In NY and elsewhere Christian science leaders say they're encouraging followers to go see a doctor in grave medical emergencies, despite the religion's century-old conviction in the evils of modern medicine. “In the last year, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been called to pray at a patient’s bedside in a hospital,” national spokesman Phillip Davis told the Times, speaking from NY headquarters in midtown.
According to the Times, the church—whose membership has halved since the turn of the 20th century by some estimates—is redefining its "methods as a form of care that the broader public should consider as a supplement rather than a substitute for conventional treatment, like biofeedback, chiropractic or homeopathic care." Angling for new converts and for coverage of its healing practices by health insurance, the church has launched a PR campaign promoting its hip new image. Recently it even allowed some practitioners to speak with reporters, like John Q. Adams of Manhattan, who said that if a patient has a lump under his arm he is experiencing “a manifestation of fear, not a lump.” He wouldn't discuss the church's "progressive" new policies.
Some insiders agree there's some flexibility in Christan Scientists' no-hospital policy, while others say doctors visits come with the risk of ostracization. The article suggests that conservative and lenient members have split off into two groups, between which a source of contention, according to Gary Dorrien, a professor at Manhattan's Union Theological Seminary, “is the fact that Christian Scientists are best known right now for denying medical care to people,” especially children, who subsequently die. “The church of today would not let that happen,” insisted Davis.
