Guest Post: Neo’s Story (Part Two)

The following guest post was written by Neo. This is Part Two of a two-part post. Part One was posted last Sunday.

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Questioning my religion…

An interesting facet of Christian Science practice that I discovered at the time I was in college was that the human ego could be brought to bear in its application. By this I mean, as you mentally apply or study the teachings, you can do so in a disinterested way, ‘logically’ as it were, or you can apply the force of your belief in willing your prayer or whatever it is to be … True? Applied? Fruiful? I witnessed the results of this kind of ‘prayer’ on my physical state a number of times, and it actually caused me some mental pain. I believed that Christian Science was a ‘pure’ religion and that its teachings could only be applied in one way. I was troubled to learn from my own practice that I could actually bend these teachings to my own will.

Five Questions–Principia Edition: My Answers

In collaboration with my fellow blogger at Kindism, I’m answering another edition of “Five Questions”; this time, it’s the Prin edition. We have also posed these same questions to a number of other people who attended Principia, and who have, like me, left Christian Science. Those answers appear on The Ex-Christian Scientist*.

Where are my damn car keys?

Sweet mother of Jesus! I have been healed of writer’s block! While it may not seem that I have this affliction, since I write posts in advance and only post every other week, my output of late has slowed somewhat, and I don’t have quite as many posts in the queue as I normally do. However, thanks to our lard and saviour, I have found inspiration for a post!

Guest Post: Neo’s Story (Part One)

The following guest post was written by Neo. This is Part One of two.

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I was born to a Christian Scientist mother and father. My father’s parents still went to church for some of my childhood but became cynical about church politics and stopped attending while I was still young. My mother’s father was never a Christian Scientist but supported her mother in her religion and she was a Christian Scientist until she passed away. No other members of either of my parents’ families are Christian Scientists.

Guest Post: Childhood Memories

The following guest post was written by Marie.

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My mom sent me back to school too soon after having chicken pox. I had come down with it during a Girl Scouts camping weekend in fourth grade. It was right after my parents separated, and she was working days for the first time. So, the first week of school that I was sick, I had been home alone. This was highly atypical for my upbringing and in hindsight, I believe she had kept this a secret from my father’s side of the family–who knew I had chicken pox, but whom she did not want to ask for help from, and this created her internal stress to get me back to school.

Introspection

Image credit: Emerging Gently.

I’ve written about September 11^th in a previous post, telling of my own personal memories of that day. For me, September 11^th has always been a day of reflection and introspection. I always remember exactly what I was doing, and where I was when I heard about the attacks. I was at work in Boston at The Mother Church in the Media Services department, cataloguing our sound effects library. I remember watching on live TV as the second plane hit the World Trade Center in New York City, and that sinking feeling that the world was not going to be the same any more.

Moving on…

Image credit: Emerging Gently.

As many of my regular readers will know, I’m a member of a few Facebook groups of ex-Christian Scientists. When I initially joined what most of us call the ‘main group’, I was a lurker, somewhat reluctant (I wasn’t sure I was quite ready to defect to the ‘dark side’), and the group wasn’t very active anyway–I’m probably one of the first 10 members of the group. In the three or so years since, it has grown to over 150 members. It has become a very lively and active place, and I’ve become an active participant. I’ve also joined a few other Facebook groups for former Christian Scientists.

Sunday morning rant

As my regular readers well know, I am not religious, and no longer attend church. I despise the deep hypocrisy I see with many who are religious–not just Christians, but Muslims, Jews, and many others. I just don’t see religion as a force for good in this world. Yes, it claims to be, but in practice it isn’t.