When Religion Turns Bad

fathermothergod: My Journey Out of Christian Science by Lucia Greenhouse (2011)

In the 1800s, Mary Baker Eddy created a religion where the self is perfect and if illness is present, it is a spiritual deficiency which needs to be rectified through prayer.  Hence the unwillingness to seek medical help in a world where prayer alone is not known to save and heal.

The author grew up in a Christian Scientist family with a father who became a practitioner (they do not have clergy) and a mother who said if Lucia's father was a Rabbi, she would have converted to Judaism.  Christian Science was pervasive in the lives of Lucia and her siblings so much so that sickness at school would not garner them a ticket home but a prayer and admonishment that they are better than this and must return to class.

As an adult, Lucia did not keep to the practice, yet her parents were ever steadfast.  So one day when she saw her mother, frail and suffering, she was faced with the question, am I able to help?  Powerless to intervene with the decisions of an adult, Lucia stood by as her mother deteriorated under the watchful, prayerful eye of her father while the extended family was torn apart.


Banished: Surviving My Years in the Westboro Baptist Church by Lauren Drain with Lisa Pulitzer (2013)

Once you get past that this isn't actually a 'church' and it's not affiliated with the Baptist movement, you get to the heart of this hate group masked as religion.

Drain, one of the vast minority not part of the Phelps family who lived on the WBC compound and picketed with them, tells the story of her life, how her formerly secular father was seduced by the group and how she found a community with them and later saw the error of their ways.


Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill with Lisa Pulitzer (2013)

Jenna Miscavige Hill is niece to David Miscavige, the Church of Scientology leader.  She grew up in the upper echelon of the organization and speaks candidly about its functioning regarding families, self- help and how members are treated.  She is very clear that she wanted out, struggled to leave and is very happy to have put that life behind her.

Separated from her parents for long periods of time at school age and forced to do physical labor, Hill explains that families in the Sea Org (the upper rank organization of Scientologists) were often separated:  spouses separated from each other, children from parents.  She portrays Scientology as oppressive.  Sea Org members could only be romantically involved with other Sea Org members.  Having children while in the ranks was not allowed and abortions were strongly recommended.  Personal freedoms were heavily restricted.  Involvement with non-Scientologists (wogs) was forbidden.  If you did not follow the rules, you were punished through a number of measures (exhaustingly invasive interrogations or even years banishment to a 'program.')

The celebrities involved are also addressed.  In fact, they do not face the restrictions and controls that the most devoted members must live with.  They are granted special rights, privileges and facilities.  Therefore, they do not know or experience the abuses and oppression that the other members do.  Which makes sense if you think about them being very wealthy, very public, well-liked and well-known ambassadors for the controversial church which began as a sci-fi self-help program.

After meeting her future spouse and realizing that Scientology was not taking over the world, that it was targeting people for dollars and growth without regard for their needs, that they were being abused and lied to, Hill wanted out.  But it was not that easy.  Obviously she made it.  The book talks about how she got there.

Today she speaks out about human rights violations by the organization, helps others leave and the abuse and neglect she suffered as a child and teen.


A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash (2012)

In the tradition of southern fiction, Cash dreams up a story told in three voices for this, his debut novel.

A corrupt pastor at a charismatic church, a mute boy bonded with his younger brother, an adulterous spouse and a faithful community all conspire to create a religious thriller where the elderly Sunday School teacher/midwife, the brother of the mute and the town sheriff narrate the events as they unfold.

It's difficult not to be carried away with the story when the death of a main character propels the plot forward and urges us to understand not why it happened, for that we already discovered, but how.   The weight of the world was on two young boys in a North Carolina town where religion was not the panacea it was intended to be and a tragedy played out in grand form.

I read, therefore I am,
the lowercase b