Blog
We went to the park
An anonymous former Christian Scientist recalls Sundays at church and Sunday School from birth to age 20, Principia, and Thanksgiving testimonies, and why their children skip it.
She was considered barely manageable because she occasionally asked questions
An anonymous contributor recalls Sunday School as a child, and the day an older churchgoer had a heart attack and the children were hurried away from the paramedics.
"Are Sin Disease and Death Real?" taught us the obvious answer: no.
Former Christian Scientists recall Sunday School, including a child who treated a friend’s father’s death as unreal after a lesson on sin, disease, and death.
I just believed what they told me. Because I was a kid!
A former Christian Scientist recalls their mother’s death from an untreated lung illness and a practitioner who, when they were thirteen, blamed them for the family’s poverty.
Conditions under which a family could possibly bring up happy and healthy children while indoctrinating them with the tenets of Christian Science
A former Christian Scientist lists the conditions under which children might grow up happy and healthy in a Christian Science home, and why her own family turned to doctors.
Conversations can be very strained when we get together.
Former Christian Scientists describe how the religion strained or broke their relationships with parents, siblings, and other family members.
Do Not Grieve, There is Nothing to Grieve About
Former Christian Scientists describe how death and grief were handled in the church, including funerals, silence after a loved one died, and pressure not to mourn.
I felt I had no right to mourn because my father had just ‘passed away’
An anonymous former Christian Scientist describes how a creative writing workshop revealed unresolved grief over a father who died of untreated colon cancer.
She was a true believer and wouldn't have wanted it any other way
Paul describes the long death of Paul’s mother from skin cancer that a dermatologist visit could have prevented, and a father’s efforts to draw Paul back to the church.
I was/am healthcare proxy for my Christian Scientist parents
Abigail, writing under a pseudonym, describes the guilt of being healthcare proxy for Christian Scientist parents who could decide for themselves and refused medical care.