Back in April I wrote my personal mission statement for The Ex-Christian Scientist. My work there, and having a life beyond my Ex-CS activities, are part of the reason I'm on hiatus for the summer. I thought I would share it with you here, and encourage you to visit The Ex-Christian Scientist if you have not already done so. I … Continue reading Why I’m doing this (reposted from The Ex-Christian Scientist)
Category: reblogged
Parenting Beyond Our Past: A Resource Guide
Very glad to have found this resource guide! I’ve already read How To Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen so Kids Will Talk and Siblings Without Rivalry and found them to be helpful. Look forward to exploring the other things listed as well!
Photo Credit: Darcy Anne
“Train up a child in the way he should go……”
I have yet to meet a religious homeschooler who can’t finish that scripture from memory. If you’re like me, you grew up in a very authoritarian, punitive family environment. Punishment and pain, both physical and emotional, were believed to be the best means to teach a child “the way he should go”. Spanking and instant, cheerful obedience to authority were the norm, with many other kinds of punishments used as retribution for a child’s wrong-doing. Parents were the ultimate authority, and children had no choice but to obey or be punished, sometimes very harshly. I honestly didn’t know there were any other ways to parent. Either you spanked and “trained” your children, or you let them run wild and that meant you didn’t love them.
We were the generation influenced by “child training” teachers like the
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Thoughts On The End
Everyone should read this post. Yes, this is an uncomfortable topic, but it is very important, and Emerging Gently has done an excellent job handling the subject!
I’ve recently had a dialogue with a reader regarding a recent post. My friend is a Christian Scientist, while I, obviously, am not. The discussion centred somewhat around end-of-life issues, and it’s prompted me to think about this rather uncomfortable subject.
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go do gratitude
I'm reclaiming "gratitude" from its saccharine Christian Science use. Lets ignore the bad grammar and do gratitude.
The Slut Shaming, Sex-Negative Message in the Virgin Birth—It’s Worth a Family Conversation
I had Sunday School teachers who insisted that Christian Science takes the “inspired” word of the Bible, and that the stories were “allegorical.” The virgin birth story (inspired allegory or not) always made me a bit uncomfortable. See also, http://valerietarico.com/2014/12/09/the-not-so-virgin-birth-of-the-christmas-story/ on how Jesus’ birth became more virginal and miraculous.
The birth story of baby Jesus celebrates the promise of new life, but for girls it also sends a harmful message. How can we acknowledge this without spoiling the rest?
Most Americans, even many who are not very religious, look forward to Christmas as a time to celebrate warmth, friendship, generosity and good cheer. Familiar festivities weave together stories and traditions from many cultures, which makes it easy to find something for everyone. But maybe it’s time to look a little closer at the Christmas story itself.
The birth story of the baby Jesus is heartwarming and iconic—the promise of new life and new hope in a time of darkness. It has inspired centuries of maternal art and is the best loved of all Bible stories. It also has a darker subtext, especially for someone like me—the mother of two daughters.
In the story, an angel appears to a virgin…
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An Atheopagan Life, by Mark Green: “Observances Around the Year: November/December”
Beautiful ways to celebrate the holidays.
An Atheopagan Life is a monthly column about living an atheist, nature-honoring life.
November and December certainly don’t lack for observances and holiday celebrations. In the temperate zone of the planet, pretty much every culture has had some way of celebrating the winter solstice, and the accumulation of many of those traditions lives with us today in the form of Christmas, Chanukah, the Pagan Yule, newer traditions such as Kwanzaa and even Festivus.
For Atheopagans, navigating this season in a manner free of theistic and supernatural overtones can be a bit of a challenge. We’re besieged with well-intentioned messages from relatives and friends rooted in their credulous religious beliefs. Exasperating as it can sometimes be, the main thing is to remember that those expressions are meant kindly and with love, by and large, not to try to shove religious credulity down our throats.
Meanwhile, our own opportunities for observances are…
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Why Egg Freezing Moves Us in the Wrong Direction
By Jackie Acho and Eva Basilion
Facebook and Apple recently announced plans to pay for their female employees to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons. It sounds so friendly to women, doesn’t it? – a triumph of technology over biology, relieving us from the pressure of child bearing and rearing so that we may build our careers. Some people are even predicting the end of pregnancy and a rise in artificial wombs. Wouldn’t that level the playing field with men? Doesn’t it seem that they care about you, your choices, and your career?
Well, they don’t. They don’t care about you. They care about your productivity. They care about your ability to work 80-100 hours/week. Most of all, they care about your short-term profitability. They do NOT care about your long term professional development. And it would seem they don’t even care about the long-term relevance of their own institutions.
In…
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Psychological Harms of Bible-Believing Christianity
Before you go jumping up and down screaming “that’s not Christian Science” take a step or two back and go re-read my blog and the blogs/books/articles of others who have left. Christian Science qualifies, they just use different language to manipulate.
By Marlene Winell and Valerie Tarico
“I am 30 years old and I am struggling to find sanity. Between the Christian schools, homeschooling, the Christian group home (indoctrinating work camp) and different churches in different cities, I am a psychological, emotional and spiritual mess.” –A former Evangelical
If a former believer says that Christianity made her depressed, obsessive, or post-traumatic, she is likely to be dismissed as an exaggerator. She might describe panic attacks about the rapture; moods that swung from ecstasy about God’s overwhelming love to suicidal self-loathing about repeated sins; or an obsession with sexual purity.
A symptom like one of these clearly has a religious component, yet many people instinctively blame the victim. They will say that the wounded former believer was prone to anxiety or depression or obsession in the first place—that his Christianity somehow got corrupted by his predisposition to psychological problems. Or they will say…
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No True Whatevers
I love the "No True" argument, it is perhaps one of my favorites.
California Mystery Worship Three: Matter is Mortal Error
An outsiders account of a Christian Science Service. Very insightful.
“Matter is mortal error.” I’m seeking to understand this phrase after attending worship at First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Thousand Oaks, CA.
I arrived early, accompanying the friend of a friend who serves as summer vocalist. I had the opportunity to observe the two lay readers, the organist and the vocalist, all female, put final touches on the 10 am service.
I sat in the small, unadorned worship center, which would seat 100 comfortably, and thumbed through the hymnal, noting that two of the songs for the day were not in the hymnal. I saw no other song book available. Although I was eventually greeted by an usher, the only person who spoke with me while I sat there, she did not offer a different hymn book or an order of service
I finally went to the back of the worship area and found a hymnal supplement. I asked…
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kind-ism 