Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?

This is #2 in a series of posts looking at the 26 Christian Science Weekly Bible Lesson subjects, chosen by Mary Baker Eddy, and rotated twice per year. These lessons are the sermon at each Christian Science church worldwide, and are read by Christian Scientists daily. Today’s subject is “Are Sin, Disease, and Death Real?”. Look for other posts in the category Lesson Sermon Subjects. 

Non-effect of Christian Science

As I write this, it’s a few days after Christmas, the Boxing Week sales are in full effect, and I am slowly recovering from a holiday battle with a flu virus that finally caught up to me. It started innocently enough as a little scratch in the throat, but snowballed from there and has laid me flat for the last three days. Since Tuesday, when I battled through it to drive to my cousins’ place where I usually spend Christmas, I’ve been virtually a recluse on their downstairs family room couch. Christmas dinner, with the failure of the oven, was an entertaining (for all of us) comedy of errors, all adding up to a holiday few of us will forget. It was the only moment I made an appearance that day.

Uncomfortable Truths (a follow-up to “Where’s Mary?”)

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.

Scientific Ignorance

Image credit: “Mary Death” by Matthew Tarpley (www.marydeathcomics.com)

I’m not a fan of organized religion and cults; in many ways, I see little difference between them. In addition to Christian Science, I especially dislike conservative fundamentalist Christianity, and it’s evil cousin radical Islam.

A Testimony

I’ve given a similar testimony before in this blog, but I just feel moved to stand up and give this one. The other day, I was dealing with a headache while I was in a meeting at work. In the past, as a Christian Scientist, I would have tried to quietly “know the Truth” in some way about the supposed unreality of this headache, but would have gone on suffering in silence from that illusive falsity–all the while, praying in Christian Science for a healing that never came. A woman who was attending the meeting with me offered me two Tylenol extra strength pain relievers. I gratefully accepted them, and within 15 or so minutes, the headache symptoms began to subside, and were soon gone.

Professional Accountability

This is another in my series on contradictions in Christian Science practice, teachings, and culture. See others under the category of Contradictions.

I visit a physical therapist on occasion, when some part of me is injured or sore. My physio has worked wonders on my chronic lower back issues, and helped me with a shoulder injury I sustained this past winter. My physio is also a certified acupuncturist, and acupuncture helped greatly in alleviating the pain of the shoulder injury. I also visit a walk-in clinic when I need medical attention (I still haven’t gotten around to connecting with a regular General Practitioner). Back in the day, when I had hair, I also visited a barber. I take my cat to a veterinarian for regular check-ups and vaccinations. I work with colleagues who are certified social workers–something I am considering becoming.

Monkeys With Machine Guns

In a conversation I had with a business acquaintance a few years ago, we were discussing a multi-level marketing company we had both at different times had a brush with, which sells various financial and investment instruments through a network of independent distributors, most of whom have no prior experience or education in the finance or investment fields. He had gone much farther with the company than I did and became a representative and manger for awhile before realizing how flawed the company’s business model was and leaving. I attended one informational meeting at the behest of another friend of mine who was a distributor. When I rather quickly realized the business was a multi-level marketing scheme, I beat a hasty retreat. My acquaintance likened the company’s business model to “giving machine guns to monkeys”. This was his very astute way of describing the handing over of a complex task to someone completely unqualified for it. You’d think that no reasonably sane person would do that, but many do–sometimes with disastrous results for their financial portfolios. Personally, I’ll stick with a financial advisor who has the requisite business or economics degree, and relevant experience.

Sunday Testimony

I just had to stand up and give this testimony. I am so grateful for Buckley’s cold and flu caplets. Last night, I was feeling the oncoming symptoms of a cold, and I took two of those nice little blue night capsules, and had the best sleep.

Trials Are NOT Proofs of God’s Care

Image credit: The Atheist Pig (www.theatheistpig.com)

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy writes: “Trials are proofs of God’s care.” (p. 66) A recent post in a Facebook group of former Christian Scientists inspires this post. The person started with this quote, and asked what our thoughts were on the sort of universally Christian idea (as I see it) that suffering brings us closer to God, and if we still accepted that belief. Answers amongst the group varied, but a general consensus of us who responded do not really accept this belief anymore, whether we be atheist, agnostic, or of other belief. However, most of us agreed that we do experience positive personal growth from rough experiences, and I certainly agree. As I thought about all of this, I considered my own relationship to the “Abrahamic ‘God'”, especially as it stands now.

Deaths in the Family – Epilogue

Please also see Parts 1, 2, & 3 of this post, as well as a related previous post. All of these posts are under the category Death in my Family.

During Dad’s time in the hospital, I had decided I was going to move back to where he was living so I could be with him, and oversee his care. His death did not alter that decision, but it profoundly altered the course of my life. After taking care of a few immediate details, and getting the probate process started on his will, I closed up the house and returned to Boston, and work. I had planned that I would use some immediate funds I gained access to to settle most of my debts, and work through June of that year, then resign and move back to where my parents lived, and where I now live. I originally planned to drive my car across Canada, heading straight north from Boston, and starting across from Montréal and visit family friends and family along the way.