I'm glad your father's story turned out well.

I teach chemistry, and every year I try to give my kids a new perspective about how most people think about "chemicals." We have all heard people cast "chemicals" in a negative light when talking about the environment or about certain products or foods. I tell my students that, when someone talks about how bad "chemicals" are (casting all chemicals in a bad light), they should warn them about a dangerous chemical that's in the environment. It's everywhere and can kill a person in less than 10 minutes if used improperly! It's so pervalent in our environment that it would be impossible to get rid of. Of course, I'm talking about water (or dihydrogen monoxide if you want to use its "chemical" name). Everything we see and touch (except for light, of course) is made of chemicals. So "chemicals" are not, in themselves, a bad thing. What makes many chemicals "good" or "bad" is how we use them. The same thing can be said about medicine. Some of them are helpful and some are not, some are used well and some are abused -- it's all in how we use them. Like other chemicals, they are tools. God gave us these tools and the ability to use our tools to create other tools; we choose whether to use these gifts wisely or unwisely.

Tool: 2 a : something (as an instrument or apparatus) used in performing an operation or necessary in the practice of a vocation or profession <a scholar's books are his tools>

A chemical or medicine can be used as a "tool" the same way a book can be used as a "tool" -- it's the thing used to accomplish the task at hand.

The doctor in the emergency room uses the chemicals we call soap as a "tool" to kill the germs on his or her hands. He or she might use another chemical that happens to be designated as a "medicine" to kill other germs. 

Christian Scientists use soap to "clean" their hands or a skinned knee , but they wouldn't consider using other chemicals like rubbing alcohol or iodine because these chemicals have a medical connotation. I understand their reasoning, but when one really thinks about it the soap, alcohol, and iodine are just chemicals -- equally nonspiritual if one admits that they all serve the purpose of killing germs.

You imply that former CSists tend to give special power to medicine and doctors. I don't think this is the case at all. Since I consider God the Creator and the one who gave us the intelligence to use the atoms he gave us to build with, then I consider him the reason we have any of the chemicals we use, whether they'er "just" soap or whether they're "medicine" -- or, for that matter, a really good chocolate cake that someone figured out how to mix and bake. It's not a "former-CSist thing."  

Today is not a day during which I feel inclined to tread lightly regarding CS. I'm feeling its negative impact on my life and my CS family members especially hard today. This would be a real good point to stop reading if you don't want to read a harsh posting on CS. It will be much easier for you to "know the truth" if you don't read the truth.

An easy way for CSists to reconcile their beliefs with those of our's who left CS is to assert that we never got it and that we now worship medicine.

I don't recall CSists adequately addressing the credentials represented by the former CSists on this forum. We have former practitioners, many of us were class taught, our time in CS was measured in decades, our activities included being Readers, other church leadership positions, and some of us were active at the international level working at times directly with the TMC Board of Directors. If we never got it, that is also an indictment of the various CS teachers, branch churches, and TMC organizations that accepted our doctrinal qualifications. If we never got it, we should have never been allowed to serve in such positions.

Fact is, I did get it. God created us and our environment. He gave us His word and His Son. He loves us beyond measure or comprehension. That is real, however, not my vain imaginations or "Adam dream". CS claims to be based upon God's word, but denies its reality and accuracy at every turn. God revealed to me through my study of CS that His word is accurate and reliable. MBE taught otherwise, so I turned to the reality rather than the counterfeit with no regrets.

As to the claims of worshipping medicine, there is far more basis to that claim for CSists than for non- and former CSists. CSists spend their lives in mortal fear of something they claim has no power. Yet, they continue to eat, drink, sleep, breath, wash hands, wear glasses, and engage in other mortal functions including acquisition of wealth. Not a one from MBE to this day has risen above the mortal plane. Maybe there's something worth exploring and preserving of CS, but at this point I'd say that they are doing the same thing and expecting different results (yes, if you're familiar with that definition I do mean that).

Do Go Be Man
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That's SO sad.