In her own words…
To my readers:
Some time ago, I made an effort to remove from this website all political statements made by me in the past. Many of these statements were incomplete statements, and many were dated. And a good many of the emails I received about these statements indicated that they were confusing to my newer Christian readers. I felt, when I removed the material, that I was doing what was best for my personal vocation — which is, to write books for Jesus Christ.
My vocation at this time remains unchanged. I am committed to writing books for the Lord, and those books right now, are books about His life on Earth as God and Man. I hope my books will reach all Christians, regardless of denomination or background. This has become my life.
However, I have come to feel that my Christian conscience requires of me a particular political statement at this time.
I hope you will read this statement in a soft voice. It is meant to be spoken in a soft voice.
Let me say first of all that I am devoutly committed to the separation of church and state in America. I believe that the separation of church and state has been good for all Christians in this country, and particularly good for Catholics who had a difficult time gaining acceptance as Americans before the presidential election of John F. Kennedy. The best book I can recommend right now on the separation of church and state is A SECULAR FAITH, Why Christianity Favors The Separation of Church and State, by Darryl Hart. However there are many other good books on the subject.
Believing as I do that church and state should remain separate, I also believe that when one enters the voting booth, church and state become one for the voter. The voter must vote her conscience. He or she must vote for the party and candidate who best reflect all that the voter deeply believes. Conscience requires the Christian to vote as a Christian. Commitment to Christ is by its very nature absolute.
My commitment and my vote, therefore, must reflect my deepest Christian convictions; and for me these convictions are based on the teachings of Christ in the Four Gospels.
I am keenly aware as a Christian and as an American that the Gospels are subject to a great variety of interpretation. I am keenly aware that Christians disagree violently on what the Gospels say.
I am also keenly aware that we have only two parties in this country. Only two. This point can not be emphasized enough. We do not have a slate of parties, including one which is purely Christian. We have two parties, and our system has worked with two parties for generations. This is what we have.
I feel strongly that one should vote for one of these two parties in an election. I suspect that not voting is in fact a vote. I suspect that voting for a third party, when such parties develop, is in effect voting for one of the major parties whether one wants to believe this or not.
To summarize, I believe in voting, I believe in voting for one of the two major parties, and I believe my vote must reflect my Christian beliefs.
Bearing all this in mind, I want to say quietly that as of this date, I am a Democrat, and that I support Hillary Clinton for President of the United States.
Though I deeply respect those who disagree with me, I believe, for a variety of reasons, that the Democratic Party best reflects the values I hold based on the Gospels. Those values are most intensely expressed for me in the Gospel of Matthew, but they are expressed in all the gospels. Those values involve feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, and above all, loving one’s neighbors and loving one’s enemies. A great deal more could be said on this subject, but I feel that this is enough.
I want to add here that I am Pro-Life. I believe in the sanctity of the life of the unborn. Deeply respecting those who disagree with me, I feel that if we are to find a solution to the horror of abortion, it will be through the Democratic Party.
I have heard many anti-abortion statements made by people who are not Democrats, but many of these statements do not strike me as constructive or convincing. I feel we can stop the horror of abortion. But I do not feel it can be done by rolling back Roe vs. Wade, or packing the Supreme Court with judges committed to doing this. As a student of history, I do not think that Americans will give up the legal right to abortion. Should Roe vs Wade be rolled back, Americans will pass other laws to support abortion, or they will find ways to have abortions using new legal and medical terms.
And much as I am horrified by abortion, I am not sure — as a student of history – that Americans should give up the right to abortion.
I am also not convinced that all of those advocating anti-abortion positions in the public sphere are necessarily practical or sincere. I have not heard convincing arguments put forth by anti-abortion politicians as to how Americans could be forced to give birth to children that Americans do not want to bear. And more to the point, I have not heard convincing arguments from these anti-abortion politicians as to how we can prevent the horror of abortion right now, given the social situations we have.
The solution to the horror of abortion can and must be found.
Do I myself have a solution to the abortion problem? The answer is no. What I have are hopes and dreams and prayers — that better education will help men and women make responsible reproductive choices, and that abortion will become a morally abhorrent option from which informed Americans will turn away.
There is a great deal more to this question, as to how abortion became legal, as to why that happened, as to why there is so little talk of the men who father fetuses that are aborted, and as to the human rights of all individuals involved. I am not qualified as a student of history to fully discuss these issues in detail. I remain conscientiously curious and conscientiously concerned.
But I am called to vote in this, our democracy, and I am called, as an American and a Christian, to put thought and commitment into that vote.
