Anne Rice Quits Christianity
As the days pass since Anne Rice wrote of her decision to “quit being a Christian” I have returned to her words on several occasions. Her words are those of a follower of Christ who cannot fathom why the church she thought she knew and loved has become an institution more focused on being against issues rather than for Christ. Rice’s pain and frustration have led her to walk away and to distance herself from the body of Christ.
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 . . . 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.
Christianity’s Image Problem: A Young Adult Perspective
At 68 years of age, Anne Rice’s experiences and her decision match the experience of many who are a generation or more her junior. They also remind me of research that was published in 2007 in a book titled UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks About Christianity – and Why it Matters. In that book, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons take an in-depth look into the image problems Christianity has with young adults (aged 16-29). Research showed that negative impressions of Christianity by outsiders almost doubled (rising from 20% in 1996 to 38% in 2006) in ten years. Kinnaman and Lyons found that the six primary images of Christianity as identified by young adult outsiders (non- Christians) were all negative:
- Antihomosexual (91%)
- Judgmental (87%)
- Hypocritical (85%)
- Too Political (75%)
- Sheltered (72%)
- Focused on converting others to their faith (70%)
My Response
UnChristian is precisely the way most young adults outside the church see those within it. Increasingly, these perceptions are held not only by outsiders but also by those within, especially younger adults. The reason Rice’s words and Kinnamon and Lyon’s findings bother me deeply is because they strike very close to home. I have seen individual believers, congregations and even denominations act in ways that perpetuate the stereotype that Christianity is a religion of hate, judgment and exclusion practiced by people who are hypocrites.
I don’t want to be a part of a church that is focused on institutional identity or self preservation.
I don’t need a Christianity that seeks first to judge, label, and divide other Christians and traditions.
I don’t know a Jesus who calls followers to live in isolation and be sheltered from the real world.
I am a follower of Jesus. I refuse to give my primary loyalty to denomination or tradition.
I am a Christian. I refuse to allow the actions of others to cause this word to become meaningless.
I am a part of the body of Christ. I refuse to go it alone or to give up on the cause of Christian unity.
In my adult life, I have been privileged to experience firsthand the wonderful diversity within the body of Christ. Based on an observation of my experiences others might label me with one or more of those traditions: Baptist, Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Episcopalian, Independent Christian Church, Lutheran, Non-Denominational, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ.
Label me as you wish, but I will continue to call myself a follower of Jesus.
Jesus could have made it clear that anyone who wanted to follow him must first learn hatred, intolerance, and how to be anti-this-that-and-the-other.
Instead, Jesus says that those who follow him are characterized by love: loving God and loving all people.