are usually drowned out by the conservative ones, leading many people to think that no religion at all is the best way to go.
Keeping Faith, Losing Religion
While I prefer to think that Anne Rice is still Christian but no longer Catholic, I do understand completely where she is coming from. I, too, was raised with organized religion but became an atheist as an adult. I eventually did return to the denomination of my youth, but it is one far less conservative than Catholicism. I still do believe in all the things she lists, and I am not chastised by my church for believing in them.
But know too many people to count who will tell you that they are spiritual rather than religious. By that, they mean they believe in a creator, but not that every word in the Bible is a direct quote from that creator. They may believe in an afterlife, but not that there is only one denomination to belong to or you will go to hell.
I must confess that when I tell people I am a Christian, I preface that with the word "liberal". I want the world to know that there are Christians in America who do not label non-believers as heathens, who learn about other faiths and recognize their validity, who try to follow the examples of Jesus rather than argue about the exact wording of a book that has been translated and edited into something far removed from its origins thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, the liberal Christians are usually drowned out by the conservative ones, leading many people to think that no religion at all is the best way to go.
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