The Ex-Christian Scientist

Hospital Stays

Sun, 11 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMT

This post first appeared on Kat’s blog, Kindism, in 2013 as part of a series on health care for Christian Scientists and former Christian Scientists. It’s reposted here with minor edits and updated links.

Please remember, this is intended to offer people support, ideas, and resources. It is not in any way intended to be a substitute for medical advice or care. Please see a health care professional if you have concerns, especially if your concern is serious!

This list is a very basic overview, and much of it may be more or less accurate depending on what you are in for.

If something is wrong to the point of needing to go to the hospital, call 911. The ambulance crew will know the appropriate hospital to take you to and can give the hospital better background and technical information. Our nurse explains what to expect when calling 911.

Use your best judgement. There are exceptions, like scheduled surgeries, or if you’ve already called your primary care physician after hours and they recommend getting seen sooner, in which case they will likely recommend a hospital.

While in the hospital it is okay to ask questions and write things down to help you remember. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has a list of 10 questions you should know.

Admittance

If you’re admitted through the Emergency Room, you might have to stay there for several hours until a bed is available. The sickest patients go to the ICU, which provides the highest level of monitoring and the lowest nurse to patient ratio. If your condition does not rise to ICU level but your heart needs constant monitoring, you’ll end up in telemetry. Most people will go to medical/surgical wards, which care for a wider range of patients.
If you’re being admitted for a scheduled surgery, you may be asked to come in a few days before so they can draw blood and fill out paperwork. You will likely then be given further instructions as your condition warrants.
Staying overnight doesn’t always mean you’ve been admitted. You may be an outpatient “under observation” while your doctor decides whether to admit you, and that can change what your insurance pays. Ask each day whether you’re an inpatient or an outpatient; Medicare explains how hospital status affects your costs.

Care Team

In most hospitals, an internal medicine doctor (often called a hospitalist) will be overseeing your care. If you’ve had surgery, your surgeon will be visiting daily to check on your progress. If you are there because of pregnancy, your OBGYN (and in some cases a midwife) will be overseeing your care.
Your care team will consist of a charge nurse (RN), a nurse (RN), and, generally, a certified nursing assistant (CNA).
The nursing team is usually in place for an eight or twelve-hour shift (this varies by hospital). At the shift change, the RN who is finishing their shift will go over your case with the RN taking the next shift. You can ask that they do this with you present so that you’re kept informed. At that time, the new care team will introduce themselves to you.
Do not hesitate to ask questions about the daily routine, upcoming procedures, tests, blood draws, etc. Do not hesitate to press the call button should you need help. Nurses are not servants: they are highly trained professionals who may well save your life, especially if your physician makes a mistake.
While you shouldn’t hesitate to use the call light if you need to, overuse can unfortunately cause some staff to take extra time getting to your room. So definitely use it, but in moderation.

Visitors

Visiting hours are not always strictly enforced. It may be possible for you to have a friend or family member stay with you around the clock.
You may also ask not to receive any visitors, or not to allow certain people to visit you.

Routine

Don’t expect uninterrupted sleep during your stay. If you’re not already being woken by all the poking and prodding on the agenda, know that infusion pumps (yours or your neighbors’) will be beeping at any and all times.
Your CNA will drop by regularly to check your vital signs, and a phlebotomist may drop by every morning to draw blood (if so, it will likely be early, around 5 am, so that the tests can be run before the doctors make their rounds). If one of your arms is off-limits to pressure or puncture, ask the staff to place a sign to this effect over your bed. Speak up if someone starts to go for it anyway, and remind them of the proper arm to use for blood pressure and blood draws.
If you’re receiving any medication, the nurse will scan your hospital bracelet and ask you to verify your name and date of birth. This is to be sure that you are receiving the proper drugs.
If you’re given a new medication, the nurse should explain what the medicine does, when you’ll receive your doses, and any side effects to watch for.
Hospital food ranges from the palatable to the vile. Always check that the food you’ve been served fits any dietary restrictions you have.

Pain

If your pain is controlled, you will heal more quickly. Be honest when a physician or nurse asks your pain level; doctors and nurses are serious when they say they want your pain managed. If you’re worried about taking pain medicine, tell them, and ask what your options are.
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, make sure the doctors are aware of that (they likely already are). If you are concerned about milk supply or the drugs and the baby, ask to speak with the hospital’s lactation consultant, and talk to your doctor about your concerns.

Watch For

Hygiene. Anyone who enters your room should clean their hands, and glove up if they’re going to touch you. You do not want to go home with an infection, or, worse, get a bug so serious that you never leave the hospital. It’s fine to ask someone to wash their hands. Clean your own hands often, too.
Appropriate ID. Everyone who comes into your room should be wearing some form of official hospital identification. It is always alright to ask a person’s name and what they will be doing.

Discharge

A day or so before your release date, a discharge planner (usually an RN) will speak to you. They will make sure that you have a ride home, and will arrange for any home care you’ll require. You may also get a call within a day or two after your discharge to check on your recovery and go over any medications you’ve been prescribed.
Medicare’s discharge planning checklist is useful whatever your insurance: it covers medications, warning signs to watch for, and follow-up appointments.

Other things to remember

If you know you will be admitted past the ER, bring toiletries. Your lotion and shampoo are probably 10x better than the hospital’s.

Medical History & Personal Health Records

Sun, 13 Sep 2026 01:00:00 GMT

When you visit a doctor, dentist, optometrist, OBGYN, or any other medical professional, they’re likely going to ask you for your medical history, and ask about your family medical history: childhood illnesses, family illnesses, ages, births, deaths (and their causes), surgeries, etc. To streamline this process you may want to start a personal health record.

In the end, your health information is likely going to be scattered across many different providers and facilities (dental offices, optometrists, primary care physicians, assorted specialists depending on your needs). Keeping your own complete, updated and easily accessible health record means you can keep track of everything and:

Knowledgeably discuss your health with healthcare providers
Provide information to new caregivers
Have easy access to your health information while traveling
Access your information when your doctor’s office is closed
Record your progress toward specific health-related goals
Refer to physician instructions, prescriptions, allergies, medications, insurance claims, etc.
Track appointments, vaccinations, and other wellness services

It could also be useful in an emergency, when the hospital turns to your spouse, next of kin, or roommate and asks for some idea of your medical history, allergies, etc.

Most doctors’ offices and hospitals now have an online patient portal where you can see your visit notes, test results, and vaccinations, and you have a legal right to a copy of your records. HealthIT.gov explains how to get your health records.

Starting from nothing

Of course, having been a “good” Christian Scientist for so many years it is quite likely you don’t have any immunization records, or any medical records of any sort. Talking to your parents often yields nothing; they’re good Christian Scientists as well, and things like illness, age and death are totally unreal, so why keep track of any of it? If you’re lucky you might be able to find a non-CS relative to ask about family medical history, but that can be tricky.

For vaccines, the CDC suggests places to look in Staying Up to Date with Your Vaccine Records. If you can’t find any, our guide to getting vaccinated covers catching up as an adult.

