Ray Bradbury on God<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ray Bradbury is not just a great science fiction writer. \u00a0He is a great writer, period. \u00a0And he is a man of some-kind-of faith: The 89-year-old science\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ray Bradbury on God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ray Bradbury is not just a great science fiction writer. \u00a0He is a great writer, period. \u00a0And he is a man of some-kind-of faith: The 89-year-old science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-05T09:40:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/\",\"name\":\"Ray Bradbury on God\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-08-05T09:40:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-08-05T09:40:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"Ray Bradbury is not just a great science fiction writer. \u00a0He is a great writer, period. \u00a0And he is a man of some-kind-of faith: The 89-year-old science\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2010\/08\/ray-bradbury-on-god\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ray Bradbury on God\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. 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The 89-year-old science fiction author watches Fox News Channel by day, Turner Classic Movies by night. He spends the rest of his time summoning \u201cthe monsters and angels\u201d of his imagination for his enchanting tales.<\/p>\n

Bradbury\u2019s imagination has yielded classic books such as \u201cFahrenheit 451,\u201d \u201cThe Martian Chronicles\u201d and 600 short stories that predicted everything from the emergence of ATMs to live broadcasts of fugitive car chases.<\/p>\n

Bradbury, who turns 90 this month, says he will sometimes open one of his books late at night and cry out thanks to God.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sit there and cry because I haven\u2019t done any of this,\u201d he told Sam Weller, his biographer and friend. \u201cIt\u2019s a God-given thing, and I\u2019m so grateful, so, so grateful. The best description of my career as a writer is, \u2018At play in the fields of the Lord.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\nBradbury\u2019s stories are filled with references to God and faith, but he\u2019s rarely talked at length about his religious beliefs, until now.\n

He describes himself as a \u201cdelicatessen religionist.\u201d He\u2019s inspired by Eastern and Western religions.<\/p>\n

The center of his faith, though, is love. Everything \u2014 the reason he decided to write his first short story at 12; his 56-year marriage to his muse and late wife, Maggie; his friendships with everyone from Walt Disney to Alfred Hitchcock \u2014 is based on love.<\/p>\n

Bradbury is in love with love.<\/p>\n

Once, when he saw Walt Disney, architect of the Magic Kingdom, Christmas shopping in Los Angeles, Bradbury approached him and said: \u201cMr. Disney, my name is Ray Bradbury and I love you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradbury\u2019s favorite book in the Bible is the Gospel of John, which is filled with references to love.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the center of religion is love,\u201d Bradbury says from his home, which is painted dandelion yellow in honor of his favorite book, \u201cDandelion Wine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love you and I forgive you. I am like you and you are like me. I love all people. I love the world. I love creating. \u2026 Everything in our life should be based on love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bradbury\u2019s voice booms with enthusiasm over the phone. He now uses a wheelchair. His hearing has deteriorated. But he talks like an excitable kid with an old man\u2019s voice. (Each Christmas, Bradbury asked his wife to give him toys in place of any other gifts.)<\/p>\n

Weller, author of \u201cListen to The Echoes: The Ray Bradbury Interviews,\u201d says Bradbury ends many conversations with \u201cGod bless.\u201d Weller\u2019s book devotes an entire chapter to Bradbury\u2019s faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cI once asked him if he prayed, and he said, \u2018Joy is the grace we say to God,\u2019 \u201d Weller says.<\/p>\n

Bradbury was raised as a Baptist in Waukegan, Illinois, by his father, a utility lineman, and his mother, a housewife. Both were infrequent churchgoers.<\/p>\n

His family moved to Los Angeles during the Great Depression to look for work. When he turned 14, Bradbury began visiting Catholic churches, synagogues and charismatic churches on his own to figure out his faith.<\/p>\n

Bradbury has been called a Unitarian, but he rejects that term. He dislikes labels of any kind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a Zen Buddhist<\/a> if I would describe myself,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t think about what I do. I do it. That\u2019s Buddhism<\/a>. I jump off the cliff and build my wings on the way down.\u201d<\/p>\n

via Sci-fi legend Ray Bradbury on God, \u2018monsters and angels\u2019 \u2013 CNN.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But. . .but. . .Ray. . . Zen Buddhists don\u2019t really believe in God. \u00a0And love is surely the kind of attachment that Buddhists believe we must detach ourselves from. \u00a0I know Thomas Merton formulated a kind of Christian Zen. \u00a0Your worldview sounds (and from your writings has always sounded) specifically Christian. \u00a0The story goes on to say how often you write about Jesus. \u00a0Keep going in that direction. \u00a0(Let\u2019s pray for him, as well as for Anne Rice.)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"