Author
Jodi
My Parents Tried to Raise My Cat From the Dead
Jodi recalls the night in 1983 their Christian Scientist parents sang hymns over their cat after a car hit it, trying to bring it back, and the grief Jodi was left to carry alone.
Gender and Christian Science
Jodi describes the Christian Science teaching that God is neither male nor female, and being shocked by the church’s and Principia’s stance on gender and gay people.
A Secular Christmas
A former Christian Scientist describes the holidays after a divorce and a move: an early family celebration, cookies for neighbors, and a quiet winter solstice.
Kaleidoscope of Christian Science
A former Christian Scientist uses a kaleidoscope to show how members’ experiences overlap and differ: untreated injuries, heart problems, emotional invalidation, and abuse.
Feeling Emotions
A former Christian Scientist describes being taught that sadness and other emotions were not real, and learning as an adult to feel, name, and accept them.
Adam & Eve
A former Christian Scientist compares the two creation stories in Genesis, how Christian Science reads Adam’s sleep, and what real medical care and empathy felt like after leaving.
Seasons Greetings
Jodi describes Christmas in their Christian Science family, then the nature-based Yule celebration they built after leaving, with ideas for making your own holiday.
Leaving Christian Science: 10 Stories of New Faith in Jesus Christ, Interview with Lauren Hunter
An interview with Lauren Hunter about her book collecting ten stories of people who left Christian Science and became Christians, and what the stories share.
I never received childhood vaccinations.
Jodi describes growing up unvaccinated under a religious exemption, measles outbreaks at camp and Principia College, and vaccinating their family after leaving.
Happy New Year
A former Christian Scientist reflects on new starts, growing up without health class, and two goals for 2019: self-care and taking better care of the home.