MedlinePlus has a collection of articles on family history: why it matters, and how to gather it.

What they’ll ask

If you have any questions about their questions, ask. Be upfront about your Christian Science upbringing and (possible) lack of medical history and family medical history. Our post on how to tell your medical provider about your CS background has scripts and a sample letter. The most common questions usually include:

Date of birth
Ethnicity
Medical conditions
Allergies
Injuries
Surgeries
Vaccinations
Current medications
Mental health conditions, including alcoholism or other substance abuse
Pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, stillbirth, birth defects or infertility
Age when each condition was diagnosed
Lifestyle habits, including diet, exercise and tobacco use
For deceased relatives, age at the time of death and cause of death

The list may vary a little depending on what sort of doctor you are seeing. They may also ask if you’ve ever had a long list of symptoms, and are also likely to ask about the health of your siblings, parents and other relatives (usually grandparents). The more you can tell them, the better.

Medicine has come a long way in the last century, and some of the terms used in our grandparents’ time are no longer in use and are open to interpretation. Some things were simply Not Talked About, so that can be a hindrance as well (this isn’t just a Christian Science problem, although we add our own unique level of denial to it all). Do yourself (and your family) a favor and start keeping track.

Book Review: History of Wolves

Sun, 02 Aug 2026 01:00:00 GMT

A review of Emily Fridlund’s “History of Wolves,” by Stephanie La Rose. CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Also by Stephanie La Rose, “Turn Away” published in The Normal School, a literary magazine

ExChristianScience.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, this post contains affiliate links where noted.

(Spoilers) In Emily Fridlund’s Man Booker-Prize-Finalist novel History of Wolves (Atlantic Monthly Press 2017), something or someone is stalking Linda. Or is Linda a lone wolf, desperate for her pack, only to discover the pack is more dangerous than surviving solo on the northern Minnesota ice?

The teenaged protagonist Linda grew up in a failed commune where she remains, having been abandoned by her parents, with a woman who loosely raises her. Although this strand of the novel is about a different cult than Christian Science, Linda’s displacement, dissociation, and vulnerability will be familiar in this satisfying indictment of parents who martyr their children as the Supreme Court supposedly forbade. We ex-Christian Scientists understand that, in fact, this martyrdom, this neglect takes place daily in dark, hidden corners.

In the novel’s second strand, Linda babysits for a small child in a Christian Science family. You should know, since this would be difficult to wander into unwarned, that this little boy dies of medical neglect. Fridlund’s depiction of the domineering father, the loving but passive mother, the veneer of privilege and education, the mounting dread, the secret illness, and how Linda’s upbringing primes her to be used, abused, neglected, yet silent are all pitch perfect.

A third strand is Linda’s vulnerability to a male teacher. This theme also might be familiar to our group of ex-Christian Scientists (at least it is to me – I fell in love at twelve with a twenty-six-year-old man who pursued me and didn’t understand the relationship was predatory and related to my Chirstian Science upbringing until I was in my twenties in law school). Predators know who to target, and Linda remains confused about the relationship’s nature because every single relationship in Linda’s life is confusing. Those meant to protect, abandon and abuse.

I picked up this book in an independent bookstore in 2017 without any idea it was in part about Christian Science. I read it in a fever. I hope I have not ruined its page-turner quality with spoilers. I have thought about History of Wolves thousands of times and re-read it twice. I wrote Fridlund to thank her for getting the Christian Science strand spot on and asked if she was raised in a Christian Science family. She was not, but, as some in our group know, she grew up Christian Science-adjacent and attended Principia. This novel is, in my opinion, outstanding. It helps explain how cults damage children in ways both obvious and subtle.

Thanksgiving 2025

Thu, 27 Nov 2025 13:00:00 GMT

The Thanksgiving Day service is the only ‘special’ service the Christian Science church offers. The readings from the desk include the Presidential proclamation for Thanksgiving, as well as a few passages from The Bible and Science and Health. The service is then opened to the congregation for them to share ‘testimonies of healing and sharing of experiences in Christian Science.’

The following are testimonies from Ex-Christian Scientists, as they give thanks for having left Christian Science. Thank you all for your contributions!

We at The Ex-Christian Scientist offer no readings, or lengthy proclamations, merely our sincerest thanks for everyone who has contributed to our efforts. We do not advocate any one particular path but acknowledge that there are many legitimate pathways that can be personally and spiritually fulfilling.

All Thanksgiving posts are tagged Thanksgiving. Comments are moderated and closed automatically after 30 days.

Since not only leaving CS but also needing medical interventions, I am very grateful that I have a friend who is also a doctor that helps me seek medical treatment, understand what to expect, and gives me confidence when dealing with new medications or treatments because it all still feels overwhelming and probably always will to some extent. He’s like an automatic second (or first) opinion that I’ve come to trust and respect as a person and a friend before a doctor so when he supports (or suggests a possible) diagnosis or recommended treatment, I can just go with it much more easily. Its also easier to quiet the ever-present voice that tells me to ignore, deny, refuse the problem.

May we all continue to learn that’s its ok, it’s good, to pay attention to our bodies, sensations, feelings etc and take care of them with real treatment <3

-Kristine

I’m thankful that MBE wasn’t born in the 50s, because that bitch would still be alive today!

-Melis

I’m thankful I left Christian Science, and that some of my relatives are finally starting to do the same. And I’m thankful for cult recovery programs, support groups and trauma therapy, which help me to deconstruct from coercive control and build an independent identity and worldview for the first time in my life. I’m also thankful for doctors, nurses, medicines, treatments and vaccines that are slowly helping me address my decades of medical neglect under Christian Science. I’m additionally thankful to have encountered folks who are working to overturn some of the religious exemptions in state laws that allow parents to medically neglect and abuse their children in the name of religion (i.e. “faith healing”), and hope that in the coming year(s) my personal story can help undo the exemptions that made my neglect and abuse possible. Christian Science is nothing but a con - ditto the holiday of Thanksgiving (#LandBack) - and I’m thankful that I don’t have to believe in either one of them anymore.

-E. Gast

I am thankful that I am now able to address issues head-on instead of talking around them, downplaying, ignoring, or otherwise not acknowledging them. I am thankful for real community, the kind that offers real support, and not empty platitudes. I am thankful I can reach out to people who will offer help, and not tell me that I should “correct my thinking.”

I am thankful for evidence based medicine, that is capable of learning and evolving.

I am thankful that I am doing the work, and that I am capable of breaking the cycles of generational trauma and medical neglect. I’m not going to get it right all the time, but I am trying, and it has to start somewhere.

I am thankful for the ExCS community, and the option to send in a “testimony” rather than sit in a stuffy church. I hope everyone has a happy Thursday.

-K.T.

This marks our 10th Thanksgiving post. The ExCS Team is thankful for everyone who has contributed to our community over the years.

House of Horrors

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 04:12:00 GMT

House of Horrors originally appeared on Kindism.org, and is shared here with permission.

