I think this is the first post I’ve written here that has nothing much really to do with Christian Science, Mary Baker Eddy, or mine or anyone else’s experiences with Christian Science. It has to do with a nerdy, compulsive thing I do every day; multiple times daily, sometimes. I am a statistics nerd, stats are one of many varied components of my day job, and this blog is no exception to my interest in them. I like to look at the stats for this blog. Sometimes after I’ve published a new post, I’ll check and see how long it takes before I have views on it. Yeah I know, I seriously need to get a life.
WordPress, the platform I use for this blog, does a pretty good job of presenting me statistics on how many visitors and views I have, what they’ve looked at, what links they’ve clicked in my blog (which has affected how much I link in my posts lately vs. earlier), and even a neat little map of the world that highlights the countries some of my viewers are from. That last one is the one I like the most. Just in case you’re curious, here’s a list of countries that have popped up in the month or so that I’ve been writing this blog (in order of most visitors to least): United States, Canada (I’m thinking some of those might be me), United Kingdom, Jersey (it’s near the UK), Germany, Hong Kong, India.
Another thing I look at is search terms that have brought people here. So far, there have been few visitors who have come here via internet searches. You have to be going at it for awhile for search engines like Google to start picking you up, and I haven’t been at it for long. Also, I need to work on refining my tags, perhaps. I suspect most of my current readers have found me by word of mouth, via other similar blogs, or via Facebook groups where this blog as well as others have been mentioned. I may just follow the lead of my fellow blogger at Kindism and put up a poll asking visitors how they found this blog.
Anyway, what really prompted this post was a search term that someone used that I didn’t expect: “christian science cerebral palsy”. Most of the other searches terms that have led readers to me are some variation of “Christian Science deaths” or “deaths in Christian Science”–which is a bit disturbing to me on a certain level–that says something to me about Christian Science, and I may write about that in the future.
I’m guessing this person was led to a post where I mentioned my younger brother (there have been a couple), who suffered from cerebral palsy. I wonder about this person, what their question was, and if they found an answer. I could share more about my experiences growing up with him, it’s just that my thoughts on this blog have tended to be more current, and my dear brother died 28 years ago while I was still a teenager. Maybe I’ll revisit my childhood more.
Anyway, just my thoughts for the day. And, if you are that person who searched on cerebral palsy, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me if you have a question. It’s a condition I grew up having an intimate knowledge of, and also having to deal with the conflict between that reality and the persistent regimen of denial that Christian Science inflicts. A psychologist could probably have fun analysing my childhood and the weird conflicts I had to deal with.
Emerging Gently 
The searches that find my blog via anything “CS death” make me want to hide from the world & cry. I hope the person searching for “christian science cerebral palsy” found what they were looking for.
Hi! I’m one of your followers from Canada – I found you through another Blog (I think!) and is part of my exploration of all religions; I’m learning many new things! Had never heard of Christian Science before but, as with other ‘religions’ I am concerned about the negative impact on children specifically – I’m a teacher. I find myself asking, “Do you blame the people or is it the religion/cult?” Difficult question to answer. My hat goes off to all of you who are trying to reach out to others with your Blogs – thanks for making the effort and give yourself a pat on the back.
Sincerely, Carmen
An Admirer
Thank you, fellow Canadian! I was beginning to think most if not all of my readers (of which there aren’t very many yet) are former Christian Scientists, but am discovering a few such as yourself who are “seekers of knowledge”. If you do have a question about something or want clarification on anything, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know, given my subject, that some stuff I write may seem unusual. Christian Science is unusual.
As to your question, do I blame the people or the religion? I blame both. In my parents’ case, yes Christian Science failed them, so in that aspect I blame it. I also think they had themselves to blame because they chose of their own free will to “radically rely” on it. I also lay much blame on what I and other former Christian Scientists call the “culture”–other Christian Scientists, the Church, and Christian Science-related institutions and the subtle and not so subtle pressure they lay on to act in a certain way, or make certain decisions.
I also recommend the blog “Kindism” (www.kindism.org). It’s very insightful, well-written, and like mine, secular. Neither of us are Christian, or for that matter religious. She has gone a lot more into Christian Science “culture”–especially institutions like Principia, nursing facilities, and the like, and how they impose “radical reliance” on Christian Science.