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The Religion That Kills: Christian Science: Abuse, Neglect, and Mind Control

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I recognize that titles are designed to sell books, but, in this case, I fear that the title may unfortunately disguise Dr. Linda Kramer's book as a bit of latter-day yellow journalism instead of framing it as the thoughtful, respectful, and groundbreaking work that it is.

Like Dr. Kramer, I am a former-Christian Scientist who has extensive contact with other former-Christian Scientists. That something is wrong in Christian Science became obvious to me as I listened to the stories of other former-Christian Scientists, learned from them about the "little secrets" that family members and friends remaining in Christian Science were attempting to deny out of existence, and began to honestly assess what I had seen and experienced during the first quarter century of my life when I was a Christian Scientist.

There are plenty of Christian Science children, wrenching stories of family members who suffered and died due to treatable diseases, and an entire denomination in denial about its obvious meteoric decline. It took Dr. Kramer to pull all of the pieces together and to make sense out of this.

But to categorize Christian Science as a mind controlling cult? Christian Science is not the Unification Church or Hare Krishna or Jonestown or Heaven's Gate. Far from being drawn from the margins of society, Christian Scientists are typically cultured, pleasant, well educated, and, not infrequently, well-to-do. Is there heavy pressure on members from other Christian Scientists? Generally not. Food or sleep deprivation? Hardly. Lovebombing in a Christian Science Church? Uh, no. A strong, charismatic leader? But Mary Baker Eddy has been dead for almost 90 years!

Dr. Kramer asserts that the key to mind control in Christian Science lies in the Church's emphasis on spiritual healing. To heal, Christian Scientists must think like Mrs. Eddy taught that they should think. In Christian Science, the mind control is self-imposed. Dr. Kramer describes it as would give us dominion over the (seeming) problems we faced in this (seeming) material existence. If we failed in one instance, we just had to study harder. Our failure was not due to our religion but to our own lack of understanding. The system was always right. We just had to understand it better-to try harder. Most of the controls which molded our thought patterns were not openly imposed upon us, but were quietly implanted through our religion's doctrine. Promises of healing, "salvation" from material limitations, a sense of spiritual superiority, and the knowledge that believing in materiality was dangerous-these enticements and "knowledge" kept us striving to understand the "ultimate truth" of Christian Science; they molded our thoughts and the way we ran our lives. (Page 93)

Dr. Kramer then goes on to compare Christian Science to a common psychological mind control model (Lifton's). Her comparison, which relies heavily on pro-Christian Science sources, is convincing.

Dr. Kramer writes from an unapologetically Christian perspective, but she carefully keeps discussions of her faith separate from her analysis of mind control in Christian Science (except for where these discussions necessarily overlap). This separation makes her work entirely readable by people who need to address their Christian Science background without being quite ready for another journey of faith. Her discussion of faith is tremendously important, however, to document the experience of many of us who, like Dr. Kramer, were told that Christian Science was the ultimate religious experience, only to find that such was not the case at all.

By addressing the mind control aspect of Christian Science (as well as by sharing that there are meaningful journeys of faith after Christian Science), Dr. Kramer significantly contributes to completing the picture of the Christian Childhood by Barbara Wilson (whose childhood memories bear an uncanny Living and Dying in the Christian Science Church which finally gives a balanced view of Christian Science history. This book is a "must read" for anyone interested in Christian Science. I can only hope that Christian Scientists themselves will get past the title and read this book.

I have been a Christian Scientist for all of my 25 years. As a healthy woman from a healthy family, I am troubled by the stories in this book. These are the negative experiences. I would recommend balancing the negative experiences recorded in this book with some more positive experiences in Christian Science, which can be read in the Christian Science Journal or Sentinel. One must also remember that tragic deaths occur in other religions, and under medical care. It is always a choice that Christian Scientists have to make - medical care or CS care. Many of the Christian Scientists I know do seek out medical care.

Christian Science is a religion that one must make his or her own. There are no rules about seeking medical attention or information as the author implies. Yes, the CS textbook is old. It was written in the 19th century with ideas pertinent to that era, but the ideas, the principles, are what is important in Christian Science. I lived a very happy and healthy Christian Science childhood. The experiences of extremists must not be used to color the perception of Christian Science or Christian Scientists in general.

Let's cut to the chase. We all know that the title of this book was used simply to entice readers. The fact of the matter is, if you've ever known a Christian Scientist, they are very practical, loving people. They only wish the best for their families, and themselves. The religion is not a cult, people come and go as they wish. People are never punished for their beliefs unless they are directly putting down the church (membership can be revoked). Many Christian Scientists live by the philosophy "God does not keep score." They try their best to rely on healing, but Christian Scientists are NOT against going to the doctor if a condition persists. This book really tries to put C.S. in a box. Christian Scientists are like any other group of religious people. There are good ones, and there are bad ones. So why write a book full of anti-C.S. propoganda? Just to sell books.