I frequently visit Victoria, British Columbia, a place that stirs a lot of memories for me, and I recently got back from a week there with family and friends. I partially grew up there, as I often spent my summers as a kid in the area with my cousins, and it was tradition at Christmas to go to my aunt and uncle’s place for a large family Christmas gathering, where I learned fast, as the youngest able-bodied cousin, to eat quickly if I wanted seconds on turkey and stuffing. I always remember the corner store where, when I was around nine or ten years old, my cousin and I spent our allowance one hot summer day on a box each of about a dozen Twinkies, on which we gorged ourselves while sitting on the store’s stoop. Before we were able to pedal all the way back home, we were throwing up in a ditch by the side of the road. The store isn’t there anymore, long ago swallowed up by condos and cookie-cutter yuppieish boutiques and coffee shops as urban development spread into the once semi-rural area where my cousins lived. Sometimes I drive by the house my cousins lived in, and try to find some of the other landmarks from my childhood summers as they occasionally emerge from the mists of my memory. Along with the fun memories of childhood, also come some darker ones. Victoria is also the place where my mother went to die in the worst pain I can imagine, in a Christian Science nursing facility. It is also where my father and I scattered her ashes at the seashore; and where, less than a year later, I scattered his. These memories burn brightly as if it were yesterday when it all happened.

Victoria is a beautiful city, and I always enjoy my visits with family and friends in the area. On the other side of the coin, it’s not always easy to be there. One ritual I always perform when I’m there is to visit the seaside park where my parents’ ashes were scattered. It’s the one place where I can physically go and “visit” them. It’s a spectacularly beautiful spot with a view over Juan de Fuca Strait towards Washington State in the USA. Dad and I chose that spot to scatter Mom’s ashes because of its beauty, and the fact that it combined, as best as possible, two places she loved: Vancouver Island (where Victoria is located), and in view of Washington State. After we scattered Mom’s ashes, Dad declared to me his desire to have his ashes scattered there as well, saying that when the time came, he “wanted to be with her”. Previously, for many years, he’d expressed a desire to have his ashes scattered in the Canadian Rockies.

Not far from where my parents’ ashes were scattered, is the place I consider to be a true House Of Horrors a.k.a. Wayside House. It’s the Christian Science nursing facility where many good Canadian (and maybe a few American and other) Christian Scientists go to suffer and often die–without even the most basic pain mitigation allowed to soften the blow. Wayside House is where my Mom died under Christian Science “care”. I’ve often driven past this place over the years, usually never stopping; trying not to give the place much more than a second thought, but this time, it was different. I drove around the block to circle back in front of the driveway into this despicable place. I pulled over to the side of the road and just sat there and looked on for a few minutes. It looked peaceful and serene at the House Of Horrors. In fact, it looked like nobody was there at all, but I knew otherwise. Beneath that serene exterior, I knew there were people in there in excruciating pain, dying of god only knows what awful diseases they chose not to have treated or even diagnosed.

I remember a visit to the House Of Horrors early in childhood when my grandmother worked there as a Christian Science nurse. I distinctly remember hearing a woman moaning in pain or some sort of discomfort from a room down the hall as I accompanied my grandmother on her rounds. I don’t remember if I asked Gram about what I heard, but I do remember it. I wonder now what sort of pain that poor woman was in. The only comfort the “nurses” would’ve been able to offer would have been to shift pillows, offer water or juice, or read from the Bible and/or the writings of Mary Baker Eddy or other Christian Science literature. Not even an aspirin is permitted in these houses of horrors, and people often enter these facilities with advanced cancer or other serious diseases eating away at their bodies. Before Christian Scientists will acquiece even to care at a Christian Science nursing facility, they will often have suffered at home on their own with whatever ailment they’re dealing with for quite some time. Any admission of advancement of a disease is an admission of failure in your practice Christian Science, and many Christian Scientists are loathe to admit such.

Thankfully, the House Of Horrors is on its last few remaining financial legs, as far as I know. Each year it manages to remain in operation amazes me. Unlike Christian Science nursing facilities in the United States, this facility receives no government funding for patient care, although it is licensed as a “private hospital” under the laws of the province of British Columbia. Canadian Medicare, unlike Medicare/Medicaid in the United States, wisely does not fund care in non-medical facilities, and I don’t know of any private insurance here that does either. If you go to this place, you’re there on your own dime and for what you get, it’s not cheap. Some financial aid is apparently available. As I settled out my parents’ estate, I begrudgingly wrote a cheque for over $1,000.00 to settle up the last payment for Mom’s so-called “care”. For her hard-earned cash, Mom got a room, a nicely made bed each morning, and nicely prepared food, which the large tumour growing in her abdomen pretty much prohibited her from eating. Her pillows were probably fluffed and shifted as needed, and she had a phone for her use. Other than that, the nurses would have only read from “the books” (the Bible and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures), some other writings by Mary Baker Eddy, and maybe some Christian Science periodicals. Apparently, one nurse was a good piano player and sung hymns with her in the common room. They also filled Dad and I up with sunny reports of Mom’s “progress”, including one story of her “dancing” in the hallway (I’ve heard different versions of that anecdote from others, so I wonder if it’s part of some script that Christian Science nurses learn in their training). I later learned from my non-Christian Scientist cousin, who visited Mom frequently at the House of Horros, that the only progress Mom was making in her last weeks there was towards the grave, and that she appeared to be in excruciating pain most of the time. The sunshiny, rose-petaled denial that Christian Scientists retreat to in the face of serious illness is deeply maddening to me now.

The House Of Horrors survives largely on bequests, donations, and in the past by sales of its formerly extensive real estate holdings. It’s located in a high-value neighbourhood of Victoria, and once comprised several acres of open space. I’d estimate the property they sold off was probably worth a few million dollars over the years. I’m not certain how much of their endowment still exists, but several years back I remember overhearing a conversation my uncle-in-law was having (he was on their board of directors at the time), and it sounded like the money was getting thin. Like the Christian Science Church and other Christian Science affiliated organizations, the House Of Horrors is a dying corpse that survives by cannibalizing itself by selling off assets, and benefiting from the bequests of dead Christian Scientists. Fortunately, no Christian Science-related organization got any bequests from my parents’ estate–they left it all to me exclusively, and there’s no way in hell will I give one dime to a Christian Science-affiliated organization. However, if I had pre-deceased my parents, a branch church, The Mother Church, and Principia would have equally split the proceeds from their estate. It’s a good thing I’m a survivor, I guess. I’d hate to think of any of my parents’ estate helping to sustain anything connected with Christian Science, despite their own [misguided] dedication to it, especially as I think on the horrific ways their dedication to Christian Science ended up killing them. Each year, I make a gift to the Salvation Army during their Christmas Drive in quiet honour of my Dad who did the same during his lifetime.

