 Posted Tuesday, July 11, 2006 3:10 PM
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| I always check c-span's booktv.org site on weekends to see if there's anything interesting (other than political writers). Last weekend there was a lecture/Q&A by David Oshinsky the author of this book. What a revelation! I have trouble with the medical community in general and this brought home how wonderful medicine can be when the government stays out of it. I have the book reserved at the library and haven't read it yet, but since I have a personal story connected, I did wanted to comment. I lived through the polio scare as a child and, of course, it wasn't treated as such by my parents. This is the only time my mother 'gave in' when asked to donate to a medical charity. You have no idea how out of character this was for her. Little cards were distributed at school to fill in the openings with dimes and quarters for the March of Dimes. I remember like it was yesterday. Of course, FDR was the great administrator along with his personal lawyer who kept the 'march' going. This story alone is enough to make one weep. Of course, regrettably, he died some years before the Salk vaccine. There were 'survivors' in the audience, some suffering from post-polio sydrome, some ancient nurses who described the old 'iron lungs,' and even a few laughs along the way, but the main emphases in the book are on the vaccine and immunizations 'discovered' by Salk and Sabin (who, btw, 'despised each other...which brought the biggest laugh). The Sister Kenny treatments were discussed in detail, but the most important aspect in this particular lecture was how successful the March of Dimes became and the importance of it in saving millions of lives. I remember the caution expressed about swimming, large crowds (movies, especially), and to watch 'symptoms' of every kind in your child. Of course, my sister and I were allowed to attend movies, swim whenever, and didn't worry about crowds anywhere and I'm sure these people who joined in these activities were not all Christian Scientists, so there you are. The polio in Africa is predicted to be eradicated by 2010. Let's hope this proves to be true.
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Posted Tuesday, July 11, 2006 3:11 PM
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Forgot to sign....sigh...
Also Curious
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Posted Friday, May 02, 2008 2:51 PM
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Polio was over at Daycroft, the CS college-prep boarding school in Greenwich, CT, in 1973. That was when about 20 students in the boy's dorm got polio, including my old roommate. The problem was fairly far along before it was reported to public health people. My guess is that they strove to know the "Truth" for some time beforehand.
Daycroft closed in the early 1990s because of a lack of attendance.
Mark
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Posted Friday, May 02, 2008 6:21 PM
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| What was your roommate's name (FIRST name only, please)? I knew a guy at Prin who had gotten polio at Daycroft and walked with a pronounced limp.
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Posted Saturday, May 03, 2008 6:52 PM
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Hi:
I believe that his first name was Richard and his last name started with the letter 'W". I believe that his folks lived in Massachusetts at that time. He was my roommate on the 2nd floor of the boy's dorm at Daycroft in the 71-72 school year, when I was in 9th grade. The 3rd floor of the dorm was entirely vacant the year that I went there. I left Daycroft in February of 72 and returned to school at West Hills Junior High, which is on Lone Pine Rd (17 Mile) 1/2 mile east of Middlebelt Rd. I went to Bloomfield Andover, and the 2nd half of my senior year I went to Bloomfield Lahser. (I'm welcome at both class of 75 reunions).
In a private post I mentioned Kirk in the Hills to SharonMarie and I did a search. There are some photos of the place online that were taken by someone that I went to high school with. I didn't know that it is a Presbyterian Church. I did a search on the CS church in Pasadena, CA, and on their site they have a bunch of old photos showing how crowded the place used to be. There is also a story from the Pasadena newspaper about the recent renovation with a bunch of photos, though none that show the actual size of the ampitheater. I also did a search on the CS church in Franklin, MI and found that my old church isn't listed. Neither is the B'ham church, nor the Pontiac church. Just 6th & 8th churches, plus Southfield and Farmington, plus one in Grosse Pointe and another in Oxford, MI. That's not too many for a church the size of the CS church. I remember when there was a reading room in the old south terminal at Metro Airport. I believe that it was upstairs next to the old pool hall. I played pool there a few times in the 70s. I wonder what the average attendance is at the Detroit-area survivors. I haven't heard from anyone from the church of my upbringing since I got on this site. But the Pasadena church is sure a hotbed of CS defenders.
I have not heard anything about my old roommate since he got polio. His folks pulled him out of the school and that's the last that I have ever heard of him. I've been on the site "Classmates" for some time and he is not on their Daycroft site, though maybe 30 people from the several grades either side of me are there. One kid that I knew is the son of some famous author out of the NYC-area, who is now a researcher at Stanford University. We exchanged a few emails. He is doing well but his mom is still firmly in the CS camp. Like my mom is. On Andover's Classmates site there are around 130 members of the class of 75 alone. It was through the site that I found-out about the 30th reunion that I attended in 2005.
Thanks for asking. I remember the story of Daycroft's polio epidemic when it first happened. Another black mark in the history of the CS Church. One of many too many. And it was so preventable. Just get your kids immunized.
