Anne Rice Abandons Christianity: Thousands Like

The Huffington Post tracks Anne Rice's departure from Christianity, though not from Christ:

I'm sure this resonates with lots of Christians.  (For the record, I'm not one.)

And I think that Christianity has reached a tipping point.  Since September 11, 2001, it's been gradually growing on the faithful's minds that faith itself, once it gets structured enough to have an agenda, is pretty brutal in its methods.

Christianity's always lost people to the kinds of issues that Rice talks about, but the landscape is getting sort of littered with the ruins of Christianity.   

Jesus just won't go away, though.

Rice is good with Christ, just not the Catholic Church that she joined.  Over at The Internet Monk, they've had it with evangelicalism, but can't let go of "Jesus Shaped Spirituality."

The alarming thing is that Rice and The Internet Monk and their fellow travelers are really woefully ill-equipped to construct what Jesus really is or means without the communities they abandon.

I don't think that bothers them much, and I guess that's okay.  

It just seems really lonesome, like, well, vampires that have lived too long to be part of the community but who feed on it as delicately as they can manage.

Dispatches From The State of Modern Spirituality

A couple of observations about modern life and spirituality this Tuesday morning.

Click to read more ...

Mercy Me: Ted Haggard and His Accusers

Not Pictured: Cloven Hoof

I've absolutely no opinion (or right to an opinion) on whether Ted Haggard should be restored to ministry. That's up to people who are in authority over him, if any, and up to the people he's in authority over. I'm sure there are very good reasons for the man to retire gently to the countryside to grow begonias or something.

But when you see the exfoliation of indignation set up in the place where it ought not to be (that is, in the comments section of an evangelical blog) it's usually worth a second look.

Click to read more ...