I sat there in my car looking on at the House Of Horrors, and raised my middle finger in a quiet salute to this awful place. Through my open window, I said “fuck you!” It felt good as I drove away. Nobody, except maybe the neighbour in whose driveway I’d stopped, would have heard me, but it still felt good. I said my peace to that place. I told them what I thought of them and what they do there. It was also my “fuck you” to Christian Science. Sometimes, you just need to do things like this.

image via AOCSN's Wayside House page

Happy Birthday, or Anniversary, or Other Celebration of the Passage of Time

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 19:40:00 GMT

A few years ago I hid my birthday on Facebook. I found it helpful. I did not enjoy being inundated with “Happy Birthday, the last time I reached out to say hi was your birthday last year, spill how your life has been since then!” DMs. Birthdays are quite personal, and at least for me, they often come with some amount of emotional baggage.

Christian Science can be weird about birthdays, a close family friend refused to celebrate her own until she was well into her sixties, and her CS-parents and-CS spouse had passed. She did insist on celebrating her grandchildren’s birthday’s, but was hit-and-miss on those for her own children (both while growing up, and once they reached adulthood). Anniversaries, particularly wedding anniversaries were fine to celebrate. They are still celebrating the passage of time, but somehow different. I will not speculate.

The Ex-Christian Scientist recently celebrated its 10th anniversary (a few months late), and posted on it’s facebook page:

This past April marked the tenth anniversary of the Ex-Christian Scientist website, it came and went with little fanfare. Christian Scientists do not celebrate birthdays, or anniversaries, and while we no longer practice, this particular milestone slid right past largely unnoticed. Oops there.

People were quick to point out this sentiment did not align with their experience in Christian Science, with commenters noting:

I spent 15 years as an active Christian Scientist, class-taught, and never had anyone tell me not to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries. I left the church in 2003.

and

We always celebrated birthdays, in my 3rd generation CS mother’s household! Birthdays, Hallowe’en, the Easter bunny… Chinese New Year, too!

The Admin for the ExCS Facebook page noted:

Birthdays & anniversaries depend heavily on personal preference, are often not celebrated, see Sentinel articles Birthdays convey suggestions of ill and “Never record ages” discourage such things, and the former-CS blogger at Emerging Gently talks about it as well, see also the MBE library’s Q&A on the topic

As with many things, the Christian Science experience with birthdays, anniversaries, and other holidays varies. Several former-CS bloggers have discussed the topic, and the ExCS site has articles that touch on it as well. The CS and former-CS experience is varied as the people who joined, and left. This might be one of the few acceptable situations to pull out the worn out line “not all Christian Scientists!”

ExCS Articles / Former-CS Bloggers on the topic of Celebrations, Holidays, and Birthdays

We Celebrate because Celebrations are Fun
Santa Claus Isn’t Coming to Town
Easter Baskets Confound Me
Happy Halloween!
Happy Birthday, Emerging Gently

CS Articles About Birthdays, Recording Ages, etc.

“Never record ages”, Christian Science Sentinel
Birthdays convey suggestions of ill, Christian Science Sentinel
Did Mary Baker Eddy celebrate birthdays?, Mary Baker Eddy Library
Happy birthday!, The Christian Science Monitor

Post by An Infrequent Contributor, via email

Paul Brunton - CS turned Philosopher

Sun, 14 Sep 2025 14:34:00 GMT

Thank you to ExCS site reader M for making us aware of Brunton’s work.

Paul Brunton is “best known as one of the early popularizers of Neo-Hindu spiritualism in western esotericism.”

As a teenager, Brunton’s stepmother introduced him to Christian Science, and he shares his perspectives on Christian Science in an essay entitled “Christian Science, Other Spiritual Movements.”

Staunch Christian Scientist will likely balk at his conflations of CS with Theosophy and New Thought, while CS-detractors will say he has not been critical enough. It makes for a fascinating read.

From the ExCS emails, shared with permission.

I had a Christian Science upbringing into my teen years. This overlapped growing interest in Eastern philosophies and eventually to the work of Paul Brunton. This allowed me to see CS as just a narrow slice of an infinite subject. Over time I came to appreciate how CS had established in me a view of God as Mind - for which I remain grateful - as this is the basis of Brunton’s work. The huge difference however is that Brunton’s philosophy, which encourages independent thinking (not dogma) does not involve the inconsistencies and limitations of CS doctrine.

The ExChristian Science 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.

10 Years of ExCS (a few months late)

Sun, 10 Aug 2025 01:00:00 GMT

Changes are coming to ExChristianScience.com. We are working on moving from a blog format, to a more evergreen site. The content will remain, the format will change.

We will continue to offer support resources to help individuals negotiate a transition away from Christian Science 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.

We will continue to provide a platform for former Christian Scientists to share their experiences, critical and thoughtful analyses of CS, awareness of the harm that has been done by CS, support and resources to those who are leaving or have left CS, and links to both Christian and secular communities and resources.

This past April marked the tenth anniversary of the Ex-Christian Scientist website, it came and went with little fanfare. Christian Scientists do not celebrate birthdays, or anniversaries, and while we no longer practice, this particular milestone slid right past largely unnoticed.

Much has happened in the last ten years. The ExCS Facebook community has grown to over 600 members, we have fielded media inquires, assisted in doctoral dissertations, spoken with various members of the media, and helped people who have reached out.

Thank you all for your ongoing contributions and support.

With Appreciation, the ExCS Admin Team

My Parents Tried to Raise My Cat From the Dead

Sun, 13 Jul 2025 13:10:00 GMT

By contributor and group member, Just Jodi

1983. I was in sixth grade.

“Socksey!” I called from the front doorway. Every night, after dinner, before bedtime, I would call the cat to come inside. We’d only had the cat for maybe 6 months at this point. I had “earned” the cat like I had to earn everything else - good scores on math tests, not bringing home homework, good behavior, and who knows what else. I worked hard to earn the cat.

I had previously colored during recess to make a picture extra beautiful, and my teacher-step-mom said I was doing homework, so I hadn’t earned the guinea pig the previous year that another teacher wanted to give away at the end of the school year. But somehow, I had done better this year and earned this kitten.

Every night, I called the kitten to come inside, and every night, the kitten ran to me. We would play for a while, he would eat his dinner, and then it was bedtime.

This time, I stood in the doorway, called my cat, and a car on the street stopped near a neighbor’s driveway, its headlights shining.

Socksey didn’t come home, which was weird. I closed the door and proceeded to get ready for bed.

Hours later, I was lying in bed, unable to sleep, and I heard my parents singing hymns in the basement. We lived in a split-level house, so the basement was just below my room.

I got up to see what was going on.

My stepmom was sitting in the hallway outside my dad’s office. She told me Dad was in his office, singing to the cat. The cat had been hit by a car, and they were trying to raise it from the dead.

She said that Dad was singing directly to the cat, but she wasn’t able to go do that. She didn’t want to see the cat. Dad was singing the hymns directly to the cat, who was lying on a wooden board in his office, but my stepmom was outside in the hallway, singing through the door.

I felt obligated to help protect my step-mom’s emotions, so I sat outside in the hallway with her, even though I wanted to be inside the office, as bold as my dad, singing directly to the cat, too.

We sat there for probably 2 hours, singing hymns to the cat.

