 Posted Tuesday, February 02, 2010 8:17 AM
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born free
.....Do you mean they we sucessful in their treatments of others but not themselves? By superb, I mean they were essentially good, sincere people with unselfed love for their fellow man. But any success or healing in their work was not theirs, but God's and God alone. There are so few things I can say that I know for sure, but of this, I am certain: Christian Science does not heal; God does.
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Posted Tuesday, February 02, 2010 12:13 PM
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What bothers me most is that since leaving C.S. I have found a wonderful church (Nazarene) where we pray for each other with amazing results -- for FREE. There is no charge. Jesus never CHARGED anyone to pray for them! His healing was a gift. A miracle of God's grace. I find it appalling and extremely arrogant to even considering charging someone to pray for them. In fact, I would say it is a sin which Christian Scientists will someday have to stand before the throne of God and repent of!
Do Practitioners pay taxes on the income they make for such services? Do they receive ANY medical training at all? I'm guessing no to both of these. It's dangerous and should be illegal (if it is not already).
Robin
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Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:13 AM
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| Robin, Thanks for sharing such a wonderful and practical example of prayer in action. Sometimes it seems like CS uses prayer as a weapon against the good that can be gained from more worldly choices, --like the good that doctors and medicine offer. Suffering people are told by practitioners, "I can't help you if you choose to see a doctor or go to a hospital." So they are forced to make a choice: either medicine or CS prayer, but not both. And that is the tragedy in so many cases.... In answer to your questions, Yes and No.
Yes, in the US, Practitioners are obliged to report and pay Income taxes, but they do have the option of not paying Social Security taxes if they conscientiously object to government welfare based on their religious beliefs.
No, Practitioners do not receive any medical training per se. There are a few who have pursued medical careers before turning to CS, but they have to set aside all such knowledge in their metaphysical treatments. I agree, CS can be a dangerous practice, especially in the care of children and those who cannot make sound decisions for themselves. I don't think CS should be illegal, but practices that can harm need to be banned or limited in some way.
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Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2010 9:25 AM
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Anonymous (2/2/2010)
What bothers me most is that since leaving C.S. I have found a wonderful church (Nazarene) where we pray for each other with amazing results -- for FREE. There is no charge. Jesus never CHARGED anyone to pray for them! His healing was a gift. A miracle of God's grace. I find it appalling and extremely arrogant to even considering charging someone to pray for them. In fact, I would say it is a sin which Christian Scientists will someday have to stand before the throne of God and repent of!
Do Practitioners pay taxes on the income they make for such services? Do they receive ANY medical training at all? I'm guessing no to both of these. It's dangerous and should be illegal (if it is not already).
Robin
Of course practitioners are required to pay income tax and truthfulness is a foundational point in cs so I'm sure most or all of them report their income. Medical training is contrary to cs belief and would hinder any attempts to bring thought into alignment with Spirit as I understand cs. As far as dangerous..any prayer is good in my opinion and cs is promoted as a type of prayer that actually gets results as opposed to the old standard christian prayer that goes something like ...Oh God please fix so and so if it be your will....in Jesus' name I pray. Trouble is.. practitioners are, in essence, saying by the act of advertising that they CAN heal. That does become dangerous if the one in need trusts that to be true. Illegal? Maybe it should be monitered by the government.
I stand with you on the outrage of charging for prayer.What could be more contrary to God's way?
born free
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Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2010 11:00 AM
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born free,
Maybe it should be monitered by the government.
That would start getting into some dangerous Constitutional issues. Besides, the U.S. Government has already gone broke stepping into areas in which it has no standing (sorry, today's not the day for me to feel restrained on that topic).
The government needs to stay out of the church. Even feeling as I do about Christian Science, I am conflicted regarding mandating medical care even for children of sincere, qualified Christian Scientists.
That said, however, The Mother Church needs to step up and do its own monitoring including disciplinary actions and opportunities for improvement in the same manner as other professions.
Probably a good time for me to mention that my opinion as an individual contributor does not necessarily reflect that of Christian Way as a whole or that of our forum hosts.
Do Go Be Man
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Posted Wednesday, February 03, 2010 6:41 PM
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Do Go Be Man -- As always, I appreciate your insights, even when I don't always agree.
Having been raised in CS without any medical care until I took it upon myself to seek it at age 17, I believe strongly that children should be required to receive basic care, such as immunizations and periodic checkups. Once they reach the age of responsibility, they can decide for themselves, but basic medical care is something I believe strongly in, particularly for children. I don't live in the US, so I can't speak to health care overall in that country, but I do feel that some kind of basic health care for all is needed.
Siobhan
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Posted Thursday, February 04, 2010 5:56 AM
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I am wondering if a percentage of the CS Practioner's earnings go the main church or other affiliated body.
Jan
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Posted Thursday, February 04, 2010 6:14 AM
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I am wondering if a percentage of the CS Practioner's earnings go the main church or other affiliated body. Can't say for sure, but I've never heard of anything like that.
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Posted Friday, February 05, 2010 8:34 PM
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Anonymous (2/4/2010)
I am wondering if a percentage of the CS Practioner's earnings go the main church or other affiliated body.
JanLinda is spot on. Those Practitioners who advertise in the Journal pay for their listings, but there is no requirement to "tithe" or remit any portion of the income from the practice.
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Posted Tuesday, February 09, 2010 11:13 AM
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| When my Christian Science friend died, after 3 months of suffering, probably from congestive heart failure, I was really angry. Shortly before he died he had expressed concern about his condition to his practitioner/teacher, saying maybe he should go to a hospital. The practitioner asked about his symptoms and upon hearing them told him he had nothing to worry about. His death less than a day later showed that a trip to the hospital could have saved his life. HIS LIFE! I was no stranger to CS. My own husband is a CSer. I have lived with it all around me for 40 years. I had seen plenty of other more distant CS friends die young of mysterious undiagnosed illnesses. But I now was really angry, angry at his CS wife's words and actions before, during and after his death, angry that my friend was so mired in this religion that he lost his life but I felt the most anger towards this practitioner, and, ALL practitioners. I gave a lot of thought to the things/actions that perpetuate what I call the MYTH of CS healing. (Maybe that would make a good thread, Ill start one.) One of those things, I feel, is practitioners, who must see on a daily basis, the failure of CS healing, and the needless deaths, like this one. How can they speak so confidently to their patients about healings coming when they see so often that they dont? Honestly, I speak from experience. I have seen so many deaths of CSers under 60. I have seen SO many chronic illnesses that never get healed, things that could be fixed with one pill in 24 hours...go on for decades. How can a practitioner carry on? How can they continue to practice when people die under their care, over and over again? How can they accept money for "helping" people when they fail to "help" in the end...and the person dies? How can they accept money from patients for their help when they can't heal themselves or their own loved ones from chronic illnesses? To me the practitioners bear the brunt of the blame as they must see the failures, yet they ignore them and carry on the sham. Square Peg
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