R.E.M. sues Anne Rice for losing her religion

[Alpha]

Here is the CNN interview regarding the issue. Please watch this first.

Author Anne Rice has decided to leave Christianity, "in the name of Christ".

She stated that refuses to be anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-artificial birth control, anti-Democrat, anti-secular humanism, anti-science, and anti-life.

However, she remains anti-abortion (not anti-choice -- there is a huge difference).

As a Catholic (like myself) she was concerned about recent abuses in the Catholic Church, but also about wider issues of attitudes relating to women and homosexuals, in particular.

This does not mean she is no longer a Christian; rather, she is effectively stepping away from institutional Christianity as it currently exists.

What is your take on her decision? Is her assessment of contemporary Christianity valid? Does it have implications for how Christians are perceived by wider society?

With respect to the last question, do you think that to reach such a conclusion, that a certain level of homogeneity has to be assumed within the various groups (and sub-groups) within Christianity? Specifically, to admonish the institutions as all those things (ant-gay and so on), are individuals within the organisations then taken to be carbon copies of each other and what they are expected to believe? Does such a view deny the individual Christian a sense of agency in determining what they believe (and the extent to which they believe it)? If so, is this due to Christianity's alleged anti-secular humanist position? Are individual Christians not permitted to decide for themselves?

As for my personal reaction, you may be aware that I have very similar views to Anne Rice. I am very firmly pro-gay rights and pro-feminist. I'm also anti-abortion without being anti-choice. I'm also a Catholic, but have described myself as a Christian Humanist. If you have pre-conceived ideas of what a Catholic 'is' or 'should be', please leave them at the door.

I understand her reaction and am personally troubled by the same questions. However I also feel the Church as I understand it is not 'as bad' as she sees it. I support ideas such as a female clergy, and although the institutional framework is realistically in opposition to such views, I am a supporter of gradual change.

I think the heterogeneity of Christianity is altogether ignored too frequently. There is a family of creationists (some of the very few I am even personally aware of) in my girlfriend's parish. Every other person I know (and am aware of their position on the matter) thinks creationism is hogwash, including those in my local parish. (Please do not make this a creationism debate, even as an aside.) While abortion perspectives may conflict with opinions of non-Christians, it seems to me that the institutional and/or radical views of some are taken as representative of who Christians are, and then reverse applied to other Christians, probably because a moderate opinion is hardly newsworthy.

So, yeah. Comments would be nice. ID is sort of dead.

EDIT:
Furthermore, is such an action even possible? Here is an interesting article written by (Catholic priest) Father Raymond de Souza. He argues that separating Christ from Christianity (in an institutional sense) is not possible; akin to enjoying sports generally, but no sport in particular.

"In one sense, anyone who is truly committed to Christ is a Christian, no matter what she calls herself. But is it possible to be a Christian without being part of Christianity? No. Jesus Christ is a historical person, who does not live in 21st-century New Orleans, as Rice does. So to know anything about him means to have had an encounter with Christianity — the historical lived experience of that community of disciples we call the Church."

He sees Anne Rice's decision not as a choice, but as a refusal to choose.

I disagree. I think that that in itself is a perfectly valid choice. Why must the choice be black and white: on the one hand an institution apparently followed blindly by billions; and on the other the decision to be 'non-Christian' (to be something else, or nothing at all). Is Christ separable from Christianity? I think so.