I don’t remember how the evening ended. But I guess I eventually went to bed, figuring Dad would raise it from the dead.

My cat never came back to life, and Dad buried it out in the back yard. My stepmom didn’t want to know where, and Dad never told me where he buried the cat.

In retrospect, as a 50+ year old woman now, whose dad died over 10 years ago, whom I miss terribly, I wish I had gone in the room to sing the hymns with my dad. I wish I had that core memory with my dad, even as disturbing as it probably sounds. I missed so many opportunities to do big things like this with my dad, because I always felt like I had to protect my step-mom’s emotions.

I feel sad about this whole experience.

Another sad thing about all this is that I wasn’t given room to grieve or talk about missing my cat, the one I had earned. I didn’t know who to talk to about my grief. I didn’t have a therapist, and didn’t know I could approach my teacher about it, either, since I had been chastised about talking with my teacher in school about Christian Science in a previous school year. I never got another animal until after college.

I remember grieving that cat for months and months, crying alone in my bed at night, or trying not to cry during class at school. I felt so alone with my grief.

My stepmom repeatedly said, “ Isn’t it great that the cat died the day before we were going to take it to the vet to get ‘fixed?’ This way, we didn’t have to spend that money!” To her, this was some kind of amazing healing. I am still bewildered by this viewpoint.

I was sad, and she was delighted and grateful.

You Never Get Around that Damn Corner

Sun, 15 Jun 2025 01:00:00 GMT

In honor of Father’s Day, we’ve collected some poignant stories of growing up with Christian Science Fathers.

A variation of this post appeared on Father’s Day 2016, it has been updated/expanded.

First Hand Experiences with Fathers & Christian Science

Fleshly ties temporal

Jesus acknowledged no ties of the flesh. He said: “Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” Again he asked: “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren,” implying that it is they who do the will of his Father. We have no record of his calling any man by the name of father. He recognized Spirit, God, as the only creator, and therefore as the Father of all.

Science & Health p. 31

It takes her 25 seconds to choose CS over me

Sun, 11 May 2025 22:53:59 GMT

Variations of this post appeared on Mother’s Day 2016, and again on May 8, 2022, it has been updated/expanded.

ExChristianScience.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, this post contains affiliate links where noted.

In honor of Mother’s Day, we’ve collected some poignant stories of growing up with Christian Science Mothers.

First Hand Experiences with Mothers & Christian Science

“A mother’s affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal. Therefore maternal affection lives on under whatever difficulties.”

Science & Health p. 60

Articles

Books

Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect (affiliate link)
Mothers Who Can’t Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters (affiliate link)
Will I Ever Be Good Enough?: Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers (affiliate link)

Happy Easter

Sun, 20 Apr 2025 01:00:00 GMT

Happy Easter to those who celebrate

Do CS celebrate Easter? A Christian perspective, via the Fellowship of Former CS

Do Christian Scientists Celebrate Easter?

Background about Easter observances & CS the Mary Baker Eddy Library

What’s the background on Christian Science and Easter observances?

Measles

Sun, 23 Mar 2025 20:40:28 GMT

Measles are back in the news, so we have compiled relevant posts.

The CDC page, Measles Cases and Outbreaks, and Texas Department of Health & Human Services where the most recent outbreak is largest,

How is this possible? Decades of Christian Science lobbying made it possible for people to easily obtain religious and philosophical exemptions. CHILD has more details: Belief exemptions from immunization and screening. Religious exemptions and philosophical beliefs do not work against measles.

Christian Scientists at the Principal Schools have been used in CDC studies about measles in unvaccinated communities. CDC Studies & The Principia Schools/College, and more articles The Principia & The Measles

People share first hand experiences of measles, and other vaccine-preventable diseases: I never received childhood vaccinations. The 1989 outbreak, and the 1985 outbreak

Measles are a vaccine-preventable disease, so talk to your doctor. How to get vaccinated as an adult - How to get Vaccinated, and Ask a Nurse: Getting Vaccinated for Polio as an Adult

The Weekly Bible Lesson

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Lesson (Lesson Sermon): also known as the Weekly Bible Lesson, it is the weekly bible lesson that Christian Scientists study daily. It consists of selected passages from the Bible, with accompanying passages from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. It also forms the Sunday Sermon in all Christian Science churches. The Lesson is assembled by a secret committee of people at the Church headquarters in Boston. The Lesson is found in the Christian Science Quarterly (see above). There are 26 subjects (originally selected by Mary Baker Eddy) that rotate twice yearly, starting at the beginning of the year. The subjects (in order of appearance) are: God; Sacrament; Life; Truth; Love; Spirit; Soul; Mind; Christ Jesus; Man; Substance; Matter; Reality; Unreality; Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?; Doctrine of Atonement; Probation After Death; Everlasting Punishment; Adam and Fallen Man; Mortals and Immortals; Soul and Body; Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism, Denounced; God the Only Cause and Creator; God the Preserver of Man; Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?; Christian Science. Communion services (see above) are held twice yearly when the subject is Sacrament.

From Teaching in the Sunday School, by Harold Molter, in the October 1935 issue of The Christian Science Journal. While we (respectfully) disagree with his perspective, we offer it as context for those who may be less familiar with Christian Science.

The daily reading, studying, and pondering of the Lesson-Sermon in the Christian Science Quarterly is an important beginning in the preparation for teaching each week, regardless of whether one has an infant class or a group of more advanced pupils. Each Lesson-Sermon sets forth in an individual manner the character and meaning of God and man, their indestructible relationship and unity, as Father-Mother and perfect son. Each Lesson gives an exposition of divine Science, or the Comforter, which enables one to understand and utilize the truth of this relationship, and to prove unreal the beliefs of sin, disease, and death. The Lesson-Sermon, faithfully studied, supplies the spiritual food which so nourishes and sustains the Sunday school teacher during the week that when he meets his class on Sunday morning he is conscious of having risen to new heights of spiritual discernment and of having grown a little more into the “measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,” the measure of true manhood.

The former-CS blog Emerging Gently has taken the time to write about 24 of the 26 (all are listed, and linked where applicable), and several of these topics have been picked up by other former-CS bloggers as well.

God
Sacrament
Life
Truth
Love
Spirit
Soul
Mind
Christ Jesus
Man
Substance
Matter
Unreality & Reality (2 separate lesson topics)
Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?
Doctrine of Atonement
Probation After Death
Everlasting Punishment
Adam and Fallen Man
Mortals and Immortals
Soul and Body
Ancient and Modern Necromancy, alias Mesmerism and Hypnotism Denounced
God the Only Cause and Creator
God the Preserver of Man
Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force?
Christian Science

Other former-CS bloggers muse on the topic of Bible Lessons/lesson adjacent topics

Does Quantum Physics Validate Christian Science? (part 1) via the ExCS
Did Mary Baker Eddy Anticipate the Findings of Quantum Physics? (part 2) via the ExCS
Is the Universe, Including Man, Evolved by Atomic Force? via Kindism,org
Confession, Atonement & Redemption via Kindism.org
The Right Dictionary, What is Love? via Kindism.org

The Mary Baker Eddy Library has several articles about the Bible Lesson, of particular note are

The Independent Christian Science group from Plainfield, NJ shares more about the history of the Bible Lesson on their website: The Christian Science Bible Lesson (archived)

Samples of Bible Lessons can be found at: Christian Science Quarterly sample Bible Lessons

Never-CS share their story of visiting a CS Church: Oh No Ross & Carrie - Visiting CS Church

Christian Science & Lobbying

Sun, 12 Jan 2025 01:00:00 GMT

Christian Scientists have been lobbying the government for well over 100 years to make their special brand of faith-healing legal and covered by health insurance (archived). The Pew Research Center notes that

The Christian Science Church and the Seventh-day Adventist Church were among the first religious traditions to establish permanent advocacy offices in Washington. The Christian Scientists established their office around 1900.

