Yes. I found that fact somewhat disturbing, too. :-\
Brent Martin Baxter <martinbaxt...@gmail.com> writes: > >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 <[ >mailto:brent_wodeho...@thefence.us ]brent_wodeho...@thefence.us> wrote: > > > > > > >[ http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/08/02/Bradbury/ >]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/ >]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 >]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 >]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik > > > >
