The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson has reaffirmed her admiration for US president Barack Obama but expressed some reservations about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton while on her first visit to Belfast.
The American writer was at Queen’s University on Wednesday to deliver a lecture on religion in literature, followed by an interview with the BBC broadcaster William Crawley.
Ms Robinson, who is best known for her books Housekeeping and Gilead, counts Mr Obama among her biggest fans.
Last autumn he conducted a lengthy interview with her, during which he spoke of his great admiration for her work.
In 2012 he presented her with the American National Humanities Medal.
The international popularity of her writing was demonstrated by the large audience that attended her lecture in Queen’s University’s Whitla Hall.
In the conversation with Mr Crawley she reaffirmed her support for Mr Obama and also spoke about how she wasn't surprised that Donald Trump won the Republican primary in New York.
She said there was a brashness in Mr Trump that “appeals to the New York soul”.
In response to a question about US militarism in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan, she said Mr Obama had attempted to "re-establish the state of peace as the normal condition of American life".
The author also said she wasn’t “entirely confident” about Ms Clinton, the frontrunner in the Democratic race, especially in relation to US engagement in international conflict areas.
Speaking about Ms Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders, she said: "I don't find anything in Bernie Sanders that inclines me to believe he is adventuristic, shall we say."
Mr Crawley then asked her about Mr Obama signing off on drone attacks to kill specific people that the CIA had identified as international terrorists.
Ms Robinson said she knew that Mr Obama “does not want to kill people”.
However, she said she did not believe people were in a position to be critical of such actions unless they could “offer a better option”.
Faith
During the discussion Ms Robinson described herself as a “liberal Christian”.
She spoke on religious fundamentalism, and said that when drawing from the bible such Christians could be “very selective in what they take to be the Word.
“By my lights that is not fundamental; taking the whole text is fundamental,” she said.
Asked why God wanted to be worshipped, Ms Robinson said people were “actually extraordinarily exceptional creatures”, that the human brain was the most complex thing in the universe and that, in terms of God and creation, “awe” was the “appropriate” response.
Ms Robinson also said that people were “spontaneous and natural theologians”.
Asked about people who found fulfilment and joy after they rejected religion, she said that “people have to make their own decisions” and that she didn’t “believe in the indispensability of any institution”.
She said people were “metaphysical beings” and that lots of writers were religious even if that did not come through in their writing.
She said she believed the “human mind is in conversation with God”.
Ms Robinson also made a plea for universities not to neglect subjects such as literature, philosophy and languages in favour of what are seen as more utilitarian topics, because rigorous teaching and study of the “humanities makes people love life and respect it”.
