A tragic story. The author was a staunch Christian Scientist and worked at the The Mother Church. A series of non-healings changed his attitude.
– Stacey
I loved this book! The author said it took him eight years to write. It comes from the heart.
– Ann
I love this one! I even reached out to the author last year and he emailed me back. I related so much to his story, and appreciated the fact that it didn’t bash Christian Science. It was just a heartfelt, honest retelling of his experience. It was difficult for me to read some of the stronger ex-CS stuff early in my departure and this was a great transition.
– Laura N.
I think it’s good to have such books written from the male perspective. I found Robert Ellis’s style very readable and when I contacted him, he was cordial and encouraging. He describes the impact on his thinking as he studied true science and read far more widely than Christian Science would allow. He describes in a sensitive way the effect of Christian Science on his family and his journey into new avenues of life.
I stumbled upon Blue Windows a number of years ago at someone’s house. I started to read it and was so freaked out by the similarities between the author’s experiences and my own that I almost threw it across the room. It was like a lit match and it burned.
– Tessa
The mental health issues associated with leaving Christian Science are the theme of this memoir, especially the struggle with ingrained Christian Science concepts. The author’s mother’s struggle with self-destructive mental illness brought on by a sense of failure as a Christian Scientist is a turning point. It is a powerful book that will resonate with many who grew up in Christian Science homes.
– Bruce
Blue Windows was one of my triggers for leaving Christian Science. I owe that book a lot. It helped me see that the emotions and anxieties I have lived with for so long had a root in something.
– Marica
I loved Blue Windows. I thought it was more comprehensive than the other memoirs. Her background about Mrs. Eddy and the [Christian Science] Movement was helpful and added a lot of balance to the book.
– Marcia
I just finished Blue Windows. It was harder to get through than other Christian Science survivor books. Not because it wasn’t well written, it really was. Maybe it was too close to home? While I was able to sit and read others in a few long sittings, this one took an effort. Anyone else remember the Christian Science book that she takes the title from? I actually remembered it as a regular children’s book, not Christian Science literature. Funny how much deprogramming there is to be done, even when you think it’s all done already!
– Katie J.
I found Blue Windows difficult to read, purely because it felt like she was describing my childhood and I found it unnerving to think that others had experienced carbon copy childhoods. Mind you, this was quite a few years ago when I read it and I was still discovering that other former Christian Scientists were actually out there. Three cheers for the internet!
This is a wonderful book that has helped many people understand their way out of Christian Science. Originally printed with the publisher-imposed title The Religion that Kills, it is now an eBook with this more temperate title. The first two-thirds deconstructs the control mechanisms that operate under the surface in Christian Science. Linda shows how Christian Science employs influence factors and thought reform techniques that psychologists have identified as typical tools of cults. This explains how Christian Science is able to keep a hold on people, many of whom are intelligent, educated, good folks, and who later are astonished at their deep involvement with Christian Science. In the last third of the book, Linda tells her personal story of finding a new religious path based on an understanding of Jesus Christ as illuminated in the Bible.
– Bruce
Linda Kramer’s book gave me a lot of compassion for those who are still practicing Christian Science. The author clearly explains how Christian Science is consistent with the characteristics of a cult, and why it can be considered a form of mind control. Linda discusses specifically why leaving and recovering from Christian Science is such a difficult and complex lifelong process. All former Christian Scientists that I know have Mary Baker Eddy quotes still bouncing around in their heads, often cringe at the doctors office, etc… why? Linda’s book gives some pretty great insight. This has been helpful to me in my own healing process. I better understand my family and am encouraged to speak more boldly.
– Katie B.
I attended CHILD meetings with the author, Linda Kramer, for probably five years. I watched and participated as she was in the throes of working through what had every evidence of being a process of deprogramming. It can be frightening and there is no way that the reactions can be feigned.
In this book Linda brings her well-trained scientific mind to the monumental task of reliving and reinterpreting half a lifetime’s experiences and beliefs. Giving full expression to the emotional content while analyzing it with clarity, she has made a powerful case for relegating Christian Science to the category of cults.
Linda S. Kramer talks about her upbringing in Christian Science, her decision to leave, her book, Perfect Peril: Christian Science & Mind Control, and her ministry to others leaving that faith, speaking at the conference for the Fellowship of Former Christian Scientists, Grace & Peace Fellowship, St. Louis, MO, August 2014.
This is the gold standard critique of Christian Science – scholarly, exhaustive, and courageous. Roughly the first half of the book is an unfiltered history Eddy’s life, the early days of the Christian Science movement, and the establishment of the Mother Church. The second half covers the social history of Christian Science in the 20th century, conflicts within the movement, the Board of Directors’ campaigns against dissidents, the censorship and suppression of critical books, the disastrous business decisions made by church executives during the 1980s and 1990s, and the demise of the Monitor, etc., including an unflinching account of the child cases of the 1970s and 1980s and the defensive attitude of the Mother Church. Fraser puts Christian Science in the context of American cultural mythology. This is a must-read!
– Bruce
I left the church officially after reading God’s Perfect Child.
-Marica
God’s Perfect Child is a lot to digest. I read it three years after I departed the church, and I’m glad I waited. I wasn’t ready for it until I’d been out for a bit, and any sympathy I had for Christian Science was largely gone.
The book answered many questions I always had, like why dentists and optometrists are okay but doctors are not. It clarified some of Mary Baker Eddy’s peculiarities. The history of Christian Science was also enlightening.
Every page is thoroughly researched and annotated, and is pretty much unassailable. That’s why The Mother Church hates this book so much. They have a hard time refuting it.
– Jeremy
God’s Perfect Child was mind-blowing for me, even though I’d been out of Christian Science for five years when I read it. God’s Perfect Child made me realize what a house of cards the whole church is. I’ve read the book several more times cover to cover, and my copy is marked up, highlighted and Post-it noted.
– Liz Heywood
Christian Science tended to be so vague and anecdotal that even in retrospect, I never got a clear objective sense of the thing. God’s Perfect Child provides an unblinking appraisal that for the first time gave me some real clarity about my own childhood experiences. It gave me so much more of the history and context that are crucial to understanding how Christian Science developed. It’s objective, thoroughly researched and cited, and places Christian Science in a sane and clear context.
This book is a bracing wakeup call for anyone who’s ever had any connection to Christian Science. It is strong stuff that elicits deep responses, and the sense of outrage that it evokes needs to translate into positive action or acknowledgment in support of yourself, and not just a vague sense of hopeless anger.
– Hughes
Caroline Fraser is spot on with everything as far as I can see. I had a front row seat for much of the stuff that went on in the 1980s and 1990s, and her research is impeccable. Reading what she writes about Mary Baker Eddy is an education. That woman was a con artist on par with L. Ron Hubbard, David Koresh, and Jim Jones. Our dear families were duped by a master. For someone with knowledge of the Christian Science community, this book is a real page turner.
– Marcia
It wasn’t until I read Caroline Fraser’s book God’s Perfect Child, that I realized how deeply programmed I truly was. I highly recommend it.
