This is the first post in a series about leaving TMC. For all posts see the tag “goodbyeTMC.”

The other morning in the car my husband and I were discussing the flack I’ve gotten for not withdrawing my Mother Church membership. My favorite criticism comes from the Ex-CS group in the UK, they’re a nice group, but I feel like we’re in different places sometimes.

I suppose being in MC keeps you in touch with what they are doing next, which may be an advantage. Personally, I wouldn’t give them a dollar or a pound to further their cause nor add to their membership statistics!!!!  Some of our group would perceive your continued membership as CS still having a hold over you and all your information possibly returning to MC one day.

I love how this assumes I was paying any attention to what TMC was doing even before I quit CS. Not so much. I mostly went to Sunday School, paid $1 in per-capita taxes (when they had the right address to reach me and I remembered), and went about my happy life mostly ignoring TMC and their “youth activities” after all, I’d already met/married my husband, I didn’t need to find an eligible CS-guy!

For various reasons I never went through “Class Instruction,” and never felt compelled to do so. I did interview with TMC once, for a position to be an assistant to a lecturer. The job sounded great on paper, but at the interview, it included things like “picking up dry cleaning,” apparently they’re “really busy” and can’t be bothered to do it themselves. My attitude was get a laundry service, or wear less dry-clean-only clothing. Really people.  Not so much.

Then there are those who like to remind me about the crazy that is TMC.

I would strongly recommend that you quit your membership. This institution is, frankly, batshit and criminal, and they need as little support as possible. I know those are harsh words, but I’m sure you know that they are deserved.

I’m well aware of the crazy, thank you very much, I was raised in it for 20+ years, and again with the assumed support.

I feel no great animosity towards TMC, I have a large number of family and friends who are active members, nor do I have any particular problem with people choosing to sit quietly and pray about issues that arise. On the contrary, I find sitting quietly to gather one’s thoughts and calm down to be incredibly helpful, but I also strongly recommend combining that with appropriate medical care (apparently the Mother Church has changed it’s stance on the issue but none of the “CS” institutions, nursing facilities, Principia, or anywhere else seem to have gotten the memo). If prayer is used at all, it should be supplementing medical care, not replacing it entirely.

I think TMC and the CS movement in general is DOING IT WRONG, and the fact that “Christian Science death” is the #3 search term that reaches my blog is a huge sign they are. I also no longer believe in God – at least not God as put forth in the Bible. You can read all the “inspired” word you want, but that God is a jerk, and I’m not going to worship it.

The Bible plays a HUGE role in CS, I think it is a rather morbid accounting of old stories, archaic laws and should not be used as a moral compass, premise for a school, society, or anything else. The individual referred to as “Jesus” had some great ideas, as did/do the Buddha, Dalai Lama, and countless other religious traditions. I feel the golden rule and the idea that you should be kind to one another transcends religious doctrine and that you do not need to, and should not confine yourself to one rigid religious perspective.

I feel we should all be nice to each other, and while TMC has a heartwarming “letter to former and inactive members” which

extends a loving welcome to all inactive or former members. The love of The Mother Church remains constant and unconditional to all who are or have been members.

I’ve got some ocean front property in Utah if you’re interested, but I digress.

I’m sure TMC, like God, still Love me, but unlike any reasonable God, TMC wants money, loyalty, and church attendance. I feel it is time for me to move on. I don’t want or need a God who throws problems my way so I can grow, I’m not Job. I’m not going to endanger my life by radically relying on prayer, nor do I need to be judged for seeking medical treatment. Christian Science, as embodied by TMC, and I have differences that we can’t resolve (and it has been going on for quite some time), so it is time for me to officially leave.

So how does one leave?

For additional reading, a post I inspired http://emergegently.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/die-hard-with-peer-pressure/