This book plays on total sensationalism and has false information. Just because extremists take their understanding of religion and do drastic things by no means represents the whole.

I was rather shocked to read many of the falsehoods and irresponsible so-called research this author did regarding Christian Science. We can find crazy people in EVERY religion in every part of the world! She takes extreme examples and media exaggerated hype and states it as a journalistic fact. This book is like an extreme right wing nut bashing the gay community and breeding hate. Christian Science and Mary Baker Eddy was ahead of its time and is only becoming more and more respected as time goes on. The Church has NEVER told people to not go to the doctor or not to utilize modern medicine. I started as a catholic...was raised mostly with Christian Science beliefs...converted to reform Judaism when married to my first husband...have attended the Unitarian Church and read quite a bit about Eastern religions and philosophy. I've explored and been open minded about many different belief systems throughout my lifetime but have recently gone back to the core beliefs of Christian Science... they are powerful and real and have been proven to work over and over again to me..and I can be quite the sceptic about many things! Albert Einstein was amazed by Christian Science and spoke of it with great respect, reverence and awe. Not everything works for everyone...we are a free society and this type of ridiculous bashing shouldn't be respected or believed until you read Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. After that...meet many of the practitioners in CS and you'll see how un-cultlike it truly is. If you look hard enough...you can always find a bad seed but trust me...most of the people involved are intelligent, educated, kind and serene. Don't believe this book or a few people that have taken a wonderful concept and twisted it into something scary.

I'm a former Christian Scientist, and I do have my issues with this religion. Nevertheless, I think this author sadly misses the mark. I've known a large number of CS people, and I can truthfully say that this religion is no cult. It definitely is different from almost all mainstream Christian religions, but I encourage anyone who wants to know more about it to look through Gillian Gill's biography of the church's founder, Mary Baker Eddy. This will give you much more insight to the religion, without leaving you feeling that you're just supporting Kramer's personal vendetta by buying this book. Any religion taken to an extreme can become a cult. This author seems to have to have someone to tell her how to think. She's jumped from CS to fundamentalism. The latter isn't exactly renowned for encouraging people to think for themselves. This book is simply Kramer's sad attempt to justify her unhappiness with CS by using a lot of jargon that doesn't apply. This is nothing but a personal diatribe against a religion. There are some good books on the market that do point out some of the problems in CS, including "Blue Windows." No, I don't necessarily advocate CS, but for the sake of fairness, I definitely don't recommend this biased book. Think for yourself, and, if you must buy this book, make sure you learn about both sides of the story. Believe me, you won't find it here!

With such a startling title, this book definitely catches the eye. However, as a theologian I have researched Christian Science extensively and find the spirit of this religion lacking in the book. The quotes from the literature are haphazardly strung together to bring something against this religion that preaches the love of God and the healing power of prayer. Emotionally scarred children? I think not. Physically abused children? Again, I think not. There are deaths due to Christian Science, but the healings far outweigh those and are so often overlooked and passed off as imagined.
This book is biased and the result of personal damages that were, more than likely, not caused by the religion.
Any religion taken to an extreme can be harmful... and this author has taken the religion out of the realm of reality and into her own head. I hope the readers of this book understand that Christian Science is helping many people daily, and so is Lutheranism, Catholicism, Mormonism, Islam.
Christian Scientists have no intention of harming the world or their children. Their motives are pure and their results are evident and effective. "THe time for thinkers has come" and don't take one person's opinion on the matter. How sad it would be if this is all you know of the religion- this religion is full of good people and nobody has any business to tell them that praying daily for the good of the world is not an act of a Christian.

The only reason these reviews are all so bitter & angry is because for those people, C.S. wasn't the way. They were let-down or disappointed by lack of results.
Christian Science is not for the weak-of heart & not for the weak-of-mind. It is based on the teachings of CHRIST JESUS, not Mrs. Eddy. JESUSS' methods of healing worked 2,000 years ago, and they still work today.
I come from a line of four generations of Scientists, and although I no longer consider myself one, I have witnessed multiple healings through the simple Truths that Jesus Christ gave us, TRUTHS WHICH CAN BE APPLIED TODAY, WITH OR WITHOUT MRS. EDDY'S WRITINGS. They are timeless, because they are the Truths Jesus taught, not some half-brained ideas thought up by some "nut" over a hundred years ago.
For some people, C.S. may not be the way to go, but it is the choice of every human being to practice & believe in what they wish. I hope people will one day wake up & stop being so selfish in thinking that "if they'd have received medical treatment they would still be here alive, with me". That's a selfish way to think. People who practice C.S. choose to do so of their own free will, and if passing away "early" is the result of it, that's their own God-given right & they're probably better off anyway, without all the negative, fearful influences of the unbelievers around them.....
I may be an EX-Christian Scientist, but I would never endorse such a book as this.