The Mother Church is doing fairly well with their congressional lobbying. Their website proudly states (archived):

Various U.S. federal, state, and private health insurance plans provide for the reimbursement of Christian Science nursing care and practitioner treatment. Additionally, 17 Christian Science nursing facilities across the country are Medicare providers, which means individuals who have Medicare Part A can receive reimbursement at those facilities. Furthermore, 23 states have “high risk” insurance plans (for individuals with pre-existing health conditions) that include among their covered benefits Christian Science practitioner and nursing care. (Note that qualifications and limits to these benefits vary by plan.)

Christian Science services qualify as tax-deductible medical expenses under Section 213(d) of the IRS code. Because of this, health savings accounts (HSAs) or flexible spending accounts (FSAs) can be used for Christian Science care.

There are a few problems with all this, to lump CSPs, CS Nurses and “prayer” in the same category as doctors and hospitals is ludicrous. There is also the fact that Christian Science doesn’t believe in “pre-existing conditions” – all your problems are in your head (archived).

In Science and Health, p. 166, Eddy reminds the reader:

As a man thinketh, so is he. Mind is all that feels, acts, or impedes action. Ignorant of this, or shrinking from its implied responsibility, the healing effort is made on the wrong side, and thus the conscious control over the body is lost.

A little further down Eddy continues:

The erring human mind is inharmonious in itself. From it arises the inharmonious body. To ignore God as of little use in sickness is a mistake. Instead of thrusting Him aside in times of bodily trouble, and waiting for the hour of strength in which to acknowledge Him, we should learn that He can do all things for us in sickness as in health.

On p. 168 there is a very good argument against Christian Scientists taking government money, the government is providing man-made systems.

Because man-made systems insist that man becomes sick and useless, suffers and dies, all in consonance with the laws of God, are we to believe it? Are we to believe an authority which denies God’s spiritual command relating to perfection, — an authority which Jesus proved to be false? He did the will of the Father. He healed sickness in defiance of what is called material law, but in accordance with God’s law, the law of Mind.

It makes sense for the Church to condone and encourage people to use Medicare funds, Christian Science care and facilities are not cheap. Medicare Part A covers things like skilled nursing care, home health care, and hospice care. CS Nursing does fall into “home health care” (and in a morbid way hospice care), but I would stop short at calling them “skilled nurses.” CS nurses are polite and sometimes helpful for minor things. The ones at Principia’s Cox Cottage make an awesome grilled cheese sandwich and strawberry milkshake, but if it comes down to a life-or-death situation (or a problem beyond mild food poisoning), I’d rather have a Registered Nurse than a Christian Science one.

Personal preferences aside, the Church Manual made a by-law about CS Nurses in 1908, and although it was written by Eddy, it seems to directly contradict all of what she says about health:

A member of The Mother Church who represents himself or herself as a Christian Science nurse shall be one who has a demonstrable knowledge of Christian Science practice, who thoroughly understands the practical wisdom necessary in a sick room, and who can take proper care of the sick. (emphasis mine)

It is Christian-Scientifically impossible for a good Christian Scientist to have any “practical wisdom” in a sick room without violating Eddy’s decree in the chapter on Physiology (p. 167):

We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses. Drugs and hygiene cannot successfully usurp the place and power of the divine source of all health and perfection. If God made man both good and evil, man must remain thus. What can improve God’s work? Again, an error in the premise must appear in the conclusion.

Time and time again Christian Scientists are reminded they must demonstrate Christian Science. Eddy’s entire body of work rests on the myth of the demonstrability of Christian Science (even if she was never able to fully demonstrate it herself). Time and time again Christian Scientists are told they must prove that it works so they can lobby the government (who want to “take away” Christian Scientists’ healthcare freedoms and have them all go to the doctor occasionally) to get them to pay for Christian Science Practitioners, and CS Nurses.

CSPs and CSNs are not governed by medical boards, nor do they get licensed by the state to practice their “healing arts.” They are overseen by some group, ostensibly Mother Church, and the entire process is vague and hard to find information on. Doctors and nurses on the other hand have years of training, licenses and certificates. If a doctor or nurse messes up badly enough, there is an inquisition. If a CSP has a client pass on too soon the situation is often entirely overlooked – unless it is a child and the case makes national headlines, in which case the CSP is suddenly no longer “journal listed” and is “not really a CSP” and they’re not “practicing CS correctly.”

Doctors and nurses are thoroughly regulated on several levels including state and federal as well as within their own associations.* Do Christian Scientists want the government to step in regulate CSPs and CS Nurses as a precursor to making it acceptable for them to receive Medicare funding? Absolutely not, but they’re OK with recommending their congregation take advantage of government programs to cover the costs of dealing with problems that CS claims are unreal in the first place.

*Yes, we are well aware of the arguments leveled against doctors, nurses, and the deeply flawed state of the healthcare system in the United States. We’d still prefer evidence-based medicine to someone reciting the Scientific Statement of Being at us.

Embedded links that all worked at the time of publishing

The Divine Referral: Christian Scientists Lobby for Faith Healing To Be Covered As Part of the National Health Care Plan, Jonathan Turley
Healthcare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Christian Science (archived)
Evolution, Growth and Turnover, Pew Research Center
Insurance and Christian Science, Christian Science (archived)
Science and Health, chapter VII: Physiology, Christian Science (archived)
Christian Science Visiting Nurse Service Rates, Ardenwood
Health Insurance Center, WebMD
Christian Science theology opposes both medical treatment and diagnosis and demands denial of symptoms, Religion and Child Abuse News
Registered nurse, Wikipedia
Myths & Legends: The ‘Fall On The Ice’
Doctors: Medical Specialist School Education, eMedicineHealth
Passing on too soon, preventable deaths in Christian Science, Kindism

A Christmas Miracle

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 16:40:00 GMT

We are revisiting content from other former-CS content creators and sharing posts that we feel might be helpful or of interest.This post originally appeared at Kindism.org and is reprinted with permission and slight modifications.

A few days before Christmas one of our children told us they had a “painful lump” on the side of their head, just behind their ear. We checked, and sure enough, there was a lump. It was late in the evening, and there were no other complaints, so we tried to take a picture of it, emailed the pediatrician, and my lizard brain kicked into overdrive with worry.