Again, I believe the Democratic Party is the party that is most likely to help Americans make a transition away from the abortion crisis that we face today. Its values and its programs — on a whole variety of issues — most clearly reflect my values. Hillary Clinton is the candidate whom I most admire.
I want to say something further. I am aware as a Christian writer that making a political statement like this is not a particularly wise marketing move. But my Christian conscience compels me to make this statement. My Christian conscience demands that I not lie in order to sell books. Lying to sell books, pandering to a Christian market — these things would mean the deepest betrayal of my vocation to live for and write for Jesus Christ. I repeat: I won’t lie to sell books.
I have felt a certain pressure of late to express my feelings here; that pressure is mounting. That pressure has come from watching political debate on church and state in the media, from private emails from strangers and friends concerning these issues, and from conversations, often heated, with my fellow Christians and Americans.
My commitment to Christ compels me to respond to that pressure and to speak out on issues that I think are of crucial importance: whether or not we vote, and how we vote, and how our vote reflects our deepest moral concerns.
I repeat: I am a Christian; I am a Democrat. I support Hillary Clinton for President of the United States.
If I receive emails on this issue, I will do my best to answer them.
Anne Rice
August 10, 2007
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Wow…is all I can say.
The best values the Democrat Party reflex is control over your life.
I suggest you read “The Truth About Hillary” by Edward Klein.
Thanks guys for the comments. Chris, please know that I’m not endorsing Hillary for president; this was simply an interesting article that I found.
“Those values involve feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting those in prison, and above all, loving one’s neighbors and loving one’s enemies. A great deal more could be said on this subject, but I feel that this is enough.”
In no way do I want to minimize these values – but Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. What would it profit if we did all these things and the person died losing their own soul? Again – I think all the values stated are important, but to leave off sharing the gospel is an enormous mistake. Not that any of the political options effect the gospel – but to say Jesus just cared about the things she listed is silliness.
I think you missed the point, sir.
I am sorry – what was the point then?
I think after one Read through the Gospels and we will take notice how Jesus often met people’s physical needs, which naturally opened a door to meet their spiritual needs… I believe it was to the Pharisee’s He said, it’s one thing to say to the poor, go and be well fed, yet to do nothing to help them (with their very Real physical needs) is wrong… it’s as biblical as it gets…. Salvation yes… but that’s what i believe Anne is getting at!
That’s my 2 cents anyways… thanks for posting this Matt!
Very good article. I don’t know if I endorse Hillary or not, but there are a lot of times when I definitely feel that some values of the Democratic party are more in line with my Christian morals.
-M
Somebody ought to inform Anne Rice, obviously a Christian feminist, that no man can serve two masters (and that goes for the ladies too). Poor woman, she’s just part of the “great falling away.” Hillary is pro-abortion and publicly hard-core about it. I am sure part of her agenda for national health care will include government sponsored abortion clinics galore. Get real Anne.
Somebody ought to inform Anne Rice, obviously a Christian feminist, that no man can serve two masters (and that goes for the ladies too). Poor woman, she’s just part of the “great falling away.” Hillary is pro-abortion and publicly hard-core about it. I am sure part of her agenda for national health care will include government sponsored abortion clinics galore. Get real Anne.
Bush is pro-war, which isn’t exactly an entity that values life. I mean, I’m not trying to justify Hilary’s support of abortion, but I just think that, whether you support Hilary or you support Bush, you’re in danger of serving two masters.
Mr. Smith, you may be right. However, I think I agree with Ms. Rice in the sense that whether she backs an hardline Pro-Abortion or Anti-Abortion (I refuse to refer to it as “Pro-Life”), it wouldn’t exactly be easy for the American government to up and ban abortion anytime in the new future. The general American public isn’t ready for abortion to suddenly be gone, at least not until we can set up better alternatives for women to choose aside from abortion. Perhaps the abortion epidemic will be worse under Clinton’s administration, but I doubt any other candidate’s administration will see a notable decrease in abortions.
Not to mention that, as a Christian, it’s extremely difficult to find any candidate that fits all of our moral imperatives. If a believer wants to take part in the democratic process, I believe that there HAS to be a certain amount of compromise, as distasteful as that may seem.
-M
You got that right, Matthew. The best answer as to who to vote for would come down to a numbers game, regardless of party affiliation. Since no candidate has ever fitted perfectly into the Christian ideal (though many thought Ronald Reagan was the ideal–next to Richard Nixon) one should choose the man/woman based on the sum of each candidate’s pros and cons. Still it isn’t all presidential, considering our trilateral government. Personally, I like Ron Paul, and I am also interested in the old actor Fred Thompson. But that’s another story. Enough of me already!