Mark
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Posted Saturday, May 03, 2008 8:04 PM
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| Mark, The guy I knew from Daycroft was named David L, so we're not talking about the same person. Wish I could have told you that your friend is OK!
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Posted Sunday, May 04, 2008 11:21 PM
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Mark, You say that the Pasadena church is "sure a hotbed of CS defenders". What Christian Science church, or any other church or organization, wouldn't defend itself again such attacks? I'm sure you would also defend yourself if unfairly attacked. Christian Scientists in Pasadena are like any other members of our churches. They are hard working, kind, generous and loving individuals. Your mother is a hard worker in her church. We stand side-by-side in several church functions. I don't always agree with her, but I respect her sincerity and dedication to her church, both in Pasadena and to the Christian Science field in general. Obviously, being a Christian Science teacher, as was your step-dad, she loves this church. Again, I say, anyone would defend what they believe in and what they have clearly demonstrated has worked for their own lives. We've all witnessed some great healings. It's never the truth that Mary Baker Eddy gave us that fails us. As you must certainly well remember from your upbringing, it's our lack of our own understand of our unbroken relationship to God that fails us. Maybe you can take a little time to reflect on some of those truths you learned in your own upbringing. And maybe you won't be quite as critical of our church or of your dear mother, one who loves God with all her heart. And, just maybe, you can withhold on some of your "second-guessing" about the numbers of people attending Christian Science churches that you know nothing about.
In all true sincerity,
A watchful Christian Scientist
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Posted Monday, May 05, 2008 7:46 AM
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| Dear Watchful, I appreciate your desire to defend your CS faith....but...this is a forum for those of us who are FORMER members or followers of Christian Science who have worked our way out, some of us into mainstream Christianity and some of us still struggling with our spirituality. We all have our stories and our struggles and our observations to tell. I frankly do not appreciate what I percieve to be the constant trolling of this forum by Christian Scientists bent on arguing every point one of us makes. If we are so full of "error" then keep away from us and you can simply "know the truth" about us. Perhaps we can be healed. In your belief, arguing with us can make you a victim of our "malicious animal magnatism" so better that you stay away. Let us have our "erroneous beliefs" in what the Scriptures actually say and not what the man who re-wrote Science and Health says they say, please! Sharon
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Posted Monday, May 05, 2008 9:08 AM
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Watchful:
With all due respect to you Sharon, I want to let you, Watchful, know that you are welcome here, as are your posts. We have had many respectful discussions between those in CS and those of us who have left. Please continue to monitor and post as you wish.
I personally am aware of instances where healing has not taken place in CS, and also where it has. Per the latter, I would suggest that there are many other reasons why folks in the religion are healed (which indeed those in CS are not inclined to explore). I can certainly provide a list.
Also, does healing in itself prove that a religion (or denomination) has the truth exclusively? If so, there are a thousand churches and religions which using this basis only can claim to be the one, true faith. Their documentation of healings in many instances is much better documented that those in CS with outside independent verification. These faiths totally reject the metaphysical interpretation that MBE has given to the Bible. yet they experience healings. How does CS explain these demonstrations outside of metaphysicss?
It's hard to do after a lifetime in CS, but I'd ask that you keep an open mind regarding what you see on this website.
Again, welcome, and please stay with us (and invite your friends).
John
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Posted Monday, May 05, 2008 10:26 AM
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SharonMarie,
I appreciate your desire to defend your CS faith....but...this is a forum for those of us who are FORMER members or followers of Christian Science who have worked our way out, some of us into mainstream Christianity and some of us still struggling with our spirituality.
With all due respect... while the majority of contributors to these forums are former CSists, we welcome CSists and try even in our obvious disagreements to be respectful of their beliefs. I have greatly benefited from the contributions of CSists to these forums though perhaps not in the manner they intended.
As a CSist beginning to question CS, I participated in a Christian online forum. Though questioning, I stuck to the CS "partyline" and learned a great deal regarding Biblical truth. The Christians on that site probably never knew the impact their apparently unsuccessful discussions had. I frequently reveled in smoking them with my CS flames and unerring logic. As a loyal CSist, I had no other venue to explore my doubts or to taunt the Christians that insisted I lacked grace and a Christian in name only.
I welcome the issues raised by CSists. They provide me new opportunities to explore Scripture in the context of specific CS teachings. Aristole identified one of the hazards of isolating any group relative to what they believe and study. In isolation, it's relatively easy to control group beliefs. Problem is that it's just as easy to change group beliefs when exposed to alternates. I've found that CS teachings, when objectively studied, fail easily in the light of Scriptures. Undoing decades of CS study will, however, likely be a lifelong process. As a proponent of the Scientific Method, I appreciate the opportunity to conduct specific Biblical study that I can document and present for peer review.
Whether a CSist gains strength in CS or Scripture from these forums is beyond my control. I pray that God uses us in whatever manner He so chooses.
Do Go Be Man
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