My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than C...hristianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become.
13 hours ago · ·
As I said below, 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.
For those who care, and I understand if you don't: 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. It's simply impossible for me to "belong" to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten ...years, I've tried. I've failed. I'm an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.
The huge question many will ask is this a total collapse of faith? Can one be a follower of Jesus with out being a so called " christian "? If you have been following Anne Rice's writing over the years, you quickly discover she is on a fascinating journey in search of Jesus.
i don't see this as a collapse of faith at all actually. i think she's saying publicly what many believers say all the time, it's just that her soapbox is bigger than anything ours will ever be.
i don't see that she's throwing away all faith, she's just really tired of the "faithful", if indeed they can be called that. i certainly get that thought on many levels, sometimes i think "i love the church, it's just the people i can't stand".
Posted by: shallowfrozenwater | July 30, 2010 at 09:12 AM
Can one be a follower of Jesus with out being a so called " christian "?
That depends on our definitions of being a Christian? What are the boundaries to this title, or is it just that a tag, a title? I consider myself SBNR (Spiritual But Not Religious) yet my spirituality springs forth from the religion I was brought up in, Christianity. I view religion as a language humanity uses to express their interaction and connection with the divine and man. So even though my spiritual foundation lies in Christianity it is not exclusive to it. Great questions, keep them up.
Posted by: Eruesso | July 31, 2010 at 04:50 AM
"But following Christ does not mean following His followers." You're absolutely right.
Posted by: Cammie Novara | August 03, 2010 at 07:34 AM
This resonates so much with me ... I wrote an article Christian without Christ ... that's the problem with today's Christianity ... many call themselves Christian but have no relationship with Christ and that is NOT attractive. Church as institution is far from what it should be ... so I understand your walk. Just stay close to Jesus ... and he'll guide you
Posted by: The Financial Power | August 05, 2010 at 01:06 PM
My friend comes home
It started out with one of those statements that indicated to me a desire for a God conversation. “I don’t know how you can really believe in life after death”. I had known this man for a very long time. We had been in discussions before but something had changed. I had changed, I was no longer religious. My need to defend my religion was replaced with my desire to let this man express his frustration and rejection of Christianity. I found myself agreeing with most of what he was saying. In fact I was giving him illustrations and inside information that confirmed his suspicions and doubts.
Some Christians would have had a very hard time listening in on this conversation without a strong need to defend their faith but it was just the two of us and we were doing a very thorough job bashing Christianity. After so many years this man felt he had an ally in me. Someone he respected was affirming his very real frustrations.
What seemed like minutes ended up being a three hour conversation but the venting was subsiding yet the emptiness remained in this man’s soul. I said to this man what we have been talking about is the organization of Christianity what most people call the church. It has been the church and religious people that you have rightfully rejected. I thought of the parable of the prodigal son and shared how it was both sons who were equally lost. Both the prodigal son and the religious son had somehow missed the fathers love. I shared the simple story of how we have been separated from our Father and how He waits with open arms for us to come home. There was relief in this mans eyes that he did not have to become religious to be accepted by his loving Father.
I left that conversation thinking how many people there must be out there who have seen the same thing as this man had and want nothing to do with the Christian church. I wonder if a little church bashing is necessary to remove some of the barriers that people have before they can move forward on their God journey. It is amazing what happens when two people sit down in an honest conversation with nothing to lose and nothing to gain how the good news can become the good news once again.
Posted by: Mark | August 06, 2010 at 09:03 AM
Fascinating post! I can only smile at you for this. Esp. to see you proclaim not being anti-gay.
PS Interesting that you mention Anne Rice and her writing. I am at a library now and was thinking of something to read - and then I stumble on your article. I might just read her "Jesus book".
Posted by: The Lucid Dreamer | August 10, 2010 at 02:10 PM