fathermothergod

My Journey Out of Christian Science

De: Lucia Greenhouse

Narrado por: Christa Lewis

Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood, but when it came to accidents and illnesses, her parents didn't take their kids to the doctor's office—they prayed and called a Christian Science practitioner. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis, and she was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. In December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few—if any—options to save her. Powerless as their mother suffered, they were grief-stricken, angry, and confused.

In this haunting, beautifully written book, Lucia pulls back the curtain on the Christian Science faith and chronicles its complicated legacy for her family. At once an essentially American coming-of-age story and a glimpse into the practices of a religion few really understand, fathermothergod is an unflinching exploration of personal loss and the boundaries of family and faith.

©2011 Lucia P. Ewing (P)2011 Tantor Media

Wouldn't it be super duper to die in agony?

Welcome to being a Christian Scientist, yet another bat sh*t crazy religion. I remember something I read in the newspaper in the 1970s about members of this religion letting their kid die of something easily cured because they didn't believe in medicine. Fine to choose idiocy if you're an adult (look at the world today) but to let your kid (or in this case the dad won't seek treatment for his wife so she dies in massive pain over the course of a long illness while the Dad and the kids, who no longer believe, do nothing) die?

The father also throws a hissy fit when his daughter (the author) needs glasses. Yeah, good idea to condemn you daughter to poor eyesight and constant headaches when you can fix the problem with GLASSES.

The memoir is well written but the grappling the author goes through during her mother's death is really drawn out, I mean, hours and hours of the book. She doesn't believe but doesn't want to go against her dad (you get the impression that the mother would have chosen treatment--she bought her daughter the eyeglasses, quit the CS "nursing" program, etc.) but her inner turmoil goes on forever, meanwhile, it takes her mother months to die while nobody does anything till near the end. Even still, it's hard to understand why they just stood by as their mom died a horrible death until the mom says (finally) she wants to go to a hospital--because the kids didn't believe in the religion anymore so you can't blame being brainwashed. Clearly their dad is a nut case, they recognize that, but...

I found her childhood much more interesting.