{"id":5032,"date":"2008-12-18T00:20:10","date_gmt":"2008-12-18T05:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/"},"modified":"2008-12-18T00:20:10","modified_gmt":"2008-12-18T05:20:10","slug":"interview-with-anne-rice-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Anne Rice 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I recently read Anne Rice\u2019s memoir (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession<\/a>\"\"
\n<\/strong><\/em>); the good folks at Beliefnet got me in touch with Anne for an interview \u2014 and I\u2019m most grateful for her time and for her answers. Here is the first of two sets of questions:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Anne, your memoir singularly describes a girlhood of beauty and sensory experience and then a sensory-experience conversion, and my question is this: If it is accurate to observe a sensory dimension in your return to the Catholic Church, what would you say you were \u201clacking\u201d at the sensory level that found resolution in conversion?<\/b>\n

\"annerice.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Your question is a challenging one, but I was not lacking at
\nthe sensory level when I returned to the church. Rather the \u201cgoing
\nhome\u201d was all the easier because the sensory elements of Catholicism
\nwere still richly present, and they attracted me as much as an adult,
\nas they had attracted and satisfied me as a child. \u00a0But my life was
\nfull of sensory elements at the time, especially paintings by my
\nhusband, religious statues that I had collected, numerous photographs
\nof gorgeous places I had visited, etc. \u00a0 The underlining key is this:
\nCatholicism does embrace the senses, and has never sought to \u201cpurify\u201d
\nits sensuous elements, and for this reason I feel very comfortable in
\nmy childhood church. \u00a0The mystery of the Eucharist which drew me back
\nto the church is enshrined in sensuous elements: the golden tabernacle,
\nthe ritual of the Mass, the incense, bells, the ritual of receiving
\ncommunion etc. \u00a0I should add that as a child, I was shaped by this
\nsensuality, and it marks all my work.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n


<\/b><\/div>\n


\nIn reading your story I was struck by a spatial pattern: in New
\nOrleans as a child you had faith, out of New Orleans you lost your
\nfaith, and when you returned to New Orleans your faith was re-awakened.
\nCan you reflect on the significance of \u201cspace\u201d (even \u201csacred space\u201d)
\nfor your reconversion?<\/b><\/p>\n

There is no doubt that my return to New Orleans heavily
\ninfluenced me to return to my church. \u00a0I like to believe, however, that
\nthe conversion would have come no matter where I was. \u00a0But I think in
\ngoing home to New Orleans in 1988, I was in a way searching for my lost
\nfaith. \u00a0I thought I was seeking my lost city and my lost childhood, but
\nI was also a pilgrim wandering back to the shrines of childhood to pray
\nfor guidance, whether I admitted it to myself or not.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nA notable silence, and perhaps one intended and one you don\u2019t
\nwant to discuss, is the response of Stan and your son Christopher to
\nyour conversion to the Church. What were the themes of your
\nconversation with Stan? What are the themes of your continuing
\nconversation with Christopher?<\/b>\n

I had no real conversation with either Stan or Christopher
\nabout going back to the church, except for the notable exchange with
\nChristopher mentioned in the book, in which I asked if he believed in
\nGod and he told me that he did. \u00a0I avoided discussing the matter with
\nthem because the matter for me was of the utmost importance and I did
\nnot care to influenced in any negative way by their ideas on the
\nsubject. \u00a0After my return, I simply told them that I had done it. \u00a0When
\nStan sought from time to time to engage me in light argument about it,
\nsomething that I think would have amused him, I simply did not respond.
\n\u00a0I made up my mind I would not argue faith with him. \u00a0I didn\u2019t think
\nthat Stan was well informed enough to discuss the matter, and I
\nprotected myself from casual argument by simply not doing it.
\n\u00a0Christopher occasionally mentioned it but I don\u2019t recall an intense
\nconversations. \u00a0He knows how proud I am of him and of his writing and
\nhis life, and the matter does not divide us. \u00a0Occasionally he comes to
\nMass with me, at my request.\u00a0 <\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently read Anne Rice\u2019s memoir (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession ); the good folks at Beliefnet got me in touch with Anne for an interview \u2014 and I\u2019m most grateful for her time and for her answers. Here is the first of two sets of questions: \u00a0Anne, your memoir singularly describes a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1379],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conversion"],"yoast_head":"\nInterview with Anne Rice 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I recently read Anne Rice's memoir (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession ); the good folks at Beliefnet got me in touch with Anne for an\" \/>\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\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interview with Anne Rice 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently read Anne Rice's memoir (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession ); the good folks at Beliefnet got me in touch with Anne for an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-12-18T05:20:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0307268276\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\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\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/\",\"name\":\"Interview with Anne Rice 1\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-12-18T05:20:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-12-18T05:20:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"I recently read Anne Rice's memoir (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession ); the good folks at Beliefnet got me in touch with Anne for an\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/12\/18\/interview-with-anne-rice-1\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Interview with Anne Rice 1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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