religion never killed anyone. people or believed force's outside one's control kill. The worth of an entire religion should not be based on one person's experiences. there is a difference between christian science and christian scientists. In every religion on earth there are people who twist the doctrine of thier religion to benefit themselves. There are christians who murder, rape, and abuse thier children in spite of christianity teaching against it. There are priests who molest children. have we seen catholics give up catholicism becasue of recent sex abuse scandals in the media? NO, because they know there is a difference bewteen their religion and the people practicing it. when we, as imperfect humans fail to fill the gap between absolute doctrine taught in our mosque, temple, or church we do not blame the doctrine, but ourselves. Kramer criticizes christian scientist for blaming themselves instead of the religion for thier shortcommings, but every christian from every denomination that i knkow of blames themselves when they sin, and not Jesus or God.

I'm sorry that the author of this book had such a bad expereince, but if the science and health was such a bad book, why whould the harvard medical school have placed it on its suggested reading lists for its symposium on spirituality and healing? Why is the book being purchased by medical physicians at medical conferences? why do new people who weren't raised in christian science, but are educated and inteligent study it? Sometimes the best thing for us is staring us right in the face, but because of our own personal blindness we don't see it because we are using the wrong measuring stick. this concept is something that has been played out in history; the world was once flat, pysicians used to bleed people to heal them, pork was thougt to be unclean, Jesus was not the savior, and many more other beliefs have circumfreneced the globe that are now generally held to be untrue, even ridiculous.

From: Lucie Lehmann-Barclay Re: The Religion that Kills: Christian Science: Abuse, Neglect, and Mind Control by Dr. Linda S. Kramer Date: February 23, 2000

I just read Dr. Kramer's book and it evoked my experiences among Christian Scientists and as a Sunday School student during the late 40's and the 50's.

But in contrast to Kramer's experience, I joined the Mother Church, have had extensive experience in a number of branch churches, and took the basic training in healing known as "class instruction." I have also worked several times for The Mother Church. In the past few years, I have finally experienced that deep communion with God that enables me to effectively heal myself and others. And I am now seeing the Church officially challenge the limited thinking which Kramer decries.

There is no evidence in Kramer's book that she went beyond Sunday School, and her narration includes errors about how a branch church is run. She fails even to mention the importance of individual Bible study and the necessity of individual prayer to develop a relationship with God.

While focussing on an alleged lack of care among Christian Scientists for each other, Kramer neglects any reference to accredited nursing facilities for Christian Scientists. And I can add from my own experience the volunteer assistance which church members provide for their fellow Christian Scientists in time of need.

Although the Church scrupulously verifies all published accounts of healing (over 60,000 during the past 100 years and some of them medically attested), Kramer relates without verification seventeen instances of "failures" in healing and even admits to changing the names to protect the individuals involved. In two other cases, she relates alleged neglect resulting in deaths, citing the published writings of two former Christian Scientists who were respectively eight and ten years old when the family members involved died.

While mentioning that she has "talked to" many people, Kramer fails to indicate whether she interviewed people for this book or whether these are simply recollections of earlier conversations.

In a lengthy portrait of Mary Baker Eddy, Kramer relies substantially on the "Milmine/Cather" biography which has been thoroughly discredited over the years, most recently in a scholarly biography of Eddy by Dr. Gillian Gill, who is not a Christian Scientist.

Kramer's uninformed presentation of Eddy comes just as national women's organizations are asking the Church to provide material on Eddy as a role model and at the same time the medical profession is exploring the mind/body connection and inviting the Christian Science Church to explain its successes.

Reference must be made to the terms "mind control" and "cult" which figure in Kramer's title. Her criteria would tar and feather any organization that recognizes a founding figure, be it Eddy or the Mormons' Joseph Smith, as well as any organization that involves obedience to rules and confidentiality - including Scouting, Freemasonry and the Knights of Columbus.

The publisher, Huntington House Books, lists books on "anti-globalism" and IRS attacks on Christians and Christian organizations on its web-site. It also solicits manuscripts under the headings of "conservative" and "politically incorrect exposes."

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