Faith: a guest blog by Blair Roddan

I am a memory man to say the least. This is probably why I submit so many things to my brother's blog.

It's been a long time coming since I've expressed my feelings on the religious faith that I was brought up in. That faith was Christian Science, a faith I now, after years of thinking/researching/reflecting, believe to be a religious cult and not a religion, not that dissimilar from other cults that claim to be religions, The Church of Religious Science, Scientology, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to name just a few. God Bless those who really believe in these cults, but they obviously haven't done their research, and all are stuck in their cultdom for better or worse.

Now The Catholic Church: there is a real Church! A religion, not a cult, as are the religions that branched off from The Catholic Church, the Baptist, Lutheran and so on. Without getting into a textbook definition of what differentiates a Religion from a Cult or a cult from a religion (you're free to do you own research) I would like now to examine my years of upbringing in the faith of Christian Science, a cult if there ever was one.

The core of Christian Science, or CS as faithful adherents liked to refer to it, is spiritual. Your existence is spiritual and not material. You exist in a spiritual world in a spiritual body. Though you might be tempted in fact to think you live in a physical body in a physical world, you are taught to deny the material things of actual life. When you get sick you do not need to go and seek medical attention; instead, you pray to awake your spirituality. If needed, you turn to a licensed Christian Science 'practitioner' to help clear your thoughts, align yourself with Divine Mind, and work out the difficulty. All illnesses or problems are called "Error" and/or "Mortal Mind. To this day I often find myself in denial on some things in my life. This I attribute to my upbringing in the CS faith. In retrospect, I can't say this kind of upbringing was really mentally healthy or in my best interests.

Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, made her discovery after she slipped on some ice and injured one of her ankles. Either far away from any medical facility or unable to afford medical treatment, Mrs. Eddy prayed, reasoning that if Jesus was able to heal the sick in his day she could in hers. Eventually she wrote what became the textbook of Christian Science, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: a book that made powerful claims for faith healing, for trusting that God's love would always be enough to heal you of sickness, sin, and death!

Many years after her discovery, and at the time I was being raised in the faith in the 1950s, Christian Science had an enormous following worldwide. It gave people comfort and belief in the healing power of prayer--plus, it came without little or not great financial cost to the individual believer. A similar scenario comse to mind when considering the case of L. Ron Hubbard, the discoverer of the Church of Scientology. The textbook he wrote to substantiate his so-called discovery is titled "Dianetics." Both these cults insist on the sort of unswerving, absolute devotion to their leaders 'thinking': some might call it 'brain washing.' You, as a member, sit there and believe wholeheartedly what you are reading, hearing, instructed to do, without question, whether or not the healing or the success or whatever it is you are praying for, hoping to achieve etc. etc. comes to you.

I remember my father having a cyst on this nose for many years. It finally drained one day. Had he not been of the CS faith he could have gone to a doctore much earlier and had it drained with the prick of a needle. For years I suffered from epileptic seizures. No doctors were allowed to be involved: Instead my mother worked with a Christian Science practitioner, praying that I would have a healing. No healing ever took place. I'd started CS Sunday School when I was 5 years old and attended until I was 20. After this I bailed from the faith, trying a couple of other cult/faiths along the way. Finally, 15 years later, I sought medical help. My uncle, a devout non-Scientist, checked me into the seizure program at UCLA. They were able to dianose what part of the brain my seizures were coming from and prescribed the correct medication. I was healed! What a great relief to me and my family. I can't say that prayer is always the answer.

I have an aunt who is 98 years old and resides in a retirement home for Christian Scientists. She gets good care even though there's no medical attention given. She's probably never been to a doctor in her life. Go figure? When she fell 6 years ago she wanted to go to a CS nursing home for recovery. I asked the nurse there if they would mind using an Ace bandage on her arm. They said, "absolutely not." I responded that my request was not technically medical, per se. They still denied her the bandage. 

I'm still in touch with many friends that were Christian Scientists. Most have fled the faith as I have.

I don't mean to slam Christian Science. It has many qualities that can change one's thinking for the better; but it also has a lot of negatives when it comes to reality.

Please be aware of what you believe in and how it affects your life. So many people don't really investigate their faith. Take a close look at your spiritual beliefs and, if you feel your faith is working, then more power to you.

Blair Roddan lives in Las Vegas, Nv. He works in the gaming industry there.