Cancer. An abscess. Some sort of tumor. A mysterious head injury. Lizard brain churned out dozens of scenarios, none of which ended well.

The pediatrician emailed back with a list of symptoms to keep an eye out for. Fever. Swelling. If it grows larger or changes size. If it bothers them more, call urgent care and bring them in.

We diligently checked. No fever. No changes. After a day or two of diligent checks and no changes, the child snapped at me “it wasn’t bothering me until you asked!”

As things obviously trended better, there was a follow-up message with the pediatrician. It was mostly likely a swollen lymph node, and it resolved on its own.

Eventually when asked the child just gave us the classic teenage side-eye and waved us from their room. They’re fine, now go away.

Kids these days.

If we’d still been in Christian Science, we would have worked diligently to “correct our thought.” We would have sat with “the books” for hours and likely called a Christian Science Practitioner to help. They would have lectured at the child for not having read the weekly lesson or being too prideful or acknowledging the material state (or whatever transgression causes painful lumps to manifest on the side of one’s head), and reiterated the unreality of matter, the falseness of the pain, the folly of erroneous thought.

Thanksgiving 2024

Thu, 28 Nov 2024 10:00:00 GMT

The following are testimonies from Ex-Christian Scientists, as they give thanks for having left Christian Science. Thank you all for your contributions!

All Thanksgiving posts are tagged Thanksgiving. Comments are moderated and closed automatically after 30 days.

I’m so, so glad to have had friends when I was growing up who stuck by me in spite of my bizarre parroting of CS. They led by example and offered insight on life without pressure. Geography has scattered everyone, but I hope they know how important it was to have them in my life, helping me leave CS one step at a time.

- Anon

This Thanksgiving I am so grateful not to be a Christian Scientist particularly because outside of Christian Science it is OK to mourn and even to cry in public. When I started to cry when talking with someone about my husband’s death one year ago Thanksgiving I started to apologize and say I was sorry for crying. She responded, don’t be sorry it’s natural to cry. Then she came over and gave me a hug. I am so grateful to be X CS

-crs

I am grateful this year for simply being human, and living this material human existence fully, completely, and normally. No more denial of what is real and right in front of me. I am also grateful for proper and timely medical care, which has surgically repaired a hernia, treats a chronic heart condition, and has treated minor skin cancer successfully. I made it through a very real pandemic without the cognitive dissonance that would have resulted from trying to deny it, and I accept life as it comes at me. Thank you for no BS readings from the desk. Enjoy your very real and material turkey dinners. I’ve already had mine, as us Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving in October.

- Jeremy Bowers

I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving anymore, but this year I’m grateful that some of my CS relatives are starting to wake up out of the ether and recognize Christian Science for the cult that it is. I’ve spent a long time shouting into the wind, preparing myself to continue going it alone, and frankly I’m still waiting for the other shoe to drop. But there’s been a shift toward reality, so I’ll take it. I’m grateful to have been on this journey out of CS indoctrination and into recovery. It takes a village, and a metric ton of work, and it’s far from over, but I’m so glad I’m on the journey. I wouldn’t be a Christian Scientist for all the world, could never go back into that dark, terrifying box.

- Emily G

I am so glad for the growing community of former-CS, the variety of resources that have been created. I’m glad to have found a therapist who understands that “mindfulness” exercises are not a good fit for me, and who has worked with me to set, and more importantly, hold boundaries. I am glad that I can talk with my children about feelings, and not limit them to “happy thoughts from God.” I am also so very glad that I don’t have to sit through a Wednesday evening testimony service tonight, and a Thanksgiving service in the morning, it really frees up my time.

- K.

This is my favorite service every year. It is such a relief not to have to go to church on Thanksgiving Day.

I love that there are no readings from the desk, no turkeys waiting to be cooked when we get home, no bleary-eyed First Readers who had to do the Wednesday testimony meeting immediately followed by the Thanksgiving service the next day. I don’t have a house full of relatives to frantically prepare food for after having spent hours cooking from 3am before church, leaving for church, then coming back 2 hours later to cook some more then entertain.

This year, I am thankful for the ways I have learned about Community since leaving the Christian Science belief system.

I am thankful for the books like “fathermothergod” by Lucia Greenhouse, “God’s Perfect Child” by Caroline Fraser. There are other books that you can find on this blog, too. I am so glad the books are here - reading the books helped me feel less alone when I first left Christian Science.

I am thankful for the various Ex Christian Science communities on Facebook, too. As much as I don’t like Facebook, I stay on it because of these communities in particular. There is what we call “The Main Group,” then there is another group for folks who left Christian Science and became Christian, and another group for folks who left Christian Science and walked away from a belief in any of the gods.

I find community in these groups. We have shared experiences. This reminds me of the blog post here about The Kaleidoscope of Christian Science - how we may not all share 100% of the same experience, but we all share some aspects together.

I am also grateful for the new YouTube podcast put together by Hilary. She has interviewed me twice now and it’s wonderful community to talk with her and find more commonalities that we both shared or didn’t share.

It is valuable to learn of other people’s experiences, and I’m so glad to be able to watch these podcasts on YouTube that Hilary puts together. It’s just another way to connect and find community.

Thank you, also, for this blog. It has been helpful for me to read other people’s stories and also share my own stories, and get comments. It’s nice to finally have community after being in a church that discouraged community at all costs. “No socializing at church,” “don’t let folks know when you’re sick,” and other weird things that destroy rather than build community.

So this year, for Thanksgiving, as I eat my traditional nachos and watch my Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade followed by the Purina Dog Competition, I will be grateful that for my various places I find Ex Christian Science community.

- “Just Jodi”

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s testimonies. All Thanksgiving posts are tagged Thanksgiving. Comments are moderated and closed automatically after 30 days.

Sometimes Self-Care is Bubble Baths & Chocolate, Sometimes it is going to the Dentist

Sun, 13 Oct 2024 01:00:00 GMT

A facebook community member reflects on what self care looks like now that she has left Christian Science.

I’ve been dealing with whelming anxiety for a few days now. Not one particular thing, just a lot of little things (and some big ones). Some of these things I have very little control over, beyond how I react to them, and other things I can directly influence.

The other evening I had a moment of I just can’t right now. So I decided I wasn’t going to. I ran a warm tub with lavender Epsom salts and bubble bath, I got a large glass of water, and I had some CBD infused chocolate (I also have edibles - yay living in a state where such things are legal, but I don’t like to indulge in those when the kids are home). I even lit a candle (because I found a box of them and I wanted to burn something).

I almost feel okay. The CBD infused chocolate helped take the edge off the anxiety. The hot soak eased the muscle tension. I should do this more often.

Self care is important, and sometimes self care is bubble baths & chocolate.

Sometimes self care is a dentist appointment to take care of a filling. I did that recently too. Armed with dark glasses, headphones, and a cozy sweater, I showed up and got my filling taken care of.

As he was preparing the tooth to be worked on, my dentist asked how I was doing.

