Anne Rice Explains Her Decision – And, What Does it Mean to Love?

Last updated on: August 20, 2010 at 9:41 am by Timothy Dalrymple

Anne Rice Explains Her Decision – And, What Does it Mean to Love? 2010-08-20T09:41:41-04:00 Timothy Dalrymple

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Anne Rice spoke with Sarah Pulliam Bailey for Christianity Today, and explained her decision. I found this part especially interesting:

Christians have lost credibility in America as people who know how to love. They have become associated with hatred, persecution, attempting to abolish the separation of church and state, and trying to pressure people to vote certain ways in elections. I wanted to make it clear that I did not in any way remain complicit with those things. I never expected anyone beyond my Facebook page would be interested. I was doing this for my readers to let them know.

As I mentioned in my most recent article, I find it theologically incoherent to turn away from the church for the sake of Christ. Christ will not abandon his bride and neither should we. I don’t believe that the faults of the church at the present moment outstrip its faults at other moments in its history, and those who believe the church is ailing or corrupted or misled should do everything in their might to heal or purify or redirect her. I don’t know Anne and I should not try to divine what is in her heart, but abandoning the ark strikes me as an act of convenience and self-righteousness.

It also seems as though her primary reasons are political. She does not like the church’s affiliation with conservative politics on certain issues such as homosexuality and abortion. These are not examples of being “loving.”

Yet the world’s concept of “love” and the biblical concept of love are not the same. The world would rather that we “love” people by pronouncing a blessing over what they already want to do. The worldly concept of love is to promote the beloved’s comfort and happiness and physical well-being. Yet the biblical concept of love is to protect the beloved’s eternal interest, to promote their relationship with God. These are not the same thing — they are, in fact, rarely the same thing. Sometimes the most loving thing to do is to tell someone that what they are doing is wrong. If the Church truly believes that gay marriage is against the eternal interests of society, of children, and of the gay partners themselves, is it loving to do nothing to prevent it? Or is it loving – because the world doesn’t like it when we protest, doesn’t like it when we prevent it from doing what is most convenient – to stand idly by as millions of unborn children are killed in their wombs?

The notion that publicly professing our beliefs on abortion and gay marriage is somehow promoting theocracy, or abolishing the “separation” between church and state, is ludicrous. Religious beliefs, and religiously-inspired moral convictions, have always been a part of how citizens vote and how legislatures legislate. We vote and press for legislation that reflects our values, just like everyone else does. That’s not called theocracy. That’s called democracy. Christians are permitted to advocate on behalf of their Christian beliefs and values, as are Muslims and Jews and Mormons and Hindus, as are humanists and atheists and secular elites. This competition of values is the heart of democracy. There are limits on what the majority can proscribe; we call those limits “rights,” and whether gay marriage is a “right” is one of the big questions at the heart of the gay marriage debate. But this is what it comes down to: a disagreement over what constitutes a right, not a fault of voting on the basis of religious belief.

Of course, I do not at all mean this as an excuse to advocate for our beliefs in ways that are rude and disrespectful. But I do mean to say that we should expect the world’s concept of “love” to clash with our own. The world does not want to be loved in the Christian sense, and that’s why the act of Christian love is often such a sacrifice: because you are surrendering the esteem of the world even as you are acting for its deepest and truest good. –

Previous Post

August 12, 2010

Richard Langer on the Future for Evangelical Students

Next Post

September 7, 2010 Monday, September 7, 2010

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Abortion adoption Africa Aging AIDS America Worship American history Americolatry An Open Letter to a College Freshman animals Apologetics art Atheism Authors Barack Obama Bible Biblical Scholarship Billy Graham Blogging Bono Book Review Books That Change Lives Breakfast Links Bulletin Board Business Children Christian Approach to Politics Christian Media Christian Right Derangement Syndrome Christianity and Homosexuality Christians in Government Christmas Chuck Colson CLS v Martinez Comic Creation Creativity and the Arts Cross Examinations Cross Investigations Daily Fragment Daily Trinity Death debt Deep Thoughts on Fatherhood depression economy education Election 2012 entertainment Environment Epistemology Erik Campano Euthanasia Evangelicalism Evangelicals and Gays Everyday Transcendence evil evolution Facebook Jesus faith Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics Faith and Politics faith and reason family Feminism foreign affairs Franklin Graham Future of Evangelicalism Galen D. gay marriage George W. Bush Guest Posts Guns Gymnastics Harold Camping Heaven Hell Holidays Hollywood Homosexuality iam2.org Illegal Immigration immigration Immigration Reform Injustice Inspiration Interviews Islam Jeremy Lin Jesus jesus christ John Mark Reynolds Johnnie Moore Judgment Day Just War Theory Killing Osama Link of the Day Lists of the Week Mark Goldblatt Marriage Military Missions Mitt Romney Modern Western Thought Monastic wisdom Mormonism Morning Hash Morning Report Motherhood Movies Obamacare Old Testament Orphan Care Palin Parenting Pastoral Resources Patheos Peace Between Religions PEPFAR Persecution Peter Wehner Peter Wehner Philosophy Political Quotes of the Day politics Politics and Economics Pornography Prejudice Prisoner Rape Question of the Week Race Radical Faith Rapture Ravi Zacharias Rick Santorum Russia Salvation Sarah Palin Scandals Science Science and Faith Separation of Church and State Series sex sex slavery social justice Social Justice Ministry Spiritual Disciplines sports Steven Tyler Suffering Suicide Sunday Funnies T. Dalrymple Tea Party Technology terrorism The Christian Media Files The Daily Trinity The Electorate The Ethics of Rhetoric The Future of Seminary Education The Middle East The Obama Presidency theological Theological Renewal Theology Uncategorized Understanding Evangelicalism Vocation war War and Peace With Distinction Word to the Wise Writers

Select a Month October 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 December 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz