Interview with Madeleine L'Engle
May. 8th, 2004 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jenkAt MSN.
On the TV movie of A Wrinkle In Time:
Q: And did it meet expectations?
A: Oh, yes. I expected it to be bad, and it is.
On God and faith:
A: Such as I sometimes think God is a s--t—and he wouldn’t be worth it otherwise. He’s much more interesting when he’s a s--t.
Q: So to you, faith is not a comfort?
A: Good heavens, no. It’s a challenge: I dare you to believe in God. I dare you to think [our existence] wasn’t an accident.
Q: Many people see faith as anti-intellectual.
A: Then they’re not very bright. It takes a lot of intellect to have faith, which is why so many people only have religiosity.
[...]
Q: What were the specific objections to “Wrinkle?’’
A: Oh, the Happy Medium, that terrified them. And Mrs. Which, who is not a witch at all but a wise old woman. I felt like I was really “in’’ because people were condemning it right away. But they were Christians, mostly, and that made me very sad.
Q: Because “Wrinkle’’ is a Christian story, isn’t it?
A: So is "Winnie the Pooh." Is King Arthur a Christian story? Yes … One reason I stay in the Episcopal Church I was born in is it’s got the best language.
[...]
Q: What are you against?
A: Narrow-mindedness. I’m against people taking the Bible absolutely literally, rather than letting some of it be real fantasy, like Jonah. You know, the whole story of David is a novel … Faith is best expressed in story.
Q: If the Bible is not literally true, does that mean we don’t need to take it seriously?
A: Oh no, you do, because it’s truth, not fact, and you have to take truth seriously even when it expands beyond the facts.
[...]
On woo-woo stuff:
Q: A couple of the characters in “Wrinkle," have what you call a “compulsion’’ to do something, for reasons they can’t explain. Do you think we’re all a little psychic in that way?
A: Oh, yes. Society has taught us to repress it, but it’s there.
On the TV movie of A Wrinkle In Time:
Q: And did it meet expectations?
A: Oh, yes. I expected it to be bad, and it is.
On God and faith:
A: Such as I sometimes think God is a s--t—and he wouldn’t be worth it otherwise. He’s much more interesting when he’s a s--t.
Q: So to you, faith is not a comfort?
A: Good heavens, no. It’s a challenge: I dare you to believe in God. I dare you to think [our existence] wasn’t an accident.
Q: Many people see faith as anti-intellectual.
A: Then they’re not very bright. It takes a lot of intellect to have faith, which is why so many people only have religiosity.
[...]
Q: What were the specific objections to “Wrinkle?’’
A: Oh, the Happy Medium, that terrified them. And Mrs. Which, who is not a witch at all but a wise old woman. I felt like I was really “in’’ because people were condemning it right away. But they were Christians, mostly, and that made me very sad.
Q: Because “Wrinkle’’ is a Christian story, isn’t it?
A: So is "Winnie the Pooh." Is King Arthur a Christian story? Yes … One reason I stay in the Episcopal Church I was born in is it’s got the best language.
[...]
Q: What are you against?
A: Narrow-mindedness. I’m against people taking the Bible absolutely literally, rather than letting some of it be real fantasy, like Jonah. You know, the whole story of David is a novel … Faith is best expressed in story.
Q: If the Bible is not literally true, does that mean we don’t need to take it seriously?
A: Oh no, you do, because it’s truth, not fact, and you have to take truth seriously even when it expands beyond the facts.
[...]
On woo-woo stuff:
Q: A couple of the characters in “Wrinkle," have what you call a “compulsion’’ to do something, for reasons they can’t explain. Do you think we’re all a little psychic in that way?
A: Oh, yes. Society has taught us to repress it, but it’s there.