“As well as can be expected given that my mouth is a quarter numb and I’m getting a filling taken care of.” I mumbled talking around the dental contraptions in my mouth.

His assistant laughed and told him perhaps he shouldn’t be asking those questions. The filling went quickly. The head phones and dark glasses helped with the noise and bright lights. Neither helped with my itching nose.

At my dentist’s suggestion, I took a few ibuprofen as the numbness wore off. Sometimes self care is taking ibuprofen.

I’m trying to remember that self care is important. That is is OK to tell my husband I’m going to go spend an hour in the tub and watch Netflix and let him deal with the kids. Taking ibuprofen to ease the transition out of numbness is okay too. I’ve been seeing this dentist for over a decade now, I trust his advice on such things, and I don’t particularly enjoy tooth pain.

Giving myself permission to step back from all the things is challenging.

“Simple” Ideas

Sun, 15 Sep 2024 01:00:00 GMT

I recently read One Simple Idea, How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life, by Mitch Horowitz, which charts the history of the positive thinking movement from Quimby and Eddy, to modern day prosperity-gospel televangelists.

I’m sure any Christian Scientist would shudder to think of Ms. Eddy lumped in with Creflo Dollar — fear not, I linked to the wikipedia page, not his website which requests “Love Gift Offers,” but here they are, neatly packaged in the same book with 42 pages of notes on sources in the back.

Horowitz discusses, at length, the Quimby-Eddy-Dresser triangle over who wrote what and when. Quimby published “almost nothing during his life.” Quimby’s writings were held by the Dresser family after his death, and his “edited notebooks did not begin to see publication until 1921.”

During all this, Eddy is busily consolidating her movement. She builds a publishing house, appoints a Board of Directors (with herself in charge), writes The Manual, and over 100 years later, you’ve likely heard of her (even if you confuse Christian Science and Scientology). This book is not about Eddy or Christian Science, but her former students get a lot of coverage in the early chapters.

After Quimby and Eddy, it all gets rather complicated. Eddy largely disappears from the scene (she’s busy with her Church), however there are plenty of disaffected students of Eddy being praised by Dresser for properly crediting Quimby (Warren Felt Evans), starting their own schools (Emma Curtis Hopkins). A few others pop up here and there as The New Thought Movement becomes somewhat splintered, with none really taking the hold (or cult of personality) that Eddy did. The focus shifts, and becomes less on physical healing and more on prosperity — God wants you to be prosperous!

The rest of the New Thought/New Age/Positive Thinking/Prosperity Gospel figures drift in and out, which some being more popular than others, but their end message is similar: you have the power to create your own reality. From the secular message of Dale Carnegie (How to Win Friends and Influence People) to the decidedly religious undertones of Norman Vincent Peale (The Power of Positive Thinking), to the “send me your money because God wants you” to of Pat Robinson.

I felt things got a bit repetitive: over the last 100+ years, the same ideas were being repackaged, admittedly by new people, and sold to new audiences. Horowitz does an excellent job compiling the highlights, and the last chapter, Does it Work? left me curious about the science behind the mind/body connection, but given my experiences growing up with Christian Science, I’m deeply skeptical.

Church Policy & Medical Care

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 01:00:00 GMT

Does anyone know the year when the Mother Church began changing their language regarding medical care? Basically when they start started saying that CSers have a choice about whether or not they receive medical care.

This question popped up in one of the ExCS facebook groups and quite a discussion followed. In recent memory, there was the NYTimes piece, Christian Science Church Seeks Truce With Modern Medicine (March 23, 2010). There are the works of CS apologist Nancy Nilback Baxeter, namely Open the Doors of the Temple: The Survival of Christian Science in the Twenty-first Century, which argues, rather extensively, that Eddy did not wish for her followers to suffer, and that Eddy supported people seeking material means. We cite Baxter’s works extensively on our resource for “Helping Family Still in CS.”

Even in her own times, Eddy left loopholes and was quick to blame the injured party for their failure to properly demonstrate. She encouraged her followers to get vaccinated (Obey the Law), seek out doctors/obstetricians to assist during childbirth, and the ever popular “right use of temporary means” loop hope in Science and Health states:

If Christian Scientists ever fail to receive aid from other Scientists, – their brethren upon whom they may call, – God will still guide them into the right use of temporary and eternal means. S&H p. 444:7-10

Which stands in contradiction to her earlier statement:

We cannot serve two masters nor perceive divine Science with the material senses. Drugs and hygiene cannot successfully usurp the place and power of the divine source of all health and perfection. S&H 167:12-14 (archived) S&H 167:12 (archived)

Through out its existence, the Mother Church has walked a fine line between religious liberty and Christian Science as a therapeutic healing solution. Mother Church policy seems to fall on the side of “religious liberty” with any potentially lethal effects “lacking ill intent” (and/or understanding). Policy may pay lip service to the idea that CS have a “choice” about receiving medical care, however, as former-CS blogger Kindism notes in her post “nominal worshipers stay home”

If people choose to forgo medical treatment in favor of prayer or alternative healing methods that is their choice, but when the policy is institutionalized and a requirement for admittance [in CS facilities and institutions] it makes me angry. For many CS, taking the step of even considering going to a doctor is a huge one, and the added pressure of being ostracized from the community is often too much so they continue to pray and wait for healing.

There are Christian Science Nursing Care Facilities that make Principia’s policy about the “right use of temporary means” seem downright progressive. These groups are not directly affiliated with the Mother Church (2), they just require you are a member to be hired (3), are a Journal-listed CSP/Nurse, have had Class Instruction, have been/are currently an active church member, rely on CS for healing, etc.

Examples of institutionalized requirements are rampant among Christian Science nursing homes, which operate independently of the Mother Church. Numerous examples of this, and a 60 minutes interview with a former CS nurse can be found in our post on The “Healing Ministry” of Christian Science Nursing.

This site contains are numerous examples of CS forgoing medical care leading to unpleasant ends, including, Paul’s story “She was a true believer and wouldn’t have wanted it any other way” which tells of his mother’s untimely death to untreated skin cancer.

Then there is Jenny’s story “My eyesight was on the line!” where Principia administration followed her to the ER, and she reflects that “The crux of the issue for them was not my well-being or health or whether my eye problem was contagious, but whether I had been given a prescription.”

We also have stories like Marion’s, “Oh, don’t worry about it. Everybody does it” where she tells how she confessed to having a mastectomy and she “confided to another church member that I had broken the faith’s directives, and that I felt that I should resign my membership. This is the response that angers me still: a whispered response, ”Oh, don’t worry about it. Everybody does it.” Marion further reflects “I had been on the verge of risking my life. I believed these people were sincere and committed to what they professed. I should have known. Eddy was ‘committed’ until it became inconvenient for her. I may well have known about her dental work and morphine use even then, but still, the sense of betrayal was overpowering.”

So when did Official Policy shift? Official policy has always been Christian Science is never to blame, only those who practice it, and really, if they couldn’t do it properly, they should have known to go seek medical care.