CULT –
- a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
- an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers…
(Dictionary.com)
Self-cannibalism is the practice of eating oneself, also called autocannibalism, or autosarcophagy.
(Wikipedia)
I recently heard about a Christian Science branch church that received a large bequest from a recently deceased member. Back in the day, when I was on the Board of Directors at my own branch church, we also received a bequest from a deceased member. The tiny Christian Science Society in the community where I live now is mainly sustained by a large amount of money they have in savings that’s been built up over the years by, you guessed it, bequests. Do you see a pattern? Continue reading
This was posted in an on-line group I’m in, and I thought it was funny. All over the world, old Christian Science churches are being re-purposed as this moribund religion shrinks away to its “native nothingness” (to use a well-known phrase from Mary Baker Eddy). Some have become condominiums, many have found new life as theatres, and others have become homes to congregants of different religions. Continue reading
This image, a ‘fan art’ piece for the on-line game Fallout 4 was recently posted in an on-line group I’m in. While the artist’s caption labels it as the former site of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), it actually depicts the post-apocalyptic ruins of the Christian Science Center in Boston, Massachusetts (the headquarters of the Christian Science Church). MIT is actually located across the Charles River from Boston in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The game Fallout 4 is set in post-apocalyptic Boston/New England, in an alternate reality from our own, approximately 218 years in the future. It is part of the Fallout on-line game series. Continue reading
Some time ago I swore to myself, and in e-mail witness with my friend and fellow ex-Christian Scientist blogger at Kindism, that I was not going to wade into the extra crazy/weird world of sexuality and Christian Science. I’ve been quite happy to leave this odd topic in her capable hands. Well, I’m going to break that vow–just a little bit. My post today deals with a hot-button (for some) issue: those who are lesbian/bi-sexual/gay/transgender (LBGT) or sometimes generically and incorrectly lumped together under the term, homosexual. Bisexual people are not homosexual, by the way, nor are transgender folks. Homosexuality refers specifically to those who are attracted to those of the same gender as themselves. Continue reading
I’ve got nothing against wolves, they’re a noble and much maligned animal. However, the figurative ‘wolves’ that are implied by the common saying that is the title of this post are anything but noble. They’re deceptive, they lie, and they lead unknowing people down a path they don’t intend to go down. That’s the subject of today’s post. Contrary to my usual routine, I’m not putting this one in the queue to go up on a Wednesday far in the future, as I think this is a wolf that fortunately may be on its way to obscurity. At least their main website seems to indicate such, as it appears to not be actively maintained. However, they do have a recently active crowdfunding campaign going right now (click here for that, but for the love of the gods, don’t donate, please)–they seem to be woefully short of their $10,000.00 goal ($135.00 so far). But then again, they may have just moved to a new site (here), so this gnat may not have met its windshield just yet. Please have a look at the links I’ve provided before you continue reading to spare me the need to give an extensive backgrounder on these folks. Continue reading
“You may know when first Truth leads by the fewness and faithfulness of its followers.”
(Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 225)
This statement is often held up by Christian Scientists as a banner of proof that Christian Science (a.k.a. Truth*) is as strong and relevant as ever, and as a denial of the reality of its very precipitous decline since about the mid 20th century. Continue reading
There are a couple of Christian Science groups that have arisen in the St. Louis, Missouri and Chicago, Illinois areas. They are a form of what I call “Nouveau Christian Science”. As I see it, it’s an effort to make Christian Science more relevant to a modern and wider audience that doesn’t generally embrace the highly sleep-inducing traditional Christian Science church service, or the highly esoteric nature of Christian Science theology. Continue reading
Image credit: Intelligence is sexy (Facebook page).
How many of us have stuck too long with something because we thought, or were told and we believed, that it was the right thing? How long misplaced loyalty can draw on. In my case, with Christian Science, it dragged on for 40 years. I’m not sure if I necessarily became a slave to my beliefs (I always had my questions and doubts), but it certainly was a dysfunctional relationship of the worst kind. Continue reading
My post “Where’s Mary?” from earlier this week has generated some interest from a fellow ex-Christian Scientist blogger (who re-blogged it on her blog) and some of her/his followers, although I don’t think the Christian Science apologist really read my post. In this post, I ask the rhetorical questions, “What are Christian Scientists afraid of?” and “Why are Christian Scientists in stealth mode?”. While I do sort of answer them in the post, here’s an in-your-face answer to that: a video by Liz Heywood, a survivor of religious-based child neglect. I’ve talked about her case many times in the past, how her Christian Scientist parents chose prayer over conventional medical treatment to treat a bone infection that left her permanently crippled, eventually necessitating amputation of the affected leg. Had her parents sought treatment, she could have been successfully treated with antibiotics, and the whole thing would have been an anecdotal memory of childhood. Continue reading
Emerging Gently 