When people leave Christian Science there are five questions that pop up again and again. We can only answer these questions for ourselves. By sharing these answers, we hope to shed a little light into the murky depths of Christian Science. Find all the answers to the Five Questions on the FiveQuestions tag.
The following answers are from a member of the Ex-Christian Science Facebook community.
How did you get into Christian Science?
I first heard a talk by a Christian Science woman when I was in high school. Various religions were represented by speakers at my local Congregnational Church youth group. We youth talked about Christian Science for a long time–we were fascinated by the idea of what we thought was that, after death, people ‘turn into little Gods’.
I had brief various contacts as an adult–when I had a troubled marriage, I went to a reading room–twice; but could not understand anything I read, and the woman at the desk at the Reading Room was about as UN infomative, and UN-sociable as possible.
I met a guy, whom I later married, who was raised in Christian Science. His mother was very dedicated. He was not active in Christian Science, but took me to a Sunday service. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the reader then was extremely good! He read with expression and understanding. He was a school principal by profession, so knew how to present himself like the teacher he was! I was enthralled, understood every word! I fell in love with Christian Science.
I read the Science and Health chapter on Prayer, and loved the idea that I could be healed by ‘stopping sinning’. I thought I could stop sinning, and be a better person. I leaned to think positively. I was raised in a very negative home (not Christian Scientist)
Why did you stay in it for so long?
I had a lot of physical healings. I healed my husband of stomach bloating and gas, instantly, on our honeymoon. I healed myself many times of stuff – once of a migraine-like headache (have never had one before, nor since), once of the flu. I healed my cat of distemper–I know she was healed (somehow) by my prayers, because I’d had other cats with distemper, and I knew exactly what it looked like. Cats with distemper are hungry and thirsty, but can’t eat or drink. Their little heads gently fall down into their dish. They become partially paralyzed in their back legs. I talked to her, loved her, stroked her, and repeated the Scientific Statement of Being over and over. A few hours later she started to eat, and the next day she was fine.
What made you decide to leave?
There were conditions I could not heal, such as a long bout of sinusitis, where I could not smell or taste anything for several years. Went to a doctor, got antibiotics, and that was all I needed to get well.
Other–BIG–reasons were the Mother Church’s extreme support of fighter jets, war, and the military in general; that Katherine Fanning was fired (or run off) as editor of the Monitor, and then that a Christian Science person came to town to a huge gathering and told everyone not to talk about this, that the decision ‘came from God’. Other reasons were the indescribable ignorance, hypocrisy, and yeah, stupidity of people in my local branch church.
Why would anyone join?
Maybe logic? I do know that I’ve met several men who were converted while they were in prison: one man and his wife were very good friends. Christian Science has a big prison-outreach. Another was healed of alcoholism while in prison. He became very active in Christian Science. Maybe others, like I did, love the seven names (synonyms) of God. I love the plainness of the chapel–no images of a tortured Jesus, which I find unacceptable in other churches, really disgusting and amazing that any religion could be based on this horrible crime.
Did you really believe?
Yes.
If you would like to contribute your experiences to The Ex-Christian Scientist, you can email us at [email protected]
This site offers support resources to help individuals negotiate a transition in a manner that best fits their needs and convictions. We do not advocate any one particular path but acknowledge that there are many legitimate pathways that can be personally and spiritually fulfilling.
Would like to tell about my experience with Katherine Fanning. I was a Monitor writer and worked under her. It was a very difficult, depressing time for all of us journalists, mainly because she was what I’d call an “exaggerated” feminist (nothing against feminists) and placed unqualified young women in editorial positions that they weren’t capable of fulfilling. These over-zealous young people would “over-edit” our stories to the point where they were not only badly written but not our stories anymore. Sorry this comment isn’t CS-specific (I’m an ex-CS myself), but I just wanted to clarify one of the reasons why Fanning was fired.