Is anyone else cringing at the thought that he watches Faux/Fixed/Fox by day?
On Mon, Aug 2, 2010 at 10:03 PM, brent wodehouse < brent_wodeho...@thefence.us> wrote: > > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/02/Bradbury/ > > Sci-fi legend Ray Bradbury on God, 'monsters and angels' > > By John Blake, CNN > > August 2, 2010 > > (CNN) -- Ray Bradbury lives in a rambling Los Angeles home full of stuffed > dinosaurs, a tin robot pushing an ice cream cart, and a life-sized > Bullwinkle the Moose doll lounging in a cushioned chair. > > 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 > "the monsters and angels" of his imagination for his enchanting tales. > > Bradbury's imagination has yielded classic books such as "Fahrenheit 451," > "The Martian Chronicles" and 600 short stories that predicted everything > from the emergence of ATMs to live broadcasts of fugitive car chases. > > Bradbury, who turns 90 this month, says he will sometimes open one of his > books late at night and cry out thanks to God. > > "I sit there and cry because I haven't done any of this," he told Sam > Weller, his biographer and friend. "It's a God-given thing, and I'm so > grateful, so, so grateful. The best description of my career as a writer > is, 'At play in the fields of the Lord.' " > > Bradbury's stories are filled with references to God and faith, but he's > rarely talked at length about his religious beliefs, until now. > > 'Joy is the grace we say to God' > > He describes himself as a "delicatessen religionist." He's inspired by > Eastern and Western religions. > > The center of his faith, though, is love. Everything -- 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 -- is based on love. > > Bradbury is in love with love. > > Once, when he saw Walt Disney, architect of the Magic Kingdom, Christmas > shopping in Los Angeles, Bradbury approached him and said: "Mr. Disney, my > name is Ray Bradbury and I love you." > > Bradbury's favorite book in the Bible is the Gospel of John, which is > filled with references to love. > > "At the center of religion is love," Bradbury says from his home, which is > painted dandelion yellow in honor of his favorite book, "Dandelion Wine." > > "I 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. ... Everything in our life > should be based on love." > > Bradbury's 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's voice. (Each Christmas, Bradbury asked his wife to > give him toys in place of any other gifts.) > > Weller, author of "[ http://listentotheechoes.com/ ]Listen to The Echoes: > The Ray Bradbury Interviews," says Bradbury ends many conversations with > "God bless." Weller's book devotes an entire chapter to Bradbury's faith. > > "I once asked him if he prayed, and he said, 'Joy is the grace we say to > God,' '' Weller says. > > Bradbury was raised as a Baptist in Waukegan, Illinois, by his father, a > utility lineman, and his mother, a housewife. Both were infrequent > churchgoers. > > 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. > > Bradbury has been called a Unitarian, but he rejects that term. He > dislikes labels of any kind. > > "I'm a Zen Buddhist if I would describe myself," he says. "I don't think > about what I do. I do it. That's Buddhism. I jump off the cliff and build > my wings on the way down." > > Examples of faith in Bradbury's stories > > Bradbury started writing for pulp magazines like "Weird Tales" and > "Thrilling Wonder Stories" at the beginning of his career. But even then, > faith was an important theme. > > In his 1949 story "The Man," Bradbury tells the story of a rocket crew > landing on Mars, only to see their thunder taken by a Christ-like figure > who had arrived only hours earlier. > > In subsequent stories such as "Bless Me, Father, For I Have Sinned," > priests and other ordinary people search and find redemption. > > Allusions to Christianity are common in his stories, but Bradbury doesn't > define himself as a Christian. He considers Jesus a wise prophet, like > Buddha and Confucius. > > "Jesus is a remarkable person," Bradbury says. "He was on his way to > becoming Christ, and he made it." > > Weller, also author of "[ http://www.bradburychronicles.com/index.htm ]The > Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury," says Bradbury's religious > antenna is most attuned to Christianity. > > "The guy keeps writing about Jesus, but he doesn't consider himself a > Christian," Weller says. > > "He says faith is necessary but that we should accept the fact that when > it comes to God, none of us know anything." > > The Rev. Calvin Miller, author of the New Testament novels "The Singer > Trilogy," sees an optimism in Bradbury's stories that's reflected in the > Judeo-Christian belief that there will be a "new heaven and a new Earth" > one day. > > Miller once wrote an essay about Bradbury's "Christian positivism," titled > "Hope in a Doubtful Age," that was published in "Christianity Today," an > evangelical magazine. > > After the essay appeared, Miller says, he was sorting through mail at home > when he noticed two thank-you letters from Bradbury -- one written when > the author was headed to Paris for vacation and another when he arrived. > > The following Christmas, Miller says, he received something else from > Bradbury. > > "Every Christmas afterward, he sent me a card," Miller says. "I guess the > religious implications of the article meant a lot to him." > > Will space travel destroy our belief in God? > > The religious implications of space travel also mean much to Bradbury. > > Bradbury has been a relentless supporter of space exploration. Ascending > to the heavens won't destroy God; it'll reinforce belief, he says. > > "We're moving more toward God," he says. "We're moving toward more proofs > of his creation in other worlds he's created in other parts of the > universe. Space travel will increase our belief in God." > > As he approaches the end of his journey, Bradbury is still conjuring his > monsters and angels. His latest book, "Summer Morning, Summer Night," was > released last month. > > Many of his best friends, though, are not around to read him anymore. > > "My personal telephone book is a book of the dead now," Bradbury told > Weller in his book of interviews. "I'm so old. Almost all of my friends > have died, and I don't have the guts to take their names out of the book." > > Bradbury is also concerned about something beyond his own mortality: > humanity's survival. > > Space travel and religion seek the same goal -- immortality, Bradbury > says. If humanity remains on Earth, it is doomed because someday the sun > will either explode or flame out. > > Everyone -- not just the characters in his story -- must eventually > explore the stars, he says. > > "We must move into the universe. Mankind must save itself. We must escape > the danger of war and politics. We must become astronauts and go out into > the universe and discover the God in ourselves